City officials have an optimistic outlook about the city’s golf courses, Greenbelt and Par 3, as the year winds to a close.
Associate Director of Recreation Nikki Murphy said that city golf is doing “really well” though the number of rounds is still down somewhat.
“We’ve recaptured revenue,” she said. “The next two months are going to be big in terms of membership passes, and those will start to get sold pretty soon here. So we’re going to be meeting with our committee next to just make sure we iron out some goals for 2022. We believe that we’ll meet and exceed the goals that we set as a committee for 2021.”
The city’s Golf Course Advisory Committee set three goals for Greenbelt and Par 3 — increase revenue, increase the number of rounds and increase junior play.
When asked what she attributed the increase in revenue to, Murphy stated that the biggest factor was likely scorecard sponsorships.
“That started us off in a really good place in the first quarter, actually, this year,” she said. “And so that’s something we think we’ll be able to retain for next year and increase as well, possibly even double the amount of sponsorships.”
Furthermore, the courses are seeing new, paying individuals use the courses as opposed to “heavy-play members,” which also affects revenue. Officials believe that member rounds have likely decreased a little bit, and paying rounds have increased.
Increases also come from the return of programs that were canceled in 2020, as well as middle schools using Par 3 again, Murphy said. League numbers have recovered as well.
There are also some savings when it comes to course maintenance.
“On the expenses to revenue, as we projected as we go through, we were really digging ourselves out of a non-maintained hole at both courses,” she said. “And so there was a lot of dollars being spent to just fix deferred maintenance. And so we knew that come this year, those items would start to fall away.”
In 2020, city officials presented the possibility of closing Greenbelt amid financial difficulties with Columbus’s three city-run golf courses.
After several city meetings, countless public comments and a $176,000 subsidy, the city decided to keep Greenbelt open along with Par 3 and Otter Creek.
The city’s park department manages Greenbelt and Par 3, whereas Otter Creek is managed by a city-appointed board.
