PGA Tour in Texas this week

Ben Crenshaw has worked on golf courses all over the globe, first as a twotime Masters champion and PGA Tour star and now as part of the illustrious Coore & Crenshaw golf course design team.

But one of the courses on which he's worked the hardest, Lions Municipal Golf Course, still hasn't seen the outcome he's been hoping for.

On Sunday, Crenshaw and a cavalcade of stars were on hand at Austin City Limits' Moody Theater, raising money as the Muny Conservancy attempts to buy or lease the land and maintain it as a golf course and green space.

The land on which Muny sits is part of the 500 acres known as the Brackenridge Tract, all owned by the University of Texas. Muny is considered the first fully desegregated municipal course south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The city has leased 140 acres for Muny since 1936, paying UT about $500,000 a year. If the parties don't come to an understanding, the university could be free to lease the property to another entity, develop it or sell it.

On Sunday, the group raised another $1 million for the cause, marking the third straight year the gala could be considered a major success. Musical talent included Asleep at the Wheel lead singer and Save Muny board member Ray Benson, Larry Gatlin, Jimmie Vaughan, and Gary P. Nunn.

But those on hand admitted some frustration as talks continue to lag, and university officials have done little to show which direction they might be leaning with the property.

“We're hoping for a long-term resolution. We'd love to have a long-term lease,” Crenshaw said while flanked by his wife, Julie. “The city and the university need to get together somehow. And we need to extend it. It's a hundred years, 100 years of success in our town. It's not only a golf course, but it's a great space. We're growing so fast. In this town, we're losing space rapidly. So it's a multipronged asset. To me, it's the

After four weeks in the Sunshine State for the Florida Swing, the PGA Tour heads west for the Texas Children's Houston Open at Memorial Park Golf Course in Houston.

World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler, a former Longhorn who has won his last two starts at the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Players Championship, is the heavy betting favorite. He is joined in

LARRY KOLVOORD/AMERICAN-STATESMAN FILE Austin golfer Ben Crenshaw, center, and his playing partners enjoy a Save Muny fundraising match at Lions Municipal in 2008. The latest fundraising effort was a gala Sunday at Austin City Limits' Moody Theater.