EVERETT-More golfers are wanted at the city’s two courses, and officials hope a proposal to drive down fees will fill the fairways.
| The Everett City Council meets at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at 3002 Wetmore Ave., Everett, to discuss golf fees. |
Lower golf fees – as much as $10 cheaper for 18 holes in some cases – will help build golfer loyalty and make Everett’s fairways more competitive with other courses, Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson said Friday.
“That’s great!” said John Yeum of Edmonds, who was unloading his clubs at Legion Memorial in north Everett. Legion costs slightly more than other area courses, he said.
On the flip side, cheaper rates might make it harder to get tee times, Yeum said. On Friday, Legion was the only local golf course he could find with tee times available in the afternoon, possibly because of its higher fees.
The City Council will vote Wednesday on a proposal to reduce fees starting July 1. The vote comes a year after the city eliminated a $10 discount for Everett residents.
Fewer golfers hit Everett’s links in 2004 compared with 2003.
At Legion, 50,440 rounds were played last year, a 6 percent drop from nearly 54,000 in 2003.
There was an 11 percent drop at Walter Hall. About 52,000 rounds were played in 2004, and 58,000 rounds in 2003.
“It’s not worth coming out here in the summer months,” said Steve Jordan, a United Parcel Service driver from Everett. “It’s too expensive.”
Jordan said golf should cost about $25 a round, not $40. He said he’d like to see a smaller gap in prices between Walter Hall and Legion.
The new rates are a first step toward making Everett’s courses more competitive, Stephanson said.
“We hope to encourage additional play at our courses, and we believe this rate adjustment is a positive step toward increasing the number of rounds,” he said.
If approved, Walter E. Hall would have the least expensive fees among 17 public and privately-owned golf courses surveyed by the city. Legion would be the ninth least expensive.
Everett’s existing fees were found to be the sixth and 14th highest in the region, according to golf experts at PROS Consulting, and Indianapolis firm hired in January by the city for $30,000 to assess the viability of the city courses.
“Our courses had been losing money for several years,” Everett spokeswoman Kate Reardon said.
The consultant still is developing recommendations to make the courses pay self-sustaining, she added.
In 2004, the two city golf courses brought in $3.1 million in revenue but cost $3.5 million for operations and debt. A loan from another city fund filled the budget gap, but it must be paid back, Reardon said.
Reporter Jeff Switzer: 425-339-3452 or jswitzer@heraldnet.com.
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