SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — The ownership group of the Deer Run Golf Course has been trying to get approval to develop more than 200 homes on the closed course. However, the Florida Golf Group also owns Wekiva Golf Club in Longwood, and Seminole County Commissioner Bob Dallari is asking his fellow commissioners to be open minded about purchasing both of them.

What You Need To Know

  • Commissioner Bob Dallari sees water under the courses as a future resource for the county

  • Deer Run residents want to see the property become a passive recreational area

  • Golfers at Wekiva want to see the property remain a golf course

People in Deer Run may not see eye to eye in the November election, but this nearly 3,000 home community does agree on something, Save Deer Run.

Deborah Bauer runs the Save Deer Run campaign, and has been hoping for quite some time that the county could help with a solution. She says she is cautiously optimistic about any future deal with the now closed golf course. 

Dallari sees the answer below ground.

“Water is going to be the big commodity here in the state of Florida," Dallari said. "As we move forward there is going to be less and less water pulled out of the ground.”

Reuseable water under the course would be water that the county won’t need to pull from the St. Johns River, and water Dallari feels will have a positive financial impact for the county.

“This is a long-term investment," he said. "We may not need the water today, we may not need it in 10 years, but we will need it in the future.”

Above ground residents of Deer Run are happy to hear that Dallari would like to see the course be turned in to a passive recreational park.

“Think it is a fabulous idea," Save Deer Run President Deborah Bauer said. "It would be something to keep development away from 3,000 homes in the Deer Run subdivision, and the negative impacts that filling in fill of the former golf course.”

Golfers at Wekiva Golf Club, which still can play on the course, are a bit hesitant.​

“Hopefully they would buy it and keep it as a golf course," golfer Pat Muench said after his round. "The worst case would be to put any developments out here.”

So golfers at Wekiva will continue to play as Dallari wants the county to take a swing at finding a solution for residents, golf course owners, and the county all at once.

Dallari also says that the owners of the courses are open to waiting to see if the county can come up with a valuation for the properties.

If the county were to purchase both courses, Dallari says Wekiva Golf Club would initially remain a golf course, but said its too early to commit to what would happen to the course in the long term.