Taylor (Gohn) White
Columbus
After 10 years away, I have moved back and fallen into my golf swing at Greenbelt Golf Course. After the recent disclosure in The Republic about the potential end of “The Belt,” my heart sank. I grew up playing golf with my friends there, taking lessons from Steve Cohen, thousands of rounds with my parents – prepping for junior tournaments.
Personally, I believe the closure of the “people’s” course should not be made by those that do not play and understand the course and what it brings to the community. Columbus needs a course that is affordable and convenient. There are members of Greenbelt, spanning longer than 30 years, that would be displaced by the closure. Juniors won’t be given the ability to learn a lifelong game outside of country club fees.
All three golf courses owned by the city of Columbus are losing money – pinning the loss on Greenbelt to keep Otter Creek is absurd. I believe that there is a purpose to all three courses in Columbus, and all three show the traffic to prove it. My argument in the matter is not that Otter Creek or Greenbelt should close but that this community has needs for both courses.
I have played all over the country and Otter Creek is a championship-level course – one of which some Greenbelt members do not want to experience. I had my days of needing the level of golf Otter offers.
On any given weekend, I wait on every tee behind fellow Bartholomew County citizens at Greenbelt. Closing our course isn’t a solution to the city parks department losing money– it’s a cop out. I believe a better solution is to focus on growing the game of golf in Columbus. To do this, focus can be put on specials for residents, juniors, seniors, date nights…the list is endless. I work in business, I understand the phrase ‘cut your losses,’ but doing so without the opinion and input of a community is bad business.
I believe the support from golfers near and far has proven most people are not ready to see Greenbelt close it doors.
