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"Keep Austin Weird" is a local slogan around the Texas capital city. After years of consternation, local golfers are ecstatic that the latest news around one beloved course will keep Austin green for generations to come.
Lions Municipal Golf Course, which is known around town and beyond as "Muny," is set to stay a golf course in perpetuity. Control over its 141 acres of prime real estate would be transferred to City of Austin control from the University of Texas, which for years had been eyeing it for potential development of new student housing and academic buildings.
Last week, the City of Austin sent a release reporting "discussions with The University of Texas at Austin to reach an agreement that will convey ownership of Lions Municipal Golf Course to the City, preserving open public green space and the historic public course known as Muny."
“Our community has been working for more than 50 years to save Muny," said mayor Kirk Watson. "That work and our strong partnership with the University have paid off and now we will be able to preserve this precious greenspace and a key part of not only Austin’s history, but the entire country’s.”
Muny is one of many places where golf and American history intersect. In 1950, it became the first desegregated golf course in the South after two youngsters, one a nine-year-old caddie, snuck onto the course and, rather than seeking to punish them, then-Austin mayor Taylor Glass asked that the course simply "Let them play." Since then, Muny has been noted as an early pillar of civil rights in American recreation. That historical significance has played a role in building momentum for its preservation.
This course is a real Austin Gem with gorgeous views and a distinct layout. The history of the course is undeniable and the staff is friendly and courteous. I look forward to my next round!
For decades, Muny had been a strange case within America's municipal golf scene. Its land has been owned by the University since the course opened in 1924, but the City has overseen its management since 1937. The specter of the University seizing back control after nearly 90 years and plowing the popular course under never sat well with locals and area natives, including major champion and former Longhorns golf legend Ben Crenshaw, who has been part of the "Save Muny" movement since the beginning.
That movement is embodied by The Muny Conservancy, a group of Austin citizens and Muny supporters who have formalized their support for keeping the course going.
"We are incredibly grateful to Mayor Watson, the City of Austin, the university, and the generous supporters helping make this agreement possible," said Muny Conservancy co-chair (along with Crenshaw) Scotty Sayers. "But we are not across the finish line quite yet. Now is the time for everyone who loves Muny to make their voices heard and encourage City Council to support this historic opportunity. We have come too far to stop now."
Sayers notes that a key presentation of greater plans around Muny and other City assets within what is known as the Brackenridge tract on November 19 will be an important next step in the process of safeguarding the course for the next century. In addition to protecting the course as such, The Muny Conservancy also advocates for a renovation that would be led by Crenshaw and longtime golf course architecture partner Bill Coore. If approved, such a project would add Lions to a growing list of important historic municipal golf courses that have received transformative investment in recent years.
The American golf Munaissance continues apace.
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