The project was described as “building a new course on top of an existing one.”
The Links at Audubon Golf Course is set to reopen for the public on Aug. 1, marking a significant milestone for the Memphis golf community.
Monday’s media preview featured notable speakers, including Mayor Paul Young, Memphis Parks director Nick Walker, renowned golf course architect Bill Bergin, and PGA course professional Bruno Strzalka.
Young emphasized the course’s role in fostering youth engagement in golf, pointing to the collaboration between Audubon and First Tee of West Tennessee, a youth golf advocacy organization, and his projection of over 40,000 rounds to be played on the new course within the next 11 months. He also announced that the new clubhouse, which will replace the temporary one, will be the home base for First Tee after renovations are completed.
Children from First Tee, alongside Young, concluded the event, teeing off the driving range for the first official shots on the renovated course.
Bergin described the construction as “building a new course on top of an existing one.” He emphasized Audubon as the desired and best location for University of Memphis golf teams to practice because of its central location to campus and the relative difficulty of the course.
Photos from media preview event of the re-opening of The Links at Audubon Golf Course. Mayor Paul Young and Memphis Parks Director Nick Walker, amongst others, tested the new putting grounds, hit the first official tee shots, and unveiled the course partnership with First Tee of West Tennessee. (Photo: Josh Crawford/USA Today Network)
Audubon’s embedded beauty, with its rolling hills and natural tree line, was a challenge to maintain while simultaneously ensuring the course was as playable and beginner-friendly as possible, according to Bergin.
The first hole, with its quarters stretched, is now a combination of the previous first two holes and encourages golfers to be less timid on their drives on the opening hole, exemplifying this balance. A new six-hole course is designed for beginners, providing an ideal space to learn and practice.
“People coming back to the course will get a hint of familiarity,” Bergin said. “But they will walk away saying, ‘This is a completely new course.’ ”
According to Audubon’s website, green fees are $35 on weekdays and $45 Friday through Sunday.
You can reach writer Josh Crawford via email @joshua.crawford@commercialappeal.com or via X @JCrawford5656
The mere mention of a sale rattled those who have grown up golfing on the city’s munis.
LANSING, Mich. — When Lansing City Councilmember Peter Spadafore proposed selling Groesbeck Golf Course last month, his suggestion shook local residents and golfers like a warning shout of “fore.”
Spadafore and his fellow council members ultimately decided it was too soon for such a decision on the city’s original, and last remaining, public golf course, just two years shy of its 100th birthday in 2026.
The mere mention of a sale, however, rattled those who have grown up golfing on what once were four municipal golf courses in Lansing.
“Everybody is amazed this place exists, tucked here in the middle of the city,” said Debbi Kile, who recently golfed at Groesbeck, 1513 E. Caesar E. Chavez Ave. “It’s just beautiful. This is a gem, and I don’t know how they couldn’t make money with this.”
Paul Albanese, a golf course designer who spoke to the State Journal in 2016 when his firm was designing a refresh of several holes at Groesbeck, praised it as a fantastic course, rooted in the Scottish traditions of working with the natural territory.
The public course, cheaper than most other options in the region at $29 for 18 holes during the week, is affordable for groups like Paul Hartley’s, who was with about 10 men playing at Groesbeck in late May.
“It’s the young people and the retirees that play here,” Hartley said. “The people who are working age, they can afford the Eagle Eye and the other expensive courses. But the young and old, that’s who this kind of course is for.”
Municipal courses on the rise
Lansing, facing a budget crunch following the Great Recession in 2008, jettisoned most of its golf courses. Then-mayor Virg Bernero said at the time that the sales were necessary to save the city’s flagging finances.
The nine-hole Sycamore golf course had closed in 2001, and in 2003 it was converted to a driving range, spurred in part by a $3.5 million loss in the previous decade across all four golf courses. A beginners program, First Tee, was launched at the property and later closed.
The Waverly and Red Cedar golf courses closed in 2007. Voters authorized the sale of the courses in a 2012 vote, although Waverly and Red Cedar weren’t officially sold to developers until 2018.
National trends could be in Groesbeck’s favor, according to the National Golf Foundation.
“There’s been a net gain of more than 140 (municipal) courses since 2004, amidst a backdrop of a market correction that’s contributed to a 13% decline in U.S. golf supply over a 20-year span,” the federation said in March. “The increase is in contrast with the broader reductions and the public/publicized challenges municipal golf encounters in some areas.
The 2,939 municipal golf courses operating in the U.S. – about 18% of all courses – is an all-time high, the federation noted.
Erik Matuszewski, editorial director for the National Golf Foundation, said Michigan has more public golf courses, 742, than any other state, and noted there have never been more municipal golf courses than today.
He acknowledged, however, that many older municipal courses face competition to make costly upgrades and if the land is valuable, it can draw developers’ eyes.
Mac MacEachran gets his club out of the bag before teeing off at Groesbeck Golf Course on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Lansing (Photo: Nick King/Lansing State Journal)
Groesbeck use doubles since 2017
The city, in 2018, turned Groesbeck’s operation over to the nonprofit Lansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority, which also operates Jackson Field, where the Lansing Lugnuts play, and the Lansing Center.
The number of rounds played has increased dramatically since, from 14,702 rounds in 2017 to 32,791 in 2021. Subsequent years have seen some falloff but 31,646 rounds were played in 2023.
But the golf course hasn’t made a profit since 2022, when it netted $50,000 before accounting for the city’s annual subsidy.
LEPFA interim President and CEO Tristan Wright declined to comment for this story.
FY2021
FY2022
FY2023
Operating revenue
$871,254
$861,130
$938,997
Operating expense
$755,461
$810,528
$1,100,200
City contribution
$85,000
$85,000
$96,000
Operating income
$115,793
$50,602
-$161,203
Groesbeck Golf Course financials, representing audited years, as provided by LEPFA
Groesbeck receives the bulk of its funding from greens fees, equipment rental and concessions.
It has an annual budget of about $1.1 million. Groesbeck’s subsidy from the city was $207,550 in 2018, when LEPFA took control. The subsidy has since dropped to less than $100,000 each year.
In the budget the City Council approved on May 20, the subsidy for Groesbeck was $78,000, down from $96,000 in the 2023-24 budget.
Groesbeck ended 2023 with $682,000 in the bank, according to LEPFA financial documents.
Major improvements needed
The 1972 All-City High School Golf Championship winners from Sexton High School, including Burton Smith, who remembers playing at Groesbeck Golf Course.
Burton Smith said he and his Sexton High School teammates unseated East Lansing’s three-year city championship run in 1972 at Groesbeck, which, with 18 holes, was often the home of many of the biggest golf games and tournaments.
Smith said he remembers golfing at all four city courses.
Despite council members’ reassurances that Groesbeck’s immediate future is secure, LEPFA officials spent the most recent budget negotiations emphasizing the Groesbeck’s challenges.
The golf course has two big needs, Wright told city council members in May.
She said the course needs to upgrade from an outdated hydraulic irrigation system to an electric version. Course officials said an estimate from Thielen, a turf company in Mt. Pleasant, a year ago put the cost at $427,500.
The course also needs to upgrade its golf cart barn to fit more carts, at an estimated cost of $80,000 or more.
Groesbeck has had at least $64,000 in upgrades and fixes in recent years, including $28,000 to fix clubhouse steps, a $10,000 pump house repair, new clubhouse furniture for $8,000 and upgraded carts for $7,000, according to a list LEPFA provided of recent work.
Sally Hudgins, left, talks with golfing partner Stephanie Adkins while playing a round at Groesbeck Golf Course on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Lansing. (Photo: Nick King/Lansing State Journal)
Groesbeck spurs memories of ‘Those were the days!’
Kevin Rule grew up playing at Lansing’s now-sold-off golf courses and can’t help but worry. He fears any talk about selling Groesbeck is the first step to following through on the swing.
Rule suspects that, eventually, time will catch up with the city’s lone golf course and it will also be sold to developers.
“But for now,” he said, “it’s cool to see Groesbeck still around and retooling themselves.”
Mac MacEachran watches his ball after teeing off at Groesbeck Golf Course on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Lansing
Rick Banker agrees. Growing up playing golf in the Lansing area in the 1960s was a dream, said Banker, who now splits his time between Marquette and Arizona, playing as much golf as he can squeeze in.
He started, like most other kids, with Sycamore. It was the quickest and cheapest option, favored by kids who would work their way up to the more challenging Waverly and Red Cedar courses before finally graduating to the 18-hole Groesbeck, generally when they joined the high school golf teams, Banker said.
They’d grab two or three clubs, do some golfing and spend the rest of the day fishing golf balls out of the rivers to sell or knock around themselves.
“We would go to Sycamore … I was talking the other day to a buddy who went to Walter French with me,” Banker said, “We’d call it a 50-cent day; 35 cents if you were under 16 to play nine holes, 10 cents for a pop and 5 cents for a Snickers. Those were the days!”
Mixed success selling to developers
This is the outdoor space in front of Old Bag of Nails in the Red Cedar Development facing north into Frandor Saturday, July 22, 2023. The Lansing City Council is considering designating the Red Cedar Development complex an additional Social District.
Lansing has had mixed results thus far selling golf courses to developers.
The Red Cedar golf course property was purchased by Lansing developer Joel Ferguson and Frank Kass of Columbus, Ohio, for $2.2 million in 2018. Ferguson, co-founder of Ferguson Development, touted the eventual project on about 35 acres as bridging the gap between Michigan State University’s campus and Lansing. Parts of the old golf course remain city property as wetlands that weren’t developable.
Construction began at the Red Cedar development in 2019 and was finished in 2023. The development cost more than $250 million and is considered one of the largest single investments in the region in decades. It is home to a large senior housing facility, luxury lofts, a teashop, bookstore and a restaurant along with real estate offices and more.
Rule, one of the thousands of golfers who cut their childhood teeth on Lansing’s smaller courses, realized this month that he had just been eating at a restaurant patio where he used to play golf.
“I was walking my friends through Red Cedar, where we were eating, it was probably at the edge of hole 1, I think,” he said.
Remembered most fondly as the long-shot golf course, the nine-hole Waverly course featured a hole stretching about 600 yards away from the tee.
Lansing sold the Waverly course, at the corner of West Saginaw Highway and North Waverly Road in Lansing Township, to Grand Rapids-based Northern Capital Investments LLC for $2.2 million. Development plans have been slow to unfold.
In 2022, developers said the site could be home to various types of housing, including senior, apartments and single-family homes, as well as restaurants or storage facilities, but they would not build retail space before getting tenants.
The property now has a car wash that opened in 2022. The rest remains largely green space.
Jay Barnes, the company’s vice president, declined to comment for this story.
Lansing Township Supervisor Maggie Sanders and Deputy Supervisor DeeAnn Overton also did not respond to requests for comment.
The former Sycamore course now houses the Fenner Nature Preschool and the city recently opened an 18-hole disc golf course there.
Signage outside of the City of Lansing’s Groesbeck Golf Course, seen Thursday, May 16, 2024. (Photo: Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal)
‘It changed my life’
The annual subsidies that go to Groesbeck have not always sat well with city council members.
Spadafore, who has fond memories of playing the course, said in May the frequent council criticism over the subsidies may be best settled by selling it.
It was largely seen as a tongue-in-cheek resolution, asking other council members to put up the votes to sell it or stop making the threats.
It may have worked. During a May 20 council committee meeting, Spadafore and his fellow council members Ryan Kost, Jeremy Garza and Adam Hussain each said they were committed to the city keeping the golf course.
But change may happen because of the golf course’s financial performance. Spadafore, Kost, Garza and Hussain have said they’re open to different management, and others are calling for improvements.
Lansing Mayor Andy Schor said the course has added amenities and worked to support itself through user fees while keeping the price affordable.
“It’s where so many young people in Lansing pick up their first golf club, try the sport, and make lasting memories,” he said.
A group of golfers begin play at Groesbeck Golf Course on Wednesday, May 22, 2024, in Lansing
Scott Bean, the mayor’s spokesman, responded to questions about the mayor’s stance on Groesbeck.
“Mayor Schor has no plans to market the Groesbeck Golf Course for sale,” he said. “No developers have reached out to the City because the course has not been put out for an RFP for sale or development.”
Jan Brintnall grew up participating in Greater Lansing Publinks golf programs, which gave children easier access to municipal courses.
Her father cut down a five iron so she could practice with a whiffle ball when she was only 5, and she is now an LPGA Life Member as well as a Michigan State University faculty member who teaches golf management courses.
“It changed my life, the opportunities that came from golf went to every aspect of my life,” she said. “Just about every friend I have in life, except my parents, came from golf. It’s the kind of sport that can save a life.”
Because the Groesbeck course is paid for and appears increasingly solvent, Brintnall said a few major changes, such as a driving range and banquet hall, could bring in significant new revenue streams.
A driving range could be considered, said Kost, a council member whose ward covers the golf course. He said there is Lansing Board of Water & Light property nearby that could be used as a driving range, although it may involve complicated liability and legal issues because the property may have some environmental concerns.
BWL spokesperson Amy Adamy said the property is planned to be the site of a new BWL green energy initiative.
Brintnall has more ideas for Groesbeck. She has been pushing FlingGolf, a variation played with a lacrosse-style stick on the same courses. Brintnall said it requires less expertise and can be a more accessible way to open the sport to more people as well as a new revenue stream.
“From a new golfer perspective, the nine holes are beneficial,” she said. “One of the complaints of golf is it takes too long and it costs too much, so if you don’t have nine-hole options, the loss really impedes participation levels.”
Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415.
If everything goes through as planned, the course will be closed for over a year and then will reopen in the spring of 2026.
While A.W. Tillinghast is most famous for courses like Winged Foot and Baltusrol, the legendary designer also carved out a number of municipal courses that have had a tremendous impact on the golf world.
Among those is Swope Memorial, a course in the Kansas City chain that opened in 1919 and was touched up by Tillinghast again in 1934.
But the course sees considerable play and is showing its age. According to a story in the Kansas City Star, the course is cracking and city administrators know this to be the case.
“The bunkers have seen better days, the irrigation system is antiquated,” said Douglas Schroeder, director of golf services for Kansas City Parks & Recreation. “The cart paths are made of asphalt, and most don’t allow for proper drainage. The greens are being invaded by poa annua, which is a bluegrass that can’t survive in the heat.”
“One thing led to another,” Schroeder continued, “and finally it was like, It’s time. This is a prized asset of the parks department, and we need to spend some money to get it back to the gold standard it should be.”
That’s why the city’s parks department will take a proposal to the city council seeking $7 million to renovate the classic course and give it a new spin. If everything goes through as planned, the course will be closed for more than a year and will reopen in the spring of 2026. The city has hired CE Golf Design, which is based in Kansas City and led by Todd Clark, to oversee the project.
“I really think it’s something that will benefit the city greatly,” Schroeder told the Star. “For local golfers, but also for tourism. This will be a course people will want to visit.”
Pulling one from a five-course chain owned by the city could bring the region’s entire golf program crumbling.
As one of the leading candidates for Major League Baseball expansion, the city of Portland, Oregon, has been plotting and planning, trying to come up with a new stadium site that works for all parties involved.
MLB is expected to bring two more long-overdue franchises into the big leagues while also necessitating the creation of eight new minor-league teams around the country.
Lobbying has already begun in earnest for cities like Nashville, Charlotte, Salt Lake City and Montreal, meaning the stadium site might be an important factor in swaying the league to add another Pacific Northwest franchise (to accompany the Seattle Mariners).
But a group leading the charge to get baseball in Portland has set its eyes on a specific golf property for a future stadium, and the ramifications could be costly.
The Portland Diamond Project is hoping to purchase the RedTail Golf Center in Beaverton, Oregon, with eyes on developing not only an MLB stadium, but also developing an entertainment district in the area.
According to a story at Oregon Public Broadcasting, however, pulling RedTail from a five-course chain owned by the city of Portland could bring the region’s entire golf program crumbling down.
RedTail was built in 1966 on a former farm and then was redesigned into a 7,100-yard championship course in 1999. It includes a covered, lighted driving range and the course is one of the most popular in the region, offering a quality experience for a reasonable price.
Established in 1918, Portland’s golf program is self-funding, relying on fees collected from rounds of golf, concessions and stores at each course to fund the program’s expenses, all without taxpayer assistance.
RedTail, the committee argued, plays an important role in that ecosystem.
“Without RedTail subsidizing the rest of the system, the golf program would need significantly higher greens fees, maintenance cuts, and a new taxpayer funding source to survive,” the committee members wrote.
Golf Advisory Committee chair Tom Williams said RedTail has a popular driving range and classes that aren’t available at every course, making it very profitable for the entire system.
The city estimates that the golf program will earn about $512,000 in profit this fiscal year and $15 million in total revenue, according to budgets obtained by OPB. By comparison, RedTail is projected to earn $670,000 in profit alone.
For example, Oregon was the first state to implement an Environmental Stewardship Guideline (best management practices) for golf courses all the way back in 1999. It’s now a national program administered by the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) and Environmental Institute for Golf (EIFG) and is supported in part by the USGA in partnership with the PGA Tour.
But in 2019, the city’s courses need a significant bailout to survive, although the pandemic has helped to right the ship financially. However, pulling RedTail’s lucrative balance sheet from the system could lend itself to a downward spiral, one in which the city can no longer afford to keep the other four courses.
And green fees are considerably less expensive at the muni chain, with RedTail’s daily rate always under $50 and typically closer to $25.
“Many golfers in this region begin their golfing journey on city of Portland golf courses, because they are the most welcoming to new golfers and they are the most affordable,” Williams told OPB.
The courses could fetch a combined $6.5 million to $27.3 million, a report says.
Golfers in Cincinnati, Ohio, have long prized city courses for their high quality and low prices.
Those will be among the topics in play should the city decide to sell its courses or manage them in a new way – possibilities raised by the just-out Cincinnati Futures Commission report.
The courses could fetch a combined $6.5 million to $27.3 million, the report says, depending on whether they were bought by private golf course operators or sold off for development.
Here’s a look at the city’s six courses, operated by the Cincinnati Recreation Commission, as they stand today.
Six courses with rates starting under $20
The six courses – two on the west side, two on the east, one in the central part of the city and one north – all operate seven days a week, weather permitting.
Rates start below $20 for a nine-hole round, with higher costs Friday through Sunday and for before-noon tee times. Kids younger than 17 are free with a playing adult.
The courses take reservations online, up to 10 days in advance; by phone at (513) 651-4653, seven or fewer days in advance. Groups are limited to foursomes.
The venues sell snacks and beverages in their clubhouses, and ban players from bringing their own beer or alcohol on courses.
CRC courses offer between nine and 27 holes
Avon Fields Golf Course, 4081 Reading Road, is located in the neighborhoods of North Avondale and Paddock Hills. It offers 18 holes, a clubhouse and driving range.
California Golf Course, 5924 Kellogg Ave., is located in Cincinnati’s California neighborhood. It has 18 holes and clubhouse.
Glenview Golf Course, 10965 Springfield Pike, is in Springfield Township. Its east, south and west courses each have nine holes, with a clubhouse to serve all three.
Neumann Golf Course, 7215 Bridgetown Road, is located in Miami Township. Its white, blue and red courses each offer nine holes. The course includes a club house and driving range.
Reeves Golf Course, 4757 Playfield Lane, is located on the city’s Lunken Airport property in the East End. It offers 18 holes, a driving range and clubhouse.
Woodland Golf Course, 5820 Muddy Creek Road, is a nine-hole course in Green Township with a clubhouse.
Hamilton County, private operators run dozens more
Great Parks of Hamilton County also owns and operates six public courses, with similar rates and rules. They include Little Miami Golf Course in Anderson Township, Meadow Links in Forest Park’s Winton Woods, Miami Whitewater in Harrison, Sharon Woods in Sharonville, The Mill Course in Springfield Township and The Vineyard Golf Course in Anderson Township.
Greater Cincinnati is also home to dozens of public courses run by other municipalities, along with private clubs.
Architect Jay Blasi shares how he reshaped Golden Gate Park Golf Course into a community treasure.
Editor’s note: Architect Jay Blasi works with Golfweek as a rater ambassador and contributes occasional stories.
Golden Gate Park Golf Course is what is right about golf. It is accessible, affordable, playable, sustainable and charitable.
Most importantly, it is repeatable. Every city in America, big or small, could have its own version of Golden Gate Park, and our communities and our game would be better off for it.
The course officially reopens Friday, Feb. 16 after The First Tee of San Francisco invested $2.5-million in a 2023 renovation that I had the good fortune to design.
Perched on a small parcel packed with sand dunes and majestic cypress trees just a few hundred yards from the Pacific Ocean, the course is expected to host 40,000+ rounds a year. Highlights and results of the work include each of the following:
Accessible: The course is located in San Francisco, within Golden Gate Park, a few hundred yards from the beach. Golfers can arrive on foot, by bike, by bus or by car. The course is nine holes of par 3s and is an easy walk for all. The clubhouse and practice greens will be open to all and are certain to become a community hub.
Affordable: The course will cost between $20 and $25 for locals or around $40 to $50 for out-of-town guests. Children – including those who participate in First Tee or Youth on Course programs – will pay even less. That’s compared to $75 to $120 at several other top par-3 layouts.
Playable: The tees, fairways and surrounds are all maintained at fairway height, and there are no forced carries. The course plays firm and fast, so balls roll – even topped shots. Players of all skill levels, including first-timers, will be able to enjoy the course. It can be played with just a putter if golfers want to try it.
Sustainable: The smaller footprint and use of fescue turf will make Golden Gate Park Golf Course one of the most efficient users of water and chemicals in the U.S. golf industry. The single height of grass allows the maintenance team to mow the whole facility quickly. The use of only one formal bunker means all raking can be done in one minute.
Charitable: The First Tee makes the course available to its students for practice and play. The kids are learning valuable lessons that will enrich the community for decades to come. By investing in the course and offering an architecturally interesting layout, beginners will get hooked on the game.
Repeatable: Golden Gate Park Golf Course sits on only 20 acres of land. It was designed in a way that the man-hour equivalent of 2.5 employees can maintain the course. The money invested in the course came from wealthy local golfers and corporations that wanted to support underprivileged kids through golf. This formula can work in New York, Dallas, Denver, Seattle and Atlanta. It also can work in smaller towns in every region of the country.
“All of that area is going to be affected in the next 10 years by climate change.”
Parts of Peter Hansen’s favorite golf course were underwater. Again.
As the Pineapple Express storm swept across Ventura County Sunday, the bus driver from Camarillo drove by the 92-year-old course he described as good for morale because of its shorter, more forgiving holes. Already frustrated the city-owned Ventura track had been closed for more than a year because of damage from 2023 storms, Hansen saw the water and worried he might never tee up there again.
“I said: ‘This isn’t good,’” he recalled thinking.
The course’s future remains at least partly cloudy, but if it doesn’t reopen it won’t be because of the storm unleashed by an atmospheric river.
City officials said the course sustained only about $16,000 of damage, relative pennies compared to the $10 million or more estimated price of repairing destruction incurred by tons of sediment and mud that covered the course after the Santa Clara River flooded it on Jan. 9, 2023.
This time around, sand traps filled with water. Ducks swam in temporary lakes. A tree was lost and a piece of irrigation control equipment was damaged.
“It was pretty minor,” said Stacey Zarazua, the city’s parks and recreation director.
The course opened in 1932 and has built a loyal following, in part because its shorter length acts like balm on golfers’ egos. Its long-term future continues to hinge largely on funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and finding ways to reduce the chance of future flooding.
But city officials said parts of the course could possibly reopen in a short-term fix aimed at regaining some of the revenue lost during the long closure.
It’s not clear exactly when such a reopening could come but the course could be ready for it fairly quickly, said Deputy City Manager Brad “Brick” Conners.
“We think we can do at least nine holes,” he said. The final call on a temporary, partial reopening would come from the City Council, as will the key decisions on repairs and the course’s future.
“The potential exists,” Conners said of a full opening. “There are a variety of things that have to happen.”
Work crews use dump trucks top to remove mounds of dirt at the Buenaventura Golf Course on Friday, July 7, 2023. JUAN CARLO/THE STAR
‘Like the hand of God’
In January 2023, massive rain turned the course into a giant lake, also flooding the snack bar and pro shop. After the water drained, fairways, greens and sand traps were cloaked in thick, suffocating coats of mud and silt.
The sediment was removed and much of the grass survived, sparking hopes the course could survive and reopen. Barriers remain.
This file photo shows how Buenaventura Golf Course looked after it was flooded in January 2023. The Ventura course’s future remains uncertain.
Virtually all of the dozens of sand traps on the course were destroyed in the flood. Two greens also need to be rebuilt in expensive projects that involve irrigation issues and drainage repairs.
“It looks like the hand of God came in and swept them away,” Ventura Mayor Joe Schroeder said of the damaged putting surfaces. “There’s a hole where the green used to be.”
Buenaventura Golf Course in Ventura survived the Pineapple Express storm with minor scars as shown in this photo on Wednesday. Its future remains unclear but could include partial reopening. (Photo: Tom Kisken/VC Star)
The course is located in a floodplain. Conners said the city is in discussions about possible mitigation plans that would help flood-proof the course. Those changes could include some alterations to the layout and would be limited to the course and not the Santa Clara River. The mitigation would need review from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The city gained approval for funding from FEMA but the exact level of reimbursement remains unknown, Conners said. The city’s insurance carrier also needs to validate the funding claim to open the FEMA pipeline.
Big decisions coming
Schroeder said he has been told FEMA will cover 75% of the costs and 15% or more will be covered by other sources, leaving the balance for the city to pay.
He cited the 80,000 rounds of golf once played at Buenaventura yearly in voicing support for the reopening if the FEMA reimbursement money materializes. The opening could come in stages, growing from 9 holes to 12 holes to the full 18, he said.
But the mayor also said mitigation is needed to protect the course from future flooding.
“If we can do that … I’m open to investing in the course,” he said.
City Council Member Liz Campos said she’ll need to see an exact plan before revealing how she’ll vote. But she also thinks the course and other city sites fronting the ocean or river need to be pushed back at least a quarter mile to reduce the chance of future storms creating deja vu.
“All of that area is going to be affected in the next 10 years by climate change,” she said, suggesting the risks of damage will grow.
Hansen, the golfer from Camarillo, drives by the site often. He emails city leaders and others for status updates. The fairways looked so good before the recent storm that he had difficulty understanding why the course hadn’t reopened.
He remains hopeful.
“That’s my favorite course and I can’t wait for it to happen,” he said of the opening.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.
The course was established in 1921 and designed by celebrated golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast.
ERIE, Pa. — Erie Golf Club could have a new owner by this time next year.
Erie County Judge Marshall Piccinini approved Millcreek Township’s petition Monday to sell the 160-acre, 18-hole public golf course. On Tuesday, township supervisors voted unanimously to seek an appraisal on the property, the next step in selling the golf course.
“Once we get the appraisal, we will begin the process to put a bid package together,” said Mark Shaw, township solicitor.
The appraisal will come from Golf Property Analysts, a Conshohocken-based company, and cost the township $15,000 with a $9,000 retainer.
The township has owned Erie Golf Club since 2009, when it acquired the course, located at 6050 Old Zuck Road, in a deal with the city of Erie. The course was established in 1921 and designed by celebrated golf course architect A.W. Tillinghast.
A private business, 7637 Enterprises, operates the course under a five-year contract that expires at the end of the 2024 golf season. The township receives $37,000 annually as part of the deal, but expects to run a deficit of about $160,000 on the Erie Golf Club over the five years due to costs related to repairs and other capital expenses.
In addition, the course needs millions of dollars worth of improvements, including a new irrigation system, according to Ashley Marsteller, the township’s director of parks and recreation. Marsteller testified during a hearing on the petition.
“Our current operations contract ends at the end of (next) year and that’s the date we are fixing on (for a sale to be completed),” Shaw said.
Proceeds from any sale of Erie Golf Course must be allocated to the township’s parks and recreation department and not placed in the township’s general fund, Piccinini said in his order approving the petition.
Officials in the state’s capital are fighting to add resources to maintain the Granite State’s oldest golf course.
The city of Concord, New Hampshire, is known for its history and outdoor recreation. But after watching a community an hour to the north recently lose its municipal golf courses, officials in the state’s capital are fighting to add resources to maintain the Granite State’s oldest golf course — Beaver Meadow.
The first nine holes of the storied course were built in 1896, designed by Scottish golf pro named Willie Campbell, who eight times finished in the top 10 at the Open Championship. He handled the job for just $50.
The club was originally private, but members left and formed their own golf club across the Merrimack River. The city took ownership of the course and the second nine was then designed in 1968 by prolific designer Willie Cornish, who had a role in designing 240 layouts in the U.S., Canada and Europe. Among Cornish’s most notable work is the Pines Course at The International in Bolton, Massachusetts; Center Valley (Pennsylvania) Club; and the New Course at Ashburn Golf Club in Halifax, Nova Scotia, as well as Niagara Falls Country Club, the site of the amateur Porter Cup tournament.
Among the many course-design books that Cornish authored, “The Architects of Golf” was regarded as a landmark reference work. Cornish was a frequent lecturer worldwide on golf course architecture.
The course has become a staple on the new England golf scene, hosting an LPGA Futures/Symetra from 2005 to 2013 as well as the 17th Annual New Hampshire Golf Association Stroke Play Championship in 2016.
Now, however, as the city’s council is looking to construct a new clubhouse on the historic site as part of a $10.3 million bond, pushback is coming from what council member Erle Pierce told the local Concord Monitor is a “vocal minority.”
Those in favor of the move say it will help keep the course viable in the future. While Concord officials are trying to be proactive to maintain the course, one that has turned a small profit in recent years, a case study just an hour to the north could be considered a cautionary tale.
Facing financial pressure, the small town of Bethlehem sold its course in 2020, when Kim and Mark Koprowski purchased the 18-hole course. The pair announced last summer, however, that the facility will now be closed permanently and offers might be considered on real estate investments.
At the time of the sale there were just three municipally owned courses in the state. Now there are two.
For now, there’s no specific talk of selling off the course in Concord, but a new incoming council could change that discussion in the new year.
“I find anybody who wants to criticize the construction of the golf house to be a little bit naive and misinformed about the numbers and what the building means to the community,” Ward 7 councilor Keith Nyhan said before the Nov. 7 city election. “The golf course and certainly the clubhouse which is part of that golf course is a city asset and any asset that you don’t invest in or maintain is going to depreciate and that undermines the value of the property.”
Six new council members take office next month, leading to calls for the city to delay the vote. But a delay could put the bond in jeopardy as at least five members of the next council have expressed reservations about the project.
The 15-member council needs 10 votes to pass the bond and only three of the current members have said they oppose the spending, saying it’s not the right time for the city.
A vote on a taxpayer-funded bond is scheduled for Monday, although pushback from a handful of residents could alter the timeline.
Public correspondence sent to councilors ahead of Monday’s vote revealed 19 letters asking the vote on a new clubhouse to be rejected or delayed, with four letters in support. One letter of support was written by a Hooksett resident.
In addition, an online petition asking for a delay of the vote received more than 500 signatures.
“As for argument that Beaver Meadow benefits for only a select few, what about our library, pools, trails, Keach Park, and skating rink?” Pierce said. “I would guess that only a relatively few individuals use those facilities too. Would you be in support of the City defunding those City recreational properties too?”
A municipal golf course in Florida, could get a little shine soon after a sister course is completely overhauled.
A municipal golf course in Bradenton, Florida, could get a little shine soon after a sister course is completely overhauled.
The Sarasota-owned Bobby Jones Golf Club will host a grand reopening celebration on Dec. 15 from 9 a.m. to noon with the first tee times starting the next day. City residents will now also receive a 40% discount to golf at the 18-hole Donald Ross-designed course instead of a 10% discount discussed by the City Commission when officials set the facilities prices in October.
But that leaves those in nearby Bradenton, which owns the popular River Run Golf Links, looking at options to stay competitive and productive into the future.
River Run has seen rounds increase in recent years and the net income on the property, which is near the Pittsburgh Pirates spring training facility, has also been on the rise.
But should Bradenton officials be proactive in their approach to River Run, so they don’t need to undergo a renovation similar to the one at Bobby Jones?
In an evaluation of River Run for city leaders by National Golf Foundation Consulting Inc., some upgrades and price adjustments were recommended, something city leaders in November cautioned against.
The 92-page report by the Jupiter organization spells out an overview of the course, the local market, financials and five projects totaling about $600,000 – all but one the report calls “mission critical.” It also looks at longer-term, more expensive potential projects such as the construction of an adjacent practice range and the rebuilding of the course.
Mayor Gene Brown said of the $24,000 the city spent on the report and the discussion it prompted, “I’m glad we did it, I think it was worth it.”
According to the NGF report, the rates at River Run could likely be raised for out-of-towners as a means to help pay of the enhancements.
Sarasota’s new fee schedule ranges in price during the winter season from about $70 to $124, with city residents getting a 40% discount. During the same time frame at River Run, rates from November to late April range from $38.32 to $54.21.
A 92-page consultant’s report recommends five short-term projects totaling about $600,000 to enhance River Run Golf Links. Beyond that, a rebuild could be as high as $7.25 million, the report said.
Acknowledging River Run’s lower price, the report urged consideration of a slightly higher fee or a similar dynamic system that takes into account at-the-moment demand, similar to how airlines sell tickets.
“The consultants thought there was room to maintain the profile of the same type of golfer who wants to save a little bit of money but get out to a nice course and enjoy the outdoors, and there might be some opportunities to increase price points to recover a little bit of cash,’’ Perry said, adding the report indicated the course had a “good, clean bill of health.”
Also, since River Run is getting long in the tooth, the quick fixes might not be enough in the long run.
“The age of the golf course’s component parts will soon necessitate a major overhaul of the course. Current conditions are sub-par by industry standards, especially in terms of the turfgrass from tee to green. The NGF team believes that, as years pass, it will become increasingly difficult for maintenance staff to provide a sufficient amount and quality of turf to play from. This dynamic will eventually result in golfing customers seeking other places to play, despite River Run’s affordability.”
Cost of such a rebuild could be as high as $7.25 million, the report said. Lesser alternatives were also raised. Perry urged caution no matter the path forward.
“I’ve never been against golf,” he said. “But we also have to look at being good stewards of the money. We have to figure out the half-a-million dollar debt first, and we could not raise the prices enough to offset that because no one would play.”
