Montgomery development news

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article on the Capitol Hill golf course's effect on Prattville.

Capitol Hill a boon for city

By Marty Roney
Montgomery Advertiser

PRATTVILLE -- Prattville's Robert Trent Jones golf course has developed into a financial hole-in-one for the city, pumping millions into the local economy.

And that impact will only grow following Thursday's announcement that the LPGA will bring a four-day tournament to Capitol Hill in fall 2007. The Navistar LPGA Classic has a three-year contract with Retirement Systems of Alabama, which owns and operates the RTJ courses across the state.

In 1996 the city borrowed $6.5 million to help offset the cost of building Capitol Hill, which has 54 holes and three courses. Since the course began operating in 1998, there has been about $110 million in private investment that directly is attributable to the golf course, city figures show.

The lodging tax collected the year before the course opened was about $150,000. Last year's lodging tax collections were about $1.3 million, according to the city.

"Capitol Hill has been a tremendous boost for our economy," said Mayor Jim Byard. "Much of the retail and hotel growth we have seen in the last 10 years in east Prattville can be directly attributed to Capitol Hill. On average, there are about 80,000 rounds played each year. All those players don't come from central Alabama, so you can see how many people the golf course brings in."

Since opening, an estimated 575,000 rounds have been played, said Sean Curry, director of golf at Capitol Hill.

RTJ has 24 courses at 10 locations in the state.

At least one golfer believes Alabama has better golf than South Carolina.

Andy Peterson, a retired banker from just outside St. Cloud, Minn., and a group of friends recently played the Judge Course at Capitol Hill.

"Everybody holds South Carolina up as a golfing destination, but for me they can't hold a candle to the Trail," he said. "This is our sixth year to play RTJ. Our wives trade a week on the Gulf Coast for a few days of us playing the Trail.

"Capitol Hill is our favorite. This is our third year to play here, and our second year in a row to play the Judge. It's an absolutely magnificent course and it will humble you from the first teebox."

Records show that about 7,000 people a year come from Minnesota to play the Trail. As of April 1, the states with the most visitors to the Trail are Illinois, Texas, Georgia, Florida and California, said David Bronner, executive director of RSA.

Bronner said his vision when starting the trail was to bring more tourists dollars to Alabama.

"Can you imagine people from Florida coming to Alabama to play golf?" he said. "Can you imagine California being one of the top five most represented states on that list?"

The LPGA Classic will be an example of what the Trail means for the state's economy. A field of 150 players will play in the nationally televised tournament.