Rio Grande City's Second Golf Course Attempt

Rio Grande City formed a committee to explore building an eighteen-hole municipal golf course, a project that would finally give the city the recreational infrastructure other Valley towns have maintained for decades. The committee has begun planning feasibility studies.

Rio Grande City already had a golf course once.

The Fort Ringgold Golf Course operated from November 1970 until roughly 1990. Pete Diaz Sr., the Valley Mart magnate who transformed his family's grocery store into a regional empire, developed the course alongside the Fort Ringgold Motor Hotel. The facilities attracted what local papers called "the Valley's rich and famous." President Ronald Reagan dined with Diaz during the course's heyday. Rio Grande City High School fielded a competitive golf team. Tournaments drew players from across South Texas.

An article written in 1984 by The Rio Grande Herald described the course as both an economic and recreational asset. Diaz positioned it as recession-proof infrastructure that would outlast downturns affecting other industries. The pro shop hosted regular tournaments. Families used the course. Winter Texans who migrated south each season filled tee times during peak months. By most contemporary accounts, the operation succeeded.

Five years of drought changed the equation. The Herald reported in June 1988 that the course was "holding out" through unusually warm weather and the extended dry spell. Water became expensive. Summer heat kept local golfers away. Winter Texan revenue proved insufficient to offset operational costs during the slower months.

Management changed hands in October 1987 when Pete Diaz's health declined. Kelly Monroe, a golf professional with experience at Brownsville Country Club and McAllen courses, took over operations. By September 1988, the course had been closed more than open over the previous six months. Pete Diaz Jr. told the Herald that without increased community and business support, closure was probable. Support never materialized. The course disappeared from the public record shortly thereafter.

No formal announcement marked the closure. The land returned to other uses. Pete Diaz Sr. died in 1997. A 1999 tribute in the Herald mentioned the golf course among his contributions to Rio Grande City, noting it had made the city's "Camelot complete." The story ended there.

Golf became a competitive sport in Starr County long before the current generation picked up clubs. What changed was access. Every district in Starr County now offers golf instruction. Students master stance, swing mechanics, and course etiquette for a sport they cannot practice locally. The nearest eighteen-hole courses operate in Laredo and Mission, roughly an hour away. High school teams travel to compete on fairways their hometown cannot provide. The sport outlived the infrastructure. Demand grew while supply vanished. The committee's task requires answering whether Rio Grande City can sustain what it failed to maintain before.

Golf evolved significantly between 1970 and 2026. What was once primarily a leisure activity for Winter Texans and local business leaders became an NCAA sport, a professional pathway, and a competitive high school activity. The student demand exists. The facilities do not.

The municipal course proposal raises practical questions about sustainability. A private course backed by one of Starr County's most successful business families lasted roughly twenty years before economic pressures forced closure. The city now proposes public funding for the same concept. The committee must address what killed the first attempt: insufficient local usage during summer months, dependency on seasonal tourism revenue that proved unreliable, and maintenance costs that exceeded what the market would bear.

The city appointed Santiago Larrea to chair the Golf Course Committee, which will assess whether building an eighteen-hole municipal facility makes economic and logistical sense. Larrea brought credentials to the role: he competed in Division 1 golf at UTPA in 1998 and later coached the program. Monthly meetings will occur on the second Tuesday. Larrea plans to deliver his committee's assessment by summer of this year. Rio Grande City has made no commitments. The committee's purpose remains investigative.

Reviving the idea of a golf course has alarmed Rio Grande City residents who argue that water waste remains financially unsustainable. City officials insist they understand this concern. Water costs money. Money that went missing in Rio Grande City for years. Between 2020 and 2024, the city couldn't account for nearly half the water it pumped from the Rio Grande. Faulty meters at the Starr County jail, South Texas College, and El Sauz Water Supply meant major accounts paid almost nothing while the city hemorrhaged close to a million dollars.

City Commissioner Ediel Barrera emphasized that forming the committee follows standard protocol for any potential project and reflects no promises. Rio Grande City remains focused on other priorities. The golf course exists nowhere near immediate plans, Barrera said. He pointed to neighboring cities that subsidize their municipal courses heavily. Mission allocates $500,000 annually. Sharyland commits $750,000. McAllen spends $1 million. "We are not here to lose money," Barrera said. The committee must determine whether Rio Grande City can afford what wealthier Valley cities treat as acceptable losses.

The Golf Course Committee exists to prevent repeating history, not to guarantee replicating it. The Fort Ringgold Golf Course was a private venture that operated without municipal accountability. Rio Grande City now asks whether it can responsibly provide what private enterprise could not sustain. The answer depends on fiscal reality, not wishful thinking. The committee's investigation acknowledges both the need and the risks inherent in water-intensive infrastructure. That represents progress the 1970s vision never attempted.

@Santitos

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Copyright © 2026 Maria Santos Salinas for FRONTeras.