Seven years into a new approach on pricing, Salt Lake City is set to raise fees this spring for play at its six public golf courses.
Director of Golf Matt Kammeyer said Tuesday the latest increases of between $1 to $2 per session would generate about $553,000, letting the city division continue to solidify its once-shaky finances and catch up on a backlog of nearly $35 million in deferred course maintenance.
The city’s golf program is now the healthiest it has been in years, Kammeyer said, with play across Bonneville, Forest Dale, Glendale, Mountain Dell, Nibley Park and Rose Park courses at all-time highs.
Golf, along with other outdoor recreation amenable to social distancing, saw an upswing in popularity with the COVID-19 outbreak, some of which has persisted with an infusion of new younger players drawn to the sport.
“This has been a great shot in the arm for the entire golf industry,” Kammeyer told the City Council. “This isn’t something unique to Salt Lake City. It’s across the board.”
The fee increases, according to a city memo, reflect a policy of paying for golf-related capital improvements at city courses through user fees instead of asking all taxpayers to foot the bill.
Added revenue, meanwhile, is funding much-needed improvements at all six courses, with more to come, Kammeyer said. “Our golfers,” he said, “will be able to feel good about where their fees are going.”
Breaking down the hikes
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) a golfer at Salt Lake City's Glendale Golf Course in March 2020.
This round of selective hikes is modest, with green fees going up for the most part around $2 to play 18 holes at Bonneville, Glendale, Mountain Dell and Rose Park. Those hikes will apply to public, senior, young adult, junior, city club and senior city club players, though junior prices won’t change at Glendale and Rose Park.
Nine-hole sessions at Bonneville, Glendale and Rose Park are to go up a dollar, as well as at Forest Dale and Nibley Park, though solely in the case of young adult players at those two courses.
The add-ons will take green fees for regular public players for 18 holes to $46 at Bonneville and Mountain Dell; $40 at Glendale; and $36 at Rose Park. Nine holes will rise to $23 at Bonneville; $20 at Glendale; and $18 at Rose Park, while remaining unchanged at Forest Dale, Nibley Park and Mountain Dell.
Other fees, on rentals and some tournament play, will also increase. So will season passes, across the board.
Golf in SLC ‘affordable’
The city’s golf managers, according to a report to council, are “confident that the proposed fee increases can be supported without a decline in play.”
With the city’s diverse course offerings and range of price options, the memo said, “golf in Salt Lake City remains both affordable and competitive along the Wasatch Front.”
The new revenue will help fund a backlog of overdue course and building maintenance, Kammeyer said, such as replacing irrigation systems and equipment and repairing clubhouses and cart paths.
Last year, crews put in “a significant portion” of new and repaired cart paths at four courses, he said. They’ve replaced a deck and are putting a new roof on the clubhouse at Mountain Dell — the city’s most popular public course — and are poised to fix a large sinkhole in the parking lot at Nibley Park.
“We’re able to take care of some those projects through our surplus fees,” Kammeyer said, “rather than come back to the general fund and say, ‘We need you to pay for this.’ ”
As golf finances continue to stabilize, Kammeyer said, “there will be several new projects we’ll be able to add to the list.”
Membership prices
Th city’s approach on golf fees started shifting about 10 years ago, when an analysis found its golf fund in worsening financial straits even as course conditions deteriorated. A 2017 policy overhaul gave the golf division, overseen by the city’s Public Lands Department, the ability to adjust prices selectively to reflect demand.
Managers also got the authority to enact price changes this time of year, in advance of peak golf season, instead of those being part of the city’s fiscal budgeting process over the summer.
Under the latest changes, annual memberships and season pass programs will go up between $100 and $150 — with a city pass costing $1,800; senior city passes, $1,400; and junior city passes, $600.
Club rentals are poised to rise for 18 holes at Mountain Dell to $45. Golf cart rentals, similarly, will increase by a dollar per rider at Forest Dale, Nibley Park and Rose Park, for those playing nine holes.
A few miscellaneous fees — twilight rates at Bonneville, range ball fees, and certain high school and university team rates — will rise in the range of $1 to $2 a session.
