Amherst's Audubon Golf Course not only will stay an 18-hole course, it will be getting cash to alleviate some problems, particularly flooding.
Amherst Supervisor Brian Kulpa said putting money into Audubon and the par-three course across Maple Road will be part of the town improving and updating town facilities, making up for what he says is years of limited work.
Audubon was slated to be cut back to nine holes, as part of the town's Central Park plan. The golf course is now flanked by four new softball fields and there will be four more, as recreational facilities are moved around for the giant park plan.
Kulpa said Indigo, the new private company managing the course, showed it could work, with more rounds being played this year and more money coming in.
"It was about Mike's people saying, Look, what's here isn't insurmountable. We can work with what you've got as a basis. It's not one-to-one offset. We're not going to drop $6.5 million into building a new course somewhere else versus $6.5 million here. But, rather, this can be done with incremental change," he said.
"It's also been a part of me being here every week, meeting with the team and finding out what's going on and talking to golfers," said Deputy Amherst Supervisor Jacqui Berger. "That has made it clear that this was the best place to keep 18 holes and explore other opportunities elsewhere."
Kulpa said the town is going to put about $500,000 into the course in its capital plan for next year.
"But moving forward, we're going to establish a re-occurring investment cycle for the course," he said. "That's not limited just to this course, but it impacts the course across the street, the par three. We want to bring that up to a really high standard. We think it has an opportunity to be really fun."
