Course in the Crosshairs

WILL SPRINGS RANCH Golf Club in Colorado Springs go the way of Gleneagle Golf Course? Gleneagle, which sat 16 miles northwest of Springs Ranch, closed in 2013 because its California-based owner had lost money each year he operated it. G&S Development purchased the 130- acre course, which now sports 56 homes instead of 18 golf holes—and 95 acres of open space. Like Gleneagle, Springs Ranch is a publicly accessible, privately owned course opened in 1997 by Tom Tauche. He still owns and lives on the course, which occupies approximately 200 acres of the 1,200-acre development.

As to his motivation for selling the course, the 66-year-old Tauche cites the nationwide downturn in golf participation and the millions of dollars he needs to spend on necessary upgrades. Tauche, a 12 handicap, has said he’d love to see the property remain a golf course, but he hasn’t found a golf developer or operator willing to pay him what a real-estate developer would.

So he agreed to sell the Springs Ranch Golf Club to Classic Cos., one of Colorado Springs’ biggest homebuilders. Although Classic has developed the golf-course communities of Flying Horse and the forthcoming Flying Horse North, the company plans to redevelop Springs Ranch Golf Course with a mix of approximately 500 homes, plus trails, parks and other features.

This doesn’t sit well with many Springs Ranch residents, who love the open space and mountain views the course provides. A group of nine homeowner associations calling itself the Save Springs Ranch Green Space and Golf Course has formed in opposition. Classic held two Town Hall meetings in June in order to review plans and receive community input. The developer will incorporate that input when it submits a formal proposal to city planners this month.

Classic says the redevelopment would address the growing city’s desire for more infill projects—as emphasized in the city’s revised comprehensive plan known as PlanCOS—instead of continuing unchecked suburban sprawl. Among other things, the homeowners maintain the course replaced a park that builders originally promised the community, and that it provides wetlands and habitats for protected wildlife.

The dispute recalls the 2015 conflict in Golden over Applewood Golf Course, which the owner, Molson Coors Brewing Co., wanted to sell to a developer. Thanks to the mobilization of thousands of residents in surrounding neighborhoods, Applewood still exists today as part of the Prospect Recreation and Parks District.

The Springs Ranch situation could have more in common with Gleneagle, where members of the neighborhood civic association worked with the developer to modify the original plans to provide more open space and lower-density development. Which scenario will play out?

classichomes.com/project/springsranch; springsranchgolfclub.com

---

This article appeared in the 2019 July Issue of Colorado AvidGolfer.

Colorado AvidGolfer Magazine is the state’s leading resource for golf and the lifestyle that surrounds it, publishing eight issues annually and proudly delivering daily content via coloradoavidgolfer.com.

Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.