Palmer pleased with progress

Golf legend checks on course that will bear his signature

BY MARY HENKEL JUDSON SOUTH JETTY EDITOR

One of golf's greatest legends was in Port Aransas on Tuesday, April 10.

Arnold Palmer was in town to survey progress of the Newport Dunes Golf Course at Newport Beach and Golf. The 18-hole links style golf course will be an Arnold Palmer Signature course, which means the world-famous pro golfer personally is overseeing decisions involved in how the course is designed and built, thus his visit Tuesday morning. It is being built by Texas Gulf & Harbor, Ltd.

Craig Millard, a former president of Merrill Lynch Real Estate and a principal in Texas Gulf & Harbor, Ltd. with Sunny Castor of Port Aransas, said Palmer was "ecstatic" about the progress of the course.

The course is under construction on both sides of State Hwy. 361 on more than 200 acres south of Beach Access Road 1A.

Meeting with members of the design, construction and landscape teams, Palmer was asked if he has ever seen a course like Newport Dunes. His reply was, "Not in America."

Millard said Palmer was "amazed that the grasses were taking hold so well, and he was very pleased with the way the bunkers are shaping up."

The course is on schedule to be completed this fall, Millard said. However, it will not be open to play until the grass has matured and the clubhouse is built.

Millard said he will be seeking permits for the clubhouse within about 90 days, and he hopes the course will be open to play within 12 months.

One aspect of the course that has been up in the air is access to the first three holes of the course (as well as the practice range) that are on the west side of the highway. The last 15 holes are on the east side.

"We're back to a bridge, and Tx- DOT (Texas Department of Transportation) is reviewing the plans," Millard said.

Three options were available: a bridge, a tunnel and golf carts crossing the highway at a flashing light.

According to Millard, the course will:

+ be a par 71 course with more than 7,000 yards of fairways and greens. The lengths of various holes are not set in stone, but the longest hole right now is the 10th hole, at 590 yards.

+ be a links-style course. Links courses can vary some in appearance, but a traditional links course likely will be seaside, with sandy soil, a natural layout, natural seaside grasses, few if any trees, and many small, deep bunkers.

Palmer's signature on the course is significant in the world of golf. He owns 92 professional championships, 62 of them on the PGA Tour. He has won four Masters and two British Open titles, and one U.S. Open crown. He was the PGA Tour leading money winner in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1963. He is a member of the world, American, PGA and college golf halls of fame, and he was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Decade for 1960 through 1969.

He's seen golf courses around the world, and while standing on the t-box to hole 14 at Newport Dunes he was asked if he had ever seen a hole like it.

"Yes, Pebble Beach," the golf great replied.