ABILENE – The City Council appointed seven people, including the chief of police, to serve on the Municipal Golf Course Advisory Board.The citizens' board is made up of Charles Maciel, a minister and former high school golf coach and golf course director; Claud Clifton, Clifton Printing Company; Phil Gage, Southwest Direct Advertising; LeWayne Harris, retired realtor, former owner of Par 3 Golf Course and chair of the American Junior Golf Association’s Abilene chapter; Sherri Bowden, former Hardin Simmons University All-American golfer and Shady Oaks Golf Course board member; Melvin Martin, Abilene Police Chief and former president of the Shady Oaks Golf Course board; and Petty Hunter, former Assistant Director of Recreation for the City of Houston and director over two municipal golf courses, according to city spokesperson Lenka Wright.
The city has been subsidizing Maxwell by providing $6,000 per month, and voted unanimously last month to continue that for another six months. That will give time for the board to recommend policies and procedures, rate structures and capital improvements.
Part of the board's responsibility is also to find ways to enhance junior and women’s golf programs in the city.
