There will only be one more season for a local golf course.
On Monday, city council voted 7-4 against a recommendation to reduce fees at Municipal Golf Course in order to see if the drop would bring more golfers back. The recommendation, made by the city’s Municipal Golf Course Advisory Committee, would have dropped fees to 2007 levels, created a single membership for the course and have the course marketed aggressively by the city.
While councillors were quick to commend the committee’s work, they were also quick to criticize the idea.
Coun. Trevor Giertuga called it asinine.
The course would need to see an extra 4,300 rounds played on it this year to save $50,000. But with around 7,000 rounds being played on average for the past three years, if more golfers didn’t show up the city would actually lose an additional $44,600.
“It seems ridiculous to me we’re even going to do this,” Giertuga said. “It just seems asinine that this is the only option we could come up with.”
But Coun. Andrew Foulds, one of the councillors on the committee and one of four to vote for the recommendation, said there were many ideas but this is the one the committee could agree on. Since councillors have always said golfers should use the course or lose it, this would be one last chance to let them do it.
“Perhaps we’ve priced ourselves out of the reach of many,” Foulds said. “It really is up to the golfers. The golfers are going to have to come out.”
Jules Tupker, one of three public members on the committee, said there were a lot of good ideas that were shot down. The committee wanted to try and perhaps lower the standards of the course by perhaps not mowing the greens as often. But the city said the union wouldn’t allow it.
“They haven’t talked to the union in over two years to talk about staffing,” he said after the decision.
Coun. Aldo Ruberto said he has been trying to convince golfers to play the course since it was up for closure last year.
“That never happened. I was extremely disappointed in that,” he said.
Other councillors disliked the idea of lowering fees for one city course but not the other two. Some wondered whether the idea would take golfers away from Strathcona and Chapples.
“I don’t think you would see a significant drain,” city golf director Tom Forsythe said, adding he couldn’t be sure.
Tupker said he’s disappointed but not surprised that council didn’t accept the recommendation. And while council pointed out that the city still has two public courses, Tupker said he doesn’t think it will be long before the other two are on the block.
“Absolutely. I think this has opened the door to Strathcona being next on line,” he said.
