Chandler’s San Marcos Hotel Golf Course Getting Facelift
Weldon B. Johnson
The Republic | azcentral.com
The San Marcos golf course is closed this summer as crews work to restore it to its original glory.
Before there was grass in Arizona golf, there was golf at the San Marcos Hotel Golf Course.
A.J. Chandler opened the hotel in 1913, the first building with electricity in the city that bears his name. Across the town square to the east was the hotel’s golf course, with nine holes on 100 acres.
Playing the layout was a bit rougher than the life of luxury Chandler envisioned when he built the opulent resort that attracted a U.S. president, Hollywood celebrities and leaders of business: It had no grass. The course featured oiled-sand greens.
Chandler came to Arizona from Detroit in 1887 to be the first veterinary surgeon in the territory. He didn’t serve in that role long. He quickly grew frustrated during the drought the state was experiencing at the time, but he became fascinated with irrigation technology. He applied that knowledge to his business ventures. Within two years, the golf course at Chandler’s “Jewel in the Desert” was converted to the first golf course in Arizona with grass.
In 1928, the course was moved to its present site, 100 N. Dakota St., adjacent to what is now the Crowne Plaza San Marcos Golf Resort.
Last year, the resort, which was showing its age, underwent an extensive renovation in time for its 100th anniversary.
Now, the resort’s golf course, with its stately mature-tree-lined fairways where Hollywood legends Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart once teed off, is getting a much-needed makeover. It comes at a time when the golf industry is seeing courses close as the game suffers lingering financial difficulties from the recession and from problems attracting younger players.
San Marcos golf managers are confident the renovated course will overcome the industry slowdown. It was shut down April 20 and will be closed through the summer. Changes are visible already on the course and inside the clubhouse.
When it reopens in November, the golf course will feature expanded lakes from which a new pump station will feed an updated irrigation system. The old galvanized pipes have gone the way of golf clubs with wood shafts.
The golf course will be more than just greener. Several tee boxes are being upgraded, and bunkers are being reshaped.
While going over their scorecards, golfers may relax amid the new decor of the bar and grill in the clubhouse, which has been gutted.
“We’re not replacing greens or replacing all of the tee boxes, that sort of thing,” said Greg Kinney, regional vice president of Touchstone Golf, which manages the San Marcos golf operation. “We’re not bringing in dirt and reshaping holes. But it will translate into excellent playing conditions. Resort-type playing conditions.”
Even when it wasn’t in the best shape, the lush San Marcos Golf Course stood out among the Valley’s traditional golf courses. The par-72, 6,626-yard course was built nearly 90 years ago by Harry Collins with the help of Los Angeles architect William Watson, who helped design the Olympic Club courses in San Francisco, among others.
The current clubhouse is not the original from 1928 ? it was built in the mid-1950s ? but pains are being taken to preserve its historic details, such as a rock wall and detailed wood ceilings in the dining room. The clubhouse will have a bar and grill, an upgraded pro shop and additional banquet space.
Contractor Armand Milazzo of Development Services uncovered other hidden gems in the clubhouse that he hopes to incorporate into the new design. When the old carpet was torn out, for example, Milazzo discovered terrazzo tiles underneath.
“It was like finding gold,” Milazzo said. “It’s going to cost more to restore the floor than it would for carpeting, but this owner has been great about establishing a good budget to do it right rather than cut corners.”
Milazzo said an old storage room in the attic had been used as a poker room for Chandler’s movers and shakers. It had two secret panels that servers could pass through to bring food and drinks up to the players without interrupting the game.
“We’re going to find some room in the budget to do something with this room,” Milazzo said. “It definitely adds to the coolness of this place.”
Fans of the historic course need not worry about it losing its distinctive character. Among other elements, the signature mature trees will survive.
“What everyone likes about it, the traditional layout, the historic significance of the course, will remain,” Kinney said. “We’re just changing a few things so the quality is there. When you hit the fairways, it will be as nice as any resort in town.”
Since acquiring the resort and golf course in January 2013, Interwest Capital poured $8.5 million into refurbishments for the hotel and is spending another $3.9 million on the golf course. Las Vegas-based Touchstone Golf was hired this year to manage the course.
Brandon Wolsic, senior asset manager at San Diego-based Interwest Capital, said the golf-course restoration was part of the company’s larger goal of bringing the San Marcos back to prominence.
“We want to bring the golf course up to the position that the city of Chandler deserves and (San Marcos) guests deserve,” Wolsic said. “It was in such poor shape for so long. If you look at golf-course reviews, the golf course kind of fell off in the same way that the hotel had fallen off. But it’s such a cool course, considering the history of it. It was the first grass course in Arizona.”
San Marcos Golf Course restoration
To follow the progress of the San Marcos Golf Course restoration, visit www.facebook.com/SanMarcosGolfCourse.
