RANCHO MIRAGE, CA— The new owner of the former Ritz-Carlton Rancho Mirage, which has been renamed the Lodge at Rancho Mirage, has decided not to build a controversial multi-million-dollar golf course in the Santa Rosa foothills adjacent to the upscale hotel. Instead, Denver-based Vail Resorts Inc. said its luxury resort hotel company, Rockresorts International LLC, has closed on the purchase of “a significant number” of memberships at the nearby Mission Hills Country Club and will build its own clubhouse and related facilities at Mission Hills. The decision boosts long-time efforts by conservation groups to preserve dwindling habitat for the peninsular bighorn sheep, listed as an endangered species by the U.S. Department of the Interior in March 1998. Because of Rockresorts decision, most of the open space that had been proposed as a golf course site will be preserved under a 99-year agreement involving previous hotel owners, the cities of Cathedral City and Rancho Mirage and the Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy. Rockresorts President Edward Mace would not disclose how many Mission Hills Country Club memberships it had purchased, or the cost. There also is no size or cost estimate for the proposed clubhouse facility, which will include a pro shop, restaurant and other facilities, Mace said. The purchase of memberships will enable Lodge guests to play at Mission Hills three 18-hole championship golf courses, Mace said. Rockresorts officials will seek approval for the clubhouse from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which owns part of the Mission Hills property. Construction could begin early this year.
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