Fountainhead Golf Course

Eufaula Mayor, Dean Smith opened the meeting and gave the mic to Hardy Watkins, who serves as Executive Director of the Oklahoma Tourism and Recreation Department.  Mr. Watkins related that they were facing the prospect of having to close Fountainhead Golf Course, a main attraction for tourists and visitors to the Lake Eufaula area, due to several issues.

One issue, said Mr. Watkins, is that his department has been insufficiently funded to properly maintain some of their assets.

Another issue is that the person who had been managing Arrowhead and Fountainhead Golf Courses, was based at Arrowhead and seemingly put more resources into maintaining that course than Fountainhead.

Click for sound bites from meeting (Turn your speakers on!)  Please click the "Read More" link, below for the rest of this article...

Eufaula Player at Fountainhead

The Community Center was nearly filled to capacity and several in the crowd pointed out that Fountainhead had lapsed into disrepair over the past couple of years and that there had been complaints.  They pointed out that things had gotten so bad that golfers from as far away as Muskogee and Checotah were now driving past Fountainhead to golf at Arrowhead and that is why Arrowhead now has over twenty thousand annual rounds of golf played while Fountainhead has gone without proper maintenance.

By coincidence, the Muskogee Creek Nation is interested in acquiring Fountainhead to compliment their casino, restaurant and lodging which is planned for expansion in the near future.  Mr. Mike Flud, Creek Nation Chief of Staff, told the crowd that they were interested in taking over the Fountainhead course and turning it into a "championship golf course".  Mr. Flud said that there would be a meeting on March 29, of a committee of the Creek Nation to decide whether they want to accept a gift of Fountainhead Golf Course from the state. 

Mr. Watkins informed everyone that there was also a private company interested in the course, but that he could not disclose their name.  He said there would be a meeting of his committee on March 26 and that if a solution wasn't imminent, they would proceed with plans to close Fountainhead by the end of April.

State Representative, Ed Cannaday then took the floor, saying we were in this situation because recent politicians have felt they have a better chance at getting votes by promising tax cuts than by promising services, which has left many departments under funded.

Eufaula Mayor, Dean Smith asked Cannady whether he would recommend to the committee that they close Arrowhead and keep Fountainhead open.  Click here to hear that discourse.

We expect to host live video of the Creek Nation meeting on March 29.  Stay tuned for further details.  Discuss this issue with your neighbors on our Lake Eufaula Forums.