Drive Raúl Longoria Road past Los Lagos and you pass two public venues that sit side by side. One is the von Hagge-designed golf course the neighborhood wraps around. The other is the UTRGV football stadium. Both changed this fall in the same direction. The city brought in a global golf operator promising to bring in more players. The university added seats to its stadium, and it has sold out every home game anyway.
For people who live in Los Lagos, that shared direction matters more than either headline on its own. The two biggest things in the neighborhood are now being run to draw visitors from all over the Rio Grande Valley. The easiest way to get the most from them is to start with what's open to you without a reservation or a ticket.
The Course Stays Public. The Operator Is New.
In early August, the Edinburg city leaders approved a contract for Troon Golf Inc. to manage and operate both municipal courses, Los Lagos and Ebony Hills. Seven companies answered the city's request for proposals, and four finalists were interviewed, according to the Rio Grande Valley Business Journal. The same report said the city began looking at outside operators after its former golf director left about a year earlier. The goal was to make the courses less reliant on taxpayer funds.
Ownership did not change. Mayor Omar Ochoa told the Business Journal that "the city of Edinburg is going to continue to own the golf courses so these will continue to be public golf courses." Current employees at both courses were to be offered jobs with Troon. Jeff Thomasson, a Troon vice president of operations, said the company was at the beginning of its analysis and expected big changes.
The Rio Grande Guardian reported that Troon's management was set to begin September 1, 2026. Day to day, the work falls to Indigo Sports, a Troon company. Golfdom reported that Indigo's role covers golf operations, agronomy, food and beverage, and sales and marketing. In practice, the operator now handles the turf on the fairways behind many Los Lagos backyards, the clubhouse kitchen, and the effort to bring golfers in from outside the neighborhood.
The course itself dates to 2001. That year the city commissioned architect Robert von Hagge to build a course in east Edinburg, an area the mayor described as needing targeted economic revitalization at the time. Golfdom describes the result as an 18-hole, par-72, 7,188-yard links-style layout with bermudagrass tees and greens.
What You Can Use This Week Without Playing 18
A championship layout is the headline, but the parts of the course that work best for neighbors are the quick ones. According to the City of Edinburg's Los Lagos page, the facility includes:
- A lighted driving range, open daily from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- A putting green, chipping area and practice bunker
- Rental clubs
- Food and beverage service, centered on Putter's Grill in the clubhouse
Since the range stays lit until 8 p.m., a bucket of balls after work fits easily into a weeknight for anyone who lives a few minutes away. Tee times for a full round can be booked in advance through the city's golf page. Troon's course listing gives the clubhouse address as 1720 S. Raul Longoria Road and the phone number as 956-316-0444. With a new operator settling in, calling is the most reliable way to check current rates and hours before you head over.
Next Door, the Stadium Outgrew Its Seats
The other venue is Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium, where the UTRGV Vaqueros play football. The program has drawn crowds bigger than its stadium was built for. In 2025, UTRGV ranked sixth in the FCS in percentage of capacity, at 104.49%, according to a UTRGV Athletics release. Before the 2026 season, the university expanded the south end zone by about 1,500 seats, raising capacity from 12,000 to 13,498.
The extra seats filled right away. The August 29 opener against UT Permian Basin drew a program-record 13,698 fans. That's about 200 more people than the expanded stadium's listed capacity. Through three home games this season, the average was 13,159, which led the Southland Conference. When the October 31 homecoming game against Lamar sold out, UTRGV counted it as the program's 11th straight home sellout. Going into that game, the Vaqueros were 10-0 at Vackar Stadium.
In short, adding about 1,500 seats did not catch up with demand. On a home game Saturday, the busiest place in east Edinburg is a short drive from your driveway.
Saturday, November 14: The Last Scheduled Home Game
UTRGV's 2026 schedule lists one regular-season home game left. The Vaqueros host Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, November 14, at 5 p.m. It's Salute to Service and Senior Day, and the game streams on ESPN+. The earlier kickoff is on purpose. The first four home games started at 7 p.m. during daylight saving time. UTRGV moved this one up so fans can get into the stadium before sunset.
That earlier start pulls the whole day forward:
| Time on Nov. 14 | What happens |
|---|---|
| 10 a.m. | Tailgating opens, seven hours before kickoff |
| 3:30 p.m. | Stadium gates open |
| 5 p.m. | Kickoff vs. Stephen F. Austin |
If you're planning a range session, a round at Los Lagos, or a Saturday errand along Raúl Longoria that day, keep in mind that tailgate traffic starts building in the morning, well before kickoff.
Game day doesn't require a seat. For the sold-out Lamar game, UTRGV said fans without tickets could still get into the H-E-B Tailgate Zone, the tailgate lots and the corporate sponsor tailgate area. The stadium's 2026 policies list the Orange and Gray lots as free, with no parking pass needed and tailgating allowed, though tailgating in those lots has to end at kickoff.
If you do want to be inside, plan ahead. For an October home game, UTRGV priced single-game tickets in tiers from $15 for standing room up to $50 for sections 105 through 107. Tickets are scanned by phone through NFC, so a screenshot will not get you in. Save the ticket to Apple or Google Wallet, or open it from your account at UTRGVTickets.com.
What to Pack for the Lot and the Gate
A tailgate a few minutes from home is easy to set up, as long as you follow the Vackar Stadium policies UTRGV posted for 2026:
- Bags at the gate: clear plastic, vinyl or PVC bags no larger than 12 by 6 by 12 inches, or a clear one-gallon resealable bag. Small non-clear bags under 4.5 by 6.5 inches are allowed, along with qualifying diaper and medical bags.
- Cooking in the lot: propane is allowed, and live-fire cooking has to be attended at all times.
- Containers: no glass in the tailgate areas.
- Alcohol: limited to responsible consumption by adults 21 and older in designated areas.
Both Neighbors Are Built to Pull in More of the Valley
Put the two changes together and the pattern is clear. At the August signing ceremony, Thomasson promised that Troon's "sales and marketing mechanisms will be brought to bear," adding, "We will drive an immense amount of interest and participation at both facilities," as the Rio Grande Guardian reported. In the same speech, Mayor Ochoa called Los Lagos an economic engine for east Edinburg. He credited it with anchoring nearby neighborhoods and commercial activity, and he pointed to its proximity to UTRGV athletics.
The city is investing in golf on the other side of town too. The Ebony Hills course, founded in 1927, turns 100 next year. Crews are building a two-story building there with a new golf operations hub, cart storage, and a workforce resource center, scheduled to open in summer 2027. Because one operator now runs both courses, plans for Edinburg golf as a whole go through Troon, and Los Lagos is the 18-hole half of that system.
For Los Lagos, that means more visitors on both sides of Raúl Longoria Road: golfers drawn by a national operator's marketing, and football crowds that already fill every seat. The range lit until 8 p.m. every night, the grill in the clubhouse, and the free Orange and Gray tailgate lots on Saturday, November 14, are all a short drive from home, and none of them need a tee time or a ticket.
If you want to talk through what the new course management and the busy game-day calendar mean for living near Raúl Longoria Road, or how the area's growth fits your own plans, Isaiah Ramos is glad to share what he's seeing in east Edinburg. Let's Connect.
