There are two unrelated facts that some people likely don’t know about Bastrop’s Lost Pines Golf Course, even if they tee up a ball there once a month or more.
The course, situated in Bastrop State Park, was constructed as part of the historic Civilian Conservation Corps established during the presidency of Franklin Roosevelt and the Great Depression in the 1930s.
But the golf course is also running an operational deficit of about $2,000-$3,000 or more a month, according to Bastrop County Court at Law Judge Benton Eskew, who briefed the Bastrop City Council Monday night during a special workshop session.
“I’m here tonight, to some extent, with hat in hand,” said Eskew, who serves on the board of the non-profit Lost Pines Golf Club Inc.
Eskew did not go into much detail about how the course ran up a deficit, but he did say that poor weather over the past year and a half, and a tight economy, have cut substantially into the number of golfers willing to smack down a green fee.
The golf course land is owned by the state of Texas and operated by Lost Pines Golf Club Inc. through a contract with the state, Eskew said.
That contract is up for renewal in August and Eskew said he was in negotiations to seek more favorable terms with state officials.
But he told the council he wasn’t counting on necessarily getting any financial breaks from the state.
So he was approaching the city, he said.
Eskew emphasized that Lost Pines Golf Club course is a gem that shouldn’t be lost.
“People of all walks of life play the course,” Eskew said, adding the low green fees make it a type of course that “is not elitist and very blue collar.”
Eskew told the council that coffers had sunk so low “that the general manager had not been paying himself a salary. We ordered him to start paying himself again.”
Eskew had a couple of suggestions for the council for financial help and some council members offered a few back to him. But whether the city is in the market for buying, or even subsidizing a golf course, remains to be seen.
“We would be happy to be an arm of the city,” Eskew said, suggesting that perhaps electric bills for the golf course could be waived.
He said course maintenance is declining because of a lack of funds.
“There are substantial course improvements needed,” Eskew said. “I feel the course could close and it would be very difficult to restart it. Where would people go who can’t pay the (golf) rates of the Hyatt?”
Revenues that used to average about $30,000 per month have dropped to an average of about $26,000, Eskew said.
Council member Joe Beal said a loss of $2,000 a month might be made up with some aggressive marketing.
He suggested contacting the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines to see if they might suggest to their golfers to spend one of their several rounds of golf at Lost Pines, a sort of goodwill gesture.
“They might be interested in playing on a historic course,” Beal said, referencing the construction by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Beal also suggested area businesses be approached to see if they would “sponsor a golf hole” for financial support and a little publicity.
“We tried that and it wasn’t very successful,” Eskew replied.
But on Tuesday he said he would be glad to take any calls from individuals or businesses wanting to help out the course with a sponsorship. Interested parties may contact course general manager Robbie Robinson at 321-2327.