Tourism Department Tees Up State Golf Trail

The Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism on July 14 announced that it is coordinating efforts to form the “Natural State Golf Trail,” a marketing effort to attract golfers to the state’s courses.

Of the 10 championship courses selected at eight clubs around the state to start the trail, only one, Fayetteville’s Stonebridge Meadows, is in Northwest Arkansas.

Only public or semi-private courses are eligible to participate, and courses must apply to be added to the trail. A full-scale marketing campaign will begin in October.

Don Rountree, golf pro and co-owner of the Prairie Creek Country Club in Rogers, said he received an application but didn’t apply. A $2,000 application fee was required.

Rountree said the application gave him the impression that course owners would have to pay a percentage of their booking fees acquired as a result of the new trail to its organizers.

“I think it’s a great idea, but I think golf courses need to be able to reap a major benefit from it,” Rountree said. “It wasn’t the application fee that kept us from applying, it was the percentage they were going to get.”

Officials of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism could not be reached for comment. Jim Shamburger, president of the trail’s commission, said in a press relase the effort will bring in toursim dollars in the way of golfers who traditionally enjoy traveling.