City says tournaments would by years away
Morgan Hill – An appearance by Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and their fellow professional golfers at a South County tournament on the private golf course owned by electronics tycoon John Fry won’t happen anytime soon, Morgan Hill officials are reporting.
The Associated Press reported this week that PGA officials said a tournament could be held on the course as soon as next year. City Manager Ed Tewes, however, said he talked with Fry this week and there no plans made for the immediate future.
“They are fully aware that their current permit does not allow tournament play,” City Manager Ed Tewes said. “It would be fair to characterize their hopes as a long way down the road and not around the corner.”
Such a tournament would be a violation of Fry’s agreement with the city and likely add to the tumultuous relationship between the course and its critics.
Fry built the course, officially owned by the American Institute of Mathematics, or AIM, without proper environmental clearance. Play at the course is restricted because Fry built it without permits, which were not issued by Morgan Hill until after most of the work had been completed. The construction endangered habitat and the area’s streams and groundwater.
Fry and AIM partner Steve Sorenson make no secret about their desire to host pro tournaments, but would not confirm if any deal had been made yet.
“It’s far too premature to make any announcement right now,” Sorenson said. “Certainly the course was designed to accommodate professional golfers. We hope that at some time in the future we have professional golfers out there to test it.”
In fact, AIM owners recently decided not to ask the city to change the permit, which currently allows play between April and September and no more than 36 rounds a day. The owners did apply to build a larger building to host the math institute.
“If they want to conduct a golf tournament or anything that would involve a gallery they would have to amend their current restrictions and they have not asked to that,” Morgan Hill planner Jim Rowe said. “We have no plans for the foreseeable future to change those use restrictions on the golf course.”
But a PGA tour spokesman confirmed this week that the institute course, as well as a Fresno course, is in the running to host an event as soon as 2007.
And professional golfers played on the course last fall, but if the course is to host a tournament, institute owners must clear a number of state and local environmental hurdles.
The institute is still working to meet environmental guidelines, and an event the size of a professional tournament would likely trigger a new round of typically-lengthy environmental review. In addition to possible ecological consequences, the institute would have to accommodate the significant human and automobile traffic associated with such an event.
Sorenson said the institute will come back to the city if it secures a deal with the PGA. Some Morgan Hill City Council members said Wednesday the approach is reminiscent of the one the institute took when it remodeled the course.
“They better come to the table soon and tell us what they want if they want to have any success at all,” Councilman Larry Carr said. “This is not insurmountable or out of the question, but they shouldn’t hammer out negotiations with the PGA before they come to us.”
Councilman Steve Tate said he is uncomfortable with the thought of the institute chasing a tour event without first proving the course meets its current environmental guidelines.
“If they’re going to pursue it, we need to figure out where they are,” Tate said. “Before they change what they’re permitted to do, are they permitted to do what they’re doing?”
