The Poco Diablo Resort is closing its golf course after underuse caused a burden for the resort’s administration.
“When we purchased the property, it had been in decline for I’d say probably the last 20 years, [with] not a lot of money spent on it,” Executive Director and Partner of Poco Diablo, Brooke Evans said. “The golf course, when we inherited this, was in horrible repair. So this was really a way to look at how to upgrade the property and then also capture more of our guests’ business.”
An open space easement will replace the current golf course easement, which according to the owners would serve the resort better with more amenities for guests. According to Bentley Legacy Holdings, the Delaware-based group who owns the property, 90% of golf course players were resort guests yet only 3.5% of the resort’s total guests used the golf course amenity at all.
Based on the plan, the new open space will include a large pool, outdoor gathering spaces with fire pits, sidewalks, group recreational activities like corn hole and an outdoor event space.
The space will still have some of the existing ponds and a smaller chip and putt area for guests. This new plan will also align with the resort’s goal to conserve more water by downsizing from the existing gravity ponds that draw water from Oak Creek for golf course irrigation.
“We would certainly point out as [city] staff that golf courses are not a very sustainable use in their use of water and their non-native turf,” Director of Community Development Jess McNeely said. “Stormwater runoff off from a golf course is not good for many reasons. It’s not well managed and today’s standards really work much better than what is in place [at the resort] right now.”
During the hour and a half discussion concerning the easement, council members clarified what the space will be used for as well as Poco Diablo’s agreement to the city for Public Works Department’s request of the Doodlebug Road Right of Way.
“The staff’s recommended process was to abandon the existing easement and replace it with the new open space easement that would include the detailed master plan and the detailed landscape plan,” McNeely said. “[We] also discovered in this process from our public works and city engineer was that Doodlebug Road is not even under easement as we see right now.”
The Doodlebug Road will be turned over to the city in negotiations by Poco Diablo Resort for the new open space easement. The city wished to acquire the right of way for an easier governing over servicing and maintenance.
The resort, which has operated its golf course and business at the 1752 State Route 179 location since 1978, was annexed into the city of Sedona upon its incorporation in 1988.
Since then, the city has approved two more projects at Poco Diablo Resort, including an expansion in 1993 and this specific space as an Open Space Easement for the golf course and related activities in 1995. The resort began with 50 rooms, with the expansion, it now has 135 rooms over the 18-acre resort property.
The 9-hole par 3 course served the resort for over four decades, along with the pool, however, the owners believe a newer pool and amenity area aligns better with the resort’s long-term goals.
“It’s partially about beautification, but it’s also partially a commitment to reducing our carbon footprint as well,” Brooke said. “We really tried to take a mindful approach to this and know that the open easement was put in place so that you didn’t have a bunch more rooms being put into the space …. So I’m trying to keep in line with that vision. And I also think that it’s a very special, beautiful place and it just needs a little love.”
