After years of talk, city may close and try to sell Modesto Municipal Golf Course
The City Council at its Tuesday meeting could vote to close and direct staff to prepare for sale the nine-hole Modesto Municipal Golf Course in an effort to reduce the city’s annual subsidy to its golf fund.
City staff is recommending council members take these actions, which come after many years of off-and-on discussions about how to reduce the financial impact of the city’s three public golf courses on the city budget. City officials also have said golf is in decline nationwide, and the city’s three courses reflect that.
Besides the Muni course, the city owns 18-hole Creekside and Dryden golf courses. Previous discussions to close a course have brought out strong opposition from local golfers.
The city’s general fund is expected to provide at least a $750,000 annual subsidy to the city’s golf fund, according to a resolution the council will consider that would direct staff to close the Muni course and prepare it for sale.
But about $500,000 of the subsidy is for the debt payment on Creekside, which will end in 2023. But the subsidy does not include money for capital improvements at the three courses, and city officials have said those improvements are overdue and substantial.
A consultant’s report states Modesto could reduce its general fund golf subsidy by $400,000 to $500,000 annually by closing the Muni course but says that will be offset by an estimated $200,000 annual cost to the city for minor maintenance and security at the shuttered course until it is redeveloped.
Modesto had considered closing Dryden but changed its focus to Muni because of its potential for reuse. The resolution states the city has received interest in redeveloping the course. Officials have said that was for a housing development but refused to provide details.
City officials were not available for comment by Monday’s press deadline.
The Modesto Municipal Golf Course holds sentimental value. Generations of golfers have learned how to play at the tree-lined course, which opened in the 1930s and is next to John Thurman Field. It is also the site of Coffee Field, Modesto’s first airport.
The course is home to the local chapter of The First Tee, the nationwide organization that teaches life skills to young people through golf. The council resolution states the city would work with the chapter to move the program to Dryden.
The First Tee manages the nine-hole course under a contract with the city that expires in December. The resolution calls for Modesto to close the course “as soon as administratively possible, but no later than the expiration of The First Tee’s contract.”
The City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. in the basement chambers of Tenth Street Place, 1010 10th St.
