Rio Grande City is considering building a public golf course, and city leaders created a committee to look into it.

On Tuesday, Santiago Larrea was tapped to lead the Rio Grande City Golf Course Committee. He was recruited to play Division 1 golf for what was then UTPA in 1998 and was the former head golf coach there.

“I'm very, very excited to be able to provide to their local community a place to be able to learn the game, to play the game without having to drive an hour,” Larrea said.

Longtime resident Maria Elia Ramos said she is against the idea of a golf course in the city. 

Ramos said a private golf course in the late 1970s closed 10 years after it opened in Rio Grande City.

“If you don't learn anything from the past, then you're not going to move forward," Ramos said. “We don't have the industry, we don't have big companies that are employing 200 people at good salaries."

Ramos also said it will be too expensive to maintain the golf course, and she is concerned about the amount of water the golf grounds will need. 

“Instead of putting off green, you're going to be putting off a brown,” Ramos said.

The golf committee will meet the second Tuesday of every month. Larrea said he's expected to give an update on the proposed golf course by this summer.

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