January 08, 2018 01:27 PM
It looks like the Dallas Cowboys will soon have a familiar playing partner as a professional sports team that lends their name to an area golf course.
Tuesday night the Arlington City Council will consider a promotional and licensing agreement to rename the Chester W. Ditto Golf Course as the Texas Rangers Golf Club.
In its report to the City Council, the staff report said that Ditto will become “the only MLB-branded course in the country.”
The Cowboys Golf Club in Grapevine is branded in a similar way. It opened in 2001 and is billed as “the first and only NFL-themed Golf Club in the world.”
Texas Rangers spokesman John Blake said the team would wait to discuss specifics until the City Council votes on the matter.
“The Rangers have been in discussions with the City of Arlington for several months regarding a partnership with the Ditto Golf Course,” Blake said. “We feel it presents a great cross-promotional opportunity for the Rangers while bringing additional exposure to that facility.”
If the promotional and licensing agreement is approved Tuesday night, the city’s Parks and Recreation Department will begin developing brand concepts for the course and clubhouse, the staff report said.
“This unique branding element for the City would provide the opportunity to create another tourism element for sports enthusiasts of all kinds, residents and visitors to our community,” the staff report said. “The vision of this partnership is to create marketing and promotional opportunities between the City, ACVB (Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau), UTA and Texas Rangers.”
Ditto is undergoing an $18.3 million renovation that includes a full realignment of its 18 holes, lengthening the course — from 6,800 yards to 7,200 — and adding more water features along with elevation changes.
Already new grass has grown in on the rolling fairways and traps are filled with bright white sand.
The 164.45-acre course, at Brown Boulevard and North Collins Street, is scheduled to reopen this summer with a new clubhouse opening in early 2019.
City officials believe the agreement can increase revenue per golf round as well as “extend hotel stays, attract student athletes to UTA, attract higher quality housing developments in North Arlington and be an overall positive impact to the Entertainment District,” the report said.
The course hopes to compete with the likes of the Cowboys Golf Club, Waterchase Golf Club in east Fort Worth and Texas Star in Euless as a public golfing destination.
Ditto is one of four public golf courses in Arlington.
The Rangers are currently building the $1.1 billion Globe Life Field in Arlington that is scheduled to open in time for the 2020 season.
Last week, a time-lapse camera went live, allowing fans to keep track of construction.
Bill Hanna: 817-390-7698, @fwhanna
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