City workers have established a new maintenance plan for the Saints Golf Course while the search for a new course superintendent is under way.
About 25 people have applied for the course's top maintenance post, Parks and Recreation Director Chuck Proulx said. The applicants will be interviewed and narrowed down to two or three candidates within the next month.
During the search, golf pro Phil Henry is serving as interim superintendent and has developed a 90-day maintenance plan to track the golf course's progress.
Proulx said the maintenance plan is a big step.
"It tries to quantify where we're at and where we're going to go," Proulx said. "It's the first time it's ever been put down in writing."
Bob Ambrosino, a member of the Saints Golf Course, said he would continue playing there once a week while workers try to make improvements.
But he expects to see a better course when prices go up in the winter.
"We're trying not to desert them," Ambrosino said. "But if it doesn't straighten up by the end of the fall, we're going to have to go someplace else."
Last month, city officials fired course Superintendent Jim Miscoski because of inadequate maintenance.
Miscoski, a parks and recreation employee since 1992, made about $60,000 a year overseeing the golf course.
The Saints Golf Course has been the subject of controversy since the city bought it from Club Med for $3.6 million in 2001.
After the city bought the course, it was closed for 90 days for upgrades. In 2002, heavy rains ruined the greens. The city was forced to close the course again and pay $350,000 to fix the problems.
Source: The StuartNews/Port St. Lucie News