Jones Golf Course closure among recommendation to balance Cedar Rapids golf losses

CEDAR RAPIDS - City officials in Cedar Rapids are recommending closing Jones Golf Course - one of four 18-hole golf courses run by the city - and converting it into a 70-acre addition to Jones Park to offset more than $2 million in golf department losses the last 10 years.

Jones, which regularly has problems with flooding, had the fewest golfers and the greatest financial losses compared to Ellis, Gardner and Twin Pines in four of the past five years, and is poorly located for its surrounding demographics, according to an internal review of the city's golf department.

'Jones Golf Course was quite the outlier,” said Sven Leff, parks and recreation director in Cedar Rapids. 'It was the big drain on the financial performance compared to the other three courses of our system. Year after year, that was the case.”

The Jones closure is the most significant in a series of recommendations released Friday after a nine-month internal review. Other recommendations include adding tee times and adopting green fee increases at Ellis and Gardner, an 8 percent increase in annual passes at all three courses and a discount on the senior nine-hole rate during the weekdays.

'We are committed to golf, but we are also committed to getting our budget in balance and making the changes necessary to ensure the stability of the entire system,” said Jeff Pomeranz, city manager.

The sport of golf has been struggling around the country, which has been a factor in the struggles, but Prairie Creek flooding posed the greatest threat for Jones, Leff said. Jones has had full or partial closures 22 times in the past 16 years. Flood repairs may cost $15,000 or $20,000 per incident, but most damaging is lost revenue from golf rounds, Leff said.

When Jones has closed, the golf rounds have increased at the other courses, Leff said. If a quarter to a third of the 16,400 annual golf rounds at Jones swing to Ellis, Gardner or Twin Pines - which have to a lesser extent also been losing money - those courses and the department as a whole can get back in the black, he said.

The four public courses have averaged 100,000 rounds of golf per year while the department averaged $342,000 in losses from fiscal 2013 to 2015, according to city data. The city's general fund has covered the loses.

Data reveals a stark divide between Jones and the other courses.

Jones averaged $190,000 per year in losses. which is more than the other three courses combined. Twin Pines lost $40,440 on average the past three years, Gardner lost $69,986 and Ellis lost $41,569. Meanwhile, Jones saw an average of 16,415 rounds of golf annually, compared to 26,784 at Ellis, 24,208 at Gardner and 32,969 at Twin Pines.

City officials say the recommendations are likely to save $430,000, covering the budget shortfall and allowing the golf department to begin repaying past debt to the city's general fund.

The city has explored closing or shrinking Jones to nine holes in the past, as well as selling Twin Pines, but backed off after public pushback. During the internal review, Jones became the obvious choice and full closure made the most sense, said golf director Lisa Miller, who led the review with Leff, Assistant City Manager Sandi Fowler and Finance Director Casey Drew.

'You don't reduce the expense by going to nine holes,” Miller said.

The city fielded informal inquires from Linn County officials about purchasing Gardner, but that door is closed for now, Leff said. The Gardner location, while losing money, has the most promise and with the closure of Jones, selling Gardner isn't necessary, Leff said.

Some golfers are lamenting the loss.

'I would rather see it stay open as an 18-hole or nine-hole course,” said Dennis Mecsko, 70, a frequent golfer and part-time worker at Jones, who hopes to catch on at one of the other courses. 'The layout is one of the best in the city. I play here the most.”

Chuck Wieneke, who served on City Council from 2008 to 2011, said the city should have provided a few options for public discussion. He favors a plan from a few years ago to make Jones a nine-hole course with three holes for training, and he'd prefer closing Gardner to Jones.

'Let's look at what could other alternatives be and pick the best,” Wieneke said. 'I agree we don't need four courses.”

The Jones closure would mean a staff reduction equivalent to 4.5 full-time positions, although the cuts may not necessarily be to staff currently based at Jones, Leff said.

The internal review considered a variety of other options including outsourcing management, closing or selling one or more courses, contracting golf pros, expanding concessions and merchandising, pricing adjustments and identifying new revenue streams, according to the city.

The City Council is going to be asked to approve the recommendations as part of its annual budget approval in March, and the changes would take affect during the 2017 golf season.

'Monitoring our success in these changes is a big piece,” Fowler said. 'If these don't work we are going to have to continue to look at other changes to make sure we are operating in the black, not just this year but all years.”

The Jones Park enlargement has potential uses such as prairie conversion as part of the 1,000 Acres Pollinator Initiative, and a sod farm for Parks and Recreation Department facilities and projects, officials said. The maintenance buildings and clubhouse are to be repurposed.

When construction disturbs wetlands, wetlands need to be created elsewhere to offset the loss. Jones could become a bank with several acres of wetlands, Leff said.

Long-term plans are still being considered and may include a dog park, improved disc golf course and conversion of golf cart paths to trails, officials said.

'It is a sad thing to be losing a course but it wasn't hard to come up with new needs that could be put into place,” Leff said.

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