Reno County approves Salt Lick golf resort plan for twice-failed Cottonwood Hills site

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The Reno County Planning Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a conditional use permit for Salt Lick Golf and Hunting Resort, a 45-hole destination golf resort planned for the former Cottonwood Hills golf course property four miles east of the city. The site, where two previous golf ventures failed, was devastated by the 2022 Cottonwood Complex fire that killed one person and destroyed 35 homes.

The project, proposed by 2641 Wanamaker LLC — led by Topeka-based Midwest Health Inc. CEO Jim Klausman — would transform 619 acres at 1014 N. Buhler Road into a resort featuring two 18-hole courses, a nine-hole par-3 course, a night putting course, a clubhouse with fine dining and roughly 200 lodging rooms. CE Golf Design of Overland Park designed the courses, with former Golf Digest senior editor Ron Whitten as design consultant. Developers compared the project to nationally ranked destination courses like Bandon Dunes in Oregon and Sand Valley in Wisconsin, with a potential 2028 completion — a year before the U.S. Senior Open returns to nearby Prairie Dunes Country Club. The commission also approved rezoning roughly 180 acres from R2 Suburban Residential to Agricultural to eliminate the possibility of future high-density residential development on the site.

Several neighboring residents raised concerns during the public hearing about groundwater usage, road maintenance, traffic and the psychological impact of large brush pile burns on a community still recovering from the 2022 wildfire. The original Cottonwood Hills, a Nick Faldo-designed course, opened in 2007 but closed in 2009 after developer Lane Neville couldn't secure funding for infrastructure; a second ownership group reopened the course in 2015 before closing again in 2020 due to financial difficulties. Commission members urged the new developers to be good neighbors. The commission amended one condition to require the secondary access road be widened from 12 feet to 20 feet to improve emergency vehicle access. County Planner Mark Vonachen noted the project, which will rely on private wells and wastewater systems rather than city utilities, must still obtain permits from state agencies including the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

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