COMANCHE  Another high cost of the ongoing drought was recorded Wednesday, this time in the town of Comanche.

The town's golf course saw its last players, at least for a while, after its operator and the town council were unable to reach agreement on a new management contract, one that would include costs of water to keep the course looking up to par.

City Manager Wilt Brown said that for the last several years the town had allowed the course's operator, Rudy Smith, to tap into untreated water from the adjacent Comanche Lake at no charge. That had also been the case with the operator before Smith. After the last couple of years of severe drought, however, Brown said there were concerns about continuing that arrangement. When the golf course contract came up for renewal, it was decided that the operator would have to pay for water. Smith balked and the contract officially expires today.

"It's a beautiful course, but the water has turned into a valuable commodity," Brown said. "We couldn't just continue to give him water for free."

The city manager said a meter put in last summer showed that the nine-hole course had been soaking up a million gallons of water a month.

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