Alamo Golf Club shutters doors, liquidates assets

Alamo Golf Club closed in July and is concluding an online liquidation of equipment. Alamo Golf Club closed in July and is concluding an online liquidation of equipment. Photo: Tom Reel /SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Photo: Tom Reel /SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Alamo Golf Club shutters doors, liquidates assets 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Alamo Golf Club in Northwest San Antonio shuttered its doors July 28 and liquidated all of its assets in an online auction that ended Monday, according to Jones Swenson Auctions of Austin.

The 95-acre course and driving range at 9700 Rochelle St., next to the Sierra Vista neighborhood, opened in 1993 and will be preserved as open space by the land’s new owner, the city of San Antonio.

The city’s Transportation and Capital Improvements Department purchased the land July 20 for $7 million from Holly Van Delden, president of Rochelle Golf Club Inc., which operated Alamo Golf Club, according to local land records.

The Transportation and Capital Improvements and the city’s Parks & Recreation Department departments soon will start a public discussion process to determine the land’s future use, said Mike Frisbie, director of the Transportation and Capital Improvements Department.

“The owner was going to sell. We first wanted to preserve the land as open space before it filled up with homes,” Frisbie said.

The land is adjacent to the city’s 202-acre O.P. Schnabel Park at 9606 Bandera Road. Leon Creek and its hike-and-bike trail also runs along the property.

Asked if Schnabel Park could expand to the golf course site, Frisbie said, “Everything is possible. It’s wide open right now. We’re just getting started in the process.”

Frisbie added that nearby neighborhood associations, the YMCA at Schnabel Park, Northside Independent School District and other groups with interests will be consulted on the final use of the land.

The money for the land purchase was included in the city’s 2017 bond package, in which $7.34 million was set aside for open space acquisition. The remaining $340,600 could be used for signs, trails and other first-phase improvements once the land’s use is determined, Frisbie said.

Jones Swenson Auctions sold off Alamo Golf Club’s golf carts, golf clubs, golf balls, turf maintenance equipment and club house and pro shop fixtures.

“It was an extremely successful auction. We had more than 400 bidders. Everything was sold,” said Scott Swenson, president and chief auctioneer of Jones Swenson Auctions.

Efforts to reach Van Delden for comment were unsuccessful.

dhendricks@express-news.net