For the past 41-years the giant golf ball off Highway 281 in has been used reference point for nearly everywhere in Spring Branch.
"We tell them we are right next to the golf ball, and they know exactly where we are," said Trey Vancley, the manager of Beefy’s on the Green Restaurant. “It's the unofficial landmark for this area.”
However, this landmark is at risk of being demolished
By way eminent domain, the Texas Highway Department has purchased the piece of land where the golf ball sits for a highway expansion project.
To save the 20-foot tall ball, its stone tee, and its beer bottle imprint dimples; it must be moved back off the highway 50-feet.
To do this and to keep the golf ball in its original 1969 form, it will cost $10,000.
"I know one lady that said she would be heartbroken if it was gone,” said Vanclev. “She said she grew up with it. It’s almost a member of her family."
Beefy's on the Green, which use to own the land the golf ball sits on before the state purchased it, has organi8zed a community campaign to save the golf ball.
The restaurant is donating portions of their sales and is hosting a fundraiser next Friday to offset the cost to move the ball,
Many admit $10,000 is a lot of money for what equates to a fifty-foot putt, but without the giant golf ball; many say Spring Branch would be lost.
