FEBRUARY 22, 2023 www.wintertexantimes.com 14 WINTER TEXAN TIMES Serving Valleywide for 35 years Sales • Parts • Rentals • Service ezridegolfcars@sbcglobal.net www.easyridegolfcars.com 2508 W. Interstate Hwy 2 Mission, TX 78572 TREAT YOURSELF To The New 2023 Evolution Electric Vehicle •2 Year Warranty• •Street Legal• •Lithium Battery• (5 Year Warranty) Easy Ride Golf Cars 956-580-3370 Dealer Drive Around In Your Brand New Golf Car Today! This year, we wanted to delve into the history of our Valley golf courses. We hope you enjoy this bit of history and learning about the courses you visit and love. For the next three weeks we will feature a different part of the Valley. This week we will feature the Lower Valley gold courses. Valley International Country Club Golf in the Rio Grande Valley has a long tradition, tracing back to the mid-1840s when it is reported that soldiers from Fort Brown introduced the sport to what was then known as Brownsville Country Club – now named Valley International Country Club. Over the years, the sport grew and the names to graze VICC included not just the best from the Valley, such as Al Escalante and Tony Butler, but also Jimmy Demaret and Hall-of-Famer Ben Hogan. In the 1930s, the city and VICC hosted a driving contest. “It was an GOLF From pg. 1 era when Brownsville was coming up in the golfing world. The game was so popular that the city had its own practice driving range located across the street from “The Terrace,” a miniature golf course on the main street of the city, West Elizabeth,” wrote Rene Torres in the Port Isabel Press. Because of VICC and the overwhelming popularity of the sport, Brownsville started its first high school golf program. Now, VICC holds tournaments, corporate outings and is open to the public and offers an 18-hole championship course as well as a nine-hole executive course. The championship course is demanding but tries to offset that with four sets of tees to ensure beginners can enjoy their round. The short course allows golfers to work on their short game and have a quicker round. By the way, Brownsville High School athlete Charles Puckett won the contest with a 226-yard drive. Mrs. Works won the girls event with a drive of 129 yards. Rancho Viejo Golf and Country Club Driving through the little community and golf paradise known as Rancho Viejo can conjure up visions of what life was like many years ago. There’s a reason for that since the community and town originated before the United States officially existed. Golf wasn’t there, but the close-knit community along the Texas Coast was an idea as early as 1770. Ownership of more than 260,000 acres changed hands multiple times throughout the decades. Then, in 1968, Bill Bass purchased 280 acres to develop the Rancho Viejo Resort and Country Club. The community incorporated and the golf course and resort became home to golfers, retirees, vacationers, and a general population. Its beauty didn’t change. Today, the “golf ball in the sky,” represents one of the most beautiful golf courses in South Texas. Filled with resacas, native vegetation and sitting in between Harlingen and Brownsville, the town and its offerings are filled with splendor. Designed by Dennis W. Arp, El Diablo golf course is playable yet challenging, stretching over 6,800 yards from the back tees. Course construction began in 1971 on where used to lie a citrus orchard and was named El Diablo (the devil) because the grapefruit trees lining the fairways made it so devilishly difficult to play. The course’s greens are known to be some of the fastest in South Texas. El Diablo has hosted the PGA Tour Qualifying School for Curtis Strange, Craig Stadler and Peter Jacobson. River Bend Golf Course, Brownsville It’s nature’s paradise. A course considered by many to be the most unique in the Valley, River Bend and nature co-exist. Once a private golf course, new ownership opened it up, and area golfers will drive farther to play this course and make a day out of it. “When I first started working there, I played hole No. 4 and I thought I was in the hill country,” Adrian Garcia said. “There are oak trees and the fairway dipped and then there was an elevated green. “I thought, ‘What the heck is going on? I thought I was in Brownsville’.” Garcia’s reaction is not rare. Since the course opened to the public, the reviews are raving from both those Brownsville Golf Center. Photo by Henry Miller Rancho Viejo Golf Club. Photo by Henry Miller
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