Seminole County mulling Deer Run Golf Course water rights

CASSELBERRY – The Deer Run Golf Course in Casselberry has been closed since May of 2019.

The current owner has put recent development plans on hold while the county evaluates the property.

Just off the old par 5 5th at Deer Run is more than a row of homes.

“The golf ball graveyard,” Gina McRorie said, laughing in her backyard.

McRorie has lived on the now-closed golf course for four years. Her yard sometimes has been mistaken for a driving range. The electric box still has the ball marks to prove it.

“Saturday mornings, Saturday afternoon, and on the weekends,” McRorie begins to explain when talking about golf balls coming in to her yard. “Even week days, but they are all down in here.

The errant shots are gone, but the course remains. Residents are hoping for green space, the county is looking for what is considered a hazard on the course a multi-million dollar savings in the long run underneath it. Water.

“Those wells have something called a consumption of use permit,” according to Seminole County Commissioner of District One Bob Dallari. “The right to pull water out of the ground.”

The Deer Run Golf course can pull about 200,000 gallons of water a day.