A proposal to make the city's golf courses more self-supporting by restructuring the management and eliminating two jobs met with considerable opposition from golfers.
Parks Director John Seibert told about 30 regular golfers who attended last week's Park Board meeting that Forest Park and Creekside golf courses received a subsidy of about $200,000 this year from property taxes and other parks department revenue because of declining play. The decline is a national trend that has gone on for several years, Seibert said.
Forest Park used to be self-supporting, and that was projected to continue. When Creekside was opened, trends indicated the sport would continue to grow. Instead, play soon began to decrease, which has resulted in deferred maintenance and other cutbacks, which the golfers said have further hindered the courses' ability to attract players.
While officials hoped the courses would pay for themselves and perhaps subsidize other park activities, "That's not happening," Seibert said.
"We've gone backwards in the past few years. The market is soft, and it's going to stay soft in the long term. It's not about performance or trying harder. It's about trying something different."
Park officials plan to consolidate the positions of golf operations director and golf course superintendent into the job of golf manager. Also, the golf business operations position will be combined with one of two part-time clubhouse manager positions and made a part-time job.
The moves are expected to save about $100,000, but the department will use $30,000 of that to reinvest in the courses with some needed maintenance and better customer service. Park Board member T.J. Edwards said the action is needed to keep the doors open, and golf courses across the nation are dealing with the same problems. Seibert said park officials even discussed closing Creekside, but it's not something they want to do at this time.
The golfers said the courses need more people, not fewer. Jerry Scott said the move "will solve some problems but create unforeseen ones down the road." Golfers said they would volunteer to put sand in the traps and remove poison ivy, but Seibert said the department already is using more volunteers than ever and still can't keep up.
