EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A representative exceeded Evansville officials a list of thoughts on how to improve the sagging public golfing course fund.
One of those tips is shutting down the Wesselman Par-three route, which is seldom used. The representative counseled developing a golf getting to know middle or new park at the Wesselman belongings, or making it a part of Wesselman Woods.
Evansville town authorities additionally owns and operates Helfirch Hills and Fendrich golfing publications, in addition to the 9-hollow McDonald direction.
City government’s golfing fund has proven a negative balance for multiple years. It’s drawn interest from the State Board of Accounts, which does annual audits of town government.
More: Play them or lose them: Schroeder on metropolis’s golfing publications
In 2018, the fund finished $266,000 inside the pink. Thus a long way in 2019, the fund is at minus $44,000, however that deficit is in all likelihood to develop a few as fall and wintry weather arrive.
National Golf Foundation Consulting, which has completed comparable opinions for other U.S. Municipalities, supplied its findings Wednesday to the Board of Park Commissioners. The company changed into paid $47,000 for its work. That money got here from casino revenues.
Golf national is suffering, “however it isn’t always useless,” said Richard Singer, senior director of National Golf Federation Consulting. He brought the same can be stated of golfing in Evansville.
Golfers inside the Evansville area have numerous publicly owned and privately owned courses to select from. Singer stated supply outweighs demand.
“There’s too many golf publications,” he stated.
Golfers teed off for 84,840 rounds in 2017 on the metropolis’s 4 public courses. In 2018, the entire turned into seventy five,435, an eleven-percent drop.
Besides locating a brand new cause for the Wesselman Par-3, here are a few other pointers made by way of the representative.
Modernizing the advertising of town golfing publications. City Parks and Recreation Director Brian Holtz said that attempt is already inside the works, with cash for extra net-based advertising in the town’s 2020 finances.
Addressing a backlog of maintenance problems at Helfrich Hills and Fendrich golf publications, which Singer said threaten the guides’ future use. Fendrich, the maximum popular town golf direction, struggles with drainage from Pigeon Creek.
Centralizing the control of city publications into one position, a director of golf who reports to Holtz, rather than spreading control across more than one human beings. Holtz said a few pending retirements in 2020 make this recommendation feasible.
Negotiating a greater favorable water fee structure for the city’s publications.
Singer stated the McDonald course has fewer deferred preservation needs than the two 18-hole residences, and it maintains a regular and loyal following.
Helfrich Hills, the oldest metropolis-run course, has seen its regular activity decline however it remains a popular direction for tournaments, outings and occasions, Singer said.
Fendrich’s recognition can be increased with the aid of addressing its drainage problem and advertising its fantastic features, such as its clubhouse, in step with the consultant.
The Board of Park Commissioners took the consultant’s document below advisement. Holtz stated the Wessleman Par-3 recommendation became not a surprise, but city officers aren’t close to making a decision approximately the belongings’s destiny.
“We’re not there but,” he said. “We are aware of it’s struggled for decades. We’ll look at that. The parks board in the long run may be the one to make that selection because it movements ahead.”
