Francar’s Buffalo Wings and Macon-Bibb County celebrated the restaurant’s 23rd Anniversary with a Grand Opening of the new Francar’s at Bowden on Monday, March 14. To see pictures from this exciting day, click here.
Francar’s at Bowden is open every day from 9:00 a.m. until the course closes. They feature the full menu people expect, plus some golfer friendly food like sandwiches, hot dogs, chicken salad, beer, and more. To see the full menu, click here.
According to Carl Fambro, owner of Francar’s Wings, he was looking to expand his business after having success with his location in Mercer Village. He had seen local media coverage of the work being done to improve the Golf Course and the efforts by Macon-Bibb and the golfing community to attract more people through improvements, programs, and recognitions, and saw the location as being an excellent opportunity for his business. After visiting the space available for a restaurant, Fambro saw the potential to offer great food to golfers and the community.
“I knew that if we brought some of what we had, this could work,” says Fambro. “We’re here for the golfers’ convenience; we’re here for the community’s convenience.”
“We could easily have bought restaurant equipment and placed them in here in the hopes of attracting a quality business, but instead, we sought out a local business and asked what they would need to be successful here,” says Office of Small Business Director Dr. James Bumpus, who worked directly with Fambro to determine what the facility needed to open and help it be successful. “This is a great use of the voter-approved SPLOST dollars: we upgrade a facility, attract new people to our golf course, bring a new restaurant to East Macon-Bibb, and help a local business grow and expand.”
“Golfers for years have asked for quality food out here, and I’m delighted to welcome Carl Fambro and his team to Historic Bowden Golf Course,” says Macon-Bibb Mayor Robert Reichert. “Thanks to the SPLOST, we’re providing food for the golfers here, helping a local business expand, and bringing a new restaurant to East Macon-Bibb.”
“Bowden Golf Course is a jewel in East Macon-Bibb, and I know Francar’s will be a great reason for people to enjoy good food and hopefully become interested in golfing here,” says Macon-Bibb County District 3 Commissioner Elaine Lucas. “To have a local business see this as a great opportunity to expand shows the potential for this area of town, and I hope other restaurants and businesses follow suit.”
“This is the biggest thing we’ve done all year long and is major step for Bowden Golf Course,” says Brandon Doles, Golf Manager, who began with Macon-Bibb in April 2015. “It’s great to come in here on a Monday and see the restaurant full, and some of them aren’t even golfers. Francar’s is attracting people out here that may never have visited.”
Improving Bowden Golf Course is part of Macon-Bibb County’s award-winning Forward Together Strategic Plan in the Quality of Life Focus Area. Projects identified by the Commission and public in this Area “support, encourage, and promote good living in Macon-Bibb with the arts and cultural events, tourism improvements, social and night life opportunities, and a community-wide system of passive and active recreation.”
About Bowden Golf Course
In February 2015, Bowden Golf Course was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The nomination was sponsored by the City of Macon and the Macon Golf for Kids program. Since 2013, approximately $625,000 from the voter-approved Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) has been spent on improvements at Historic Bowden Golf Course.
In January 2016, the Macon-Bibb Commission set new prices for playing golf at Bowden Golf Course. An annual membership costs $600. Daily rates are $20 for Monday through Thursday play, and $25 for Friday through Sunday play. There is also a disc golf course at Bowden, and it costs $3.21 to play 18 holes.
This 18-hole public golf course was designed in 1938 by John “Dick” C. Cotton (1907-1994), a Macon professional golfer and businessman. Cotton and other local golfers approached the City of Macon about the need for a public course after the Lakeside Course in Macon closed in the mid-1930s. The mayor of Macon, Charles Bowden, agreed to assist in any way, except financially because the city had no money during the Great Depression to build golf courses. A former, but vacant, airfield in east Macon, known as Miller Field, proved to be the ideal spot to lay out an 18-hole course. With the help of Works Progress Administration (WPA) labor, equipment from various businesses throughout the city, and the sale of subscriptions to fund materials, the course was completed and opened in September 1940.