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Officials with Weatherford College said this week that the school was finalizing details to accept Canyon West Golf Club as a donation from Richard and Nancy Stuart.
The college said that its Board of Trustees would consider accepting the gift later this summer. It would represent the largest gift in Weatherford College history.
The college plans to continue operating Canyon West as a golf course, retaining its current members and remaining open to the public. It would also benefit the college with room for potential instructional programs in turf management, culinary arts, among others.
Weatherford College would use the course’s pavilion and clubhouse for special events and other uses. The college’s men’s and women’s golf teams would also utilize the course. The school added women’s golf for the 2023-24 school year.
“Nancy and Richard Stuart have already helped countless WC students make a better life for themselves and their families,” said Weatherford College President Tod Allen Farmer. “This transformational gift will support new and existing academic, workforce and athletic programs for generations to come.”
Weatherford College, established in 1869, is the oldest continuing public community college west of the Mississippi River, according to the school. The college celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019.
In addition to Weatherford, the school has a campus in Wise County and administers the Education Center in Granbury.
The Stuarts are among the most generous donors in Weatherford College history, giving to support scholarships, artificial turf for softball and baseball, Steinway pianos and other projects, the school said. Weatherford College’s softball facility is named in the Stuart’s honor.
Nancy Stuart serves as vice president of the Weatherford College Foundation.
“We are very pleased to help Weatherford College in this way,” Nancy Stuart said. “We think this will enhance the college’s programs and put WC on an even higher level.”
Canyon West, originally opened in 1997, is an award-winning 6,653-yard, par-72 golf course in southwest Parker County in the Brock community. The Stuarts purchased the course in 2012.