Henderson hopes to trade city land for golf course

Dan Kulin

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2004 | 9:39 a.m.

Henderson is looking to trade city-owned land for the privately owned Wildhorse Golf Club, with plans to open it as the city's first municipal golf course in as little as 90 days, top city officials said Tuesday.

For years city officials have been looking for or trying to open a municipal golf course. Plans for a course in the Whitney Ranch area fell through more than two years ago. The city has also worked on plans to turn a closed landfill into a golf course.

But Mayor Jim Gibson said the Wildhorse Golf Club, which has been closed since February, gives the city the chance to have its own golf course without putting additional strain on area water supplies.

"Now we have a drought and cannot justify building a new golf course," Gibson said.

The Wildhorse Golf Club is near the intersection of Warm Springs Road and Green Valley Parkway in Henderson. The course is owned by Wildhorse Enterprises, which according to the secretary of state's Web site belongs to The Walters Group, headed by Las Vegas developer Billy Walters, and American Nevada Company, which is owned by the Greenspun family, publishers of the Las Vegas Sun.

The mayor said acquiring the course would give residents a chance to play less expensive golf than is now available at some of the private courses in Henderson.

City Councilman Jack Clark echoed that point.

"I haven't played golf in four years mostly because I can't afford $150 per round," Clark said. "And I know there's a lot of people like me."

Gibson said a round at a city course could cost about $30. Clark said a round of golf would probably be less than $50.

Clark and Gibson said if the city owned the course, it wouldn't be expected to make a profit, but break even.

"There will probably be a subsidy in the first few years and then it would break even," Clark said.

Councilwoman Amanda Cyphers said she's not convinced the city should take on the golf course.

"I'm keeping an open mind, but the Las Vegas Valley as a whole is oversaturated with golf," Cyphers said. "I don't want us to take something that will be unsuccessful. And when we watch what happened in Boulder City with their golf course, I'm skeptical, but I have an open mind."

Cyphers was referring to Boulder City's $22 million Boulder Creek Golf Club, which has lost at least $3 million since it opened in January 2003.

Gibson and Clark said Henderson's situation is much different than Boulder City's. For example, Henderson would be trading land it already owns for Wildhorse, while Boulder City borrowed money to help pay for Boulder Creek.

Also, Henderson has about 240,000 residents to support a golf course, while Boulder City only has about 15,000 residents, Gibson said.

"There's just no comparison," Gibson said. "Location is important here."

Gibson said he's hopeful the city can acquire Wildhorse within 30 to 90 days.

The council would ultimately have to vote on any land swap.

The city has had six city-owned parcels appraised, but has not shared those appraisals with Walters' representatives yet. Those parcels include land in the Whitney Ranch area, the Mission Hills area, and near the intersection of Horizon Ridge Parkway and Gibson Road, John Rinaldi, city property manager, said.

City manager Phil Speight said the city could have the course open for business in about 90 days.

To accommodate that timeline, the council on Tuesday voted unanimously to authorize city staff to negotiate management contracts with three firms that could run the course for the city.

"We don't want to take it and not have anyone to run it," Speight said. "We want to open it as soon as possible when it's ready to go."

Gibson supported the timeline, saying that the city would not want to miss out on any of the prime golfing months in the fall.

The companies the council gave staff approval to negotiate with are Wright Golf Management in Las Vegas and two out-of-state firms, OB Sports from Arizona and Kemper Sports Management from Illinois.