Most Jones Golf Course golfers agree with nine-hole conversion

Fairway woods and irons have not been beat into swords and spears.

About 40 golfers left any anger at home as they turned out Wednesday afternoon to offer their thoughts on the city golf operation's plan to return the flood-prone 18-hole Jones Golf Course to a nine-hole course with a driving range and four holes for instruction.

"I'm hearing some excitement for nine holes," Sven Leff, the city's parks and recreation director, told the crowd as the hour-long public comment session wound down at the southwest Cedar Rapids course's clubhouse. Another session was planned for Wednesday evening.

At the afternoon session's end, Lisa Miller, the city's golf superintendent, summed up her view of the crowd's sentiment this way: Everyone likes the course's 18 holes, "but what's reality?"

Miller provided statistics that showed the flood water had closed at least part of the course 19 times since it was converted from a nine-hole course to an 18-hole one in 2001. Seven times the entire course had to be closed, and each time, the city has paid to fix damage. The course's back nine remains closed after three flooding events this year.

Many of the 40 golfers on hand Wednesday afternoon didn't hesitate to provide Leff and Miller with their thoughts, with the majority acknowledging that it probably made sense to throw in the towel on the 18-hole layout.

Leff and Miller said the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in years past has not supported the concept of building a berm to protect the 18 holes course from Prairie Creek, but one golfer asked that the city check with the DNR again.

Another golfer, though, thought a network of ponds on the course were tied into the creek and so the course would flood in any event.

One golfer said the Jones course's flood-prone back nine was the most challenging in the city and it would be a shame to give up on it.

Most, though, seemed to agree that golfers are taxpayers, too, and they seemed to agree with one golfer, who said that repeatedly repairing flood damage on the course's back nine was akin to "pounding sand down a rat hole."

"Where does the money come from to keep repairing it?" another golfer asked.

Leff said the city explored other options, including returning the course to its original nine-hole layout, but some noted that it flooded back then, too.

Another idea was to convert the course into an 18-hole, "executive" par-3 course, but that thought was roundly rejected.

"We're golfers, we're not executives," said Chuck Wieneke, a former City Council member who plays in four city golf leagues during the week.

Wieneke favored the city's plan to keep the front nine in place and to use the least flood-prone holes on the back nine for instructional use. Three of the holes would be part of a three-hole, par-three "academy course" under the city's plan.

Several people said the academy concept would allow the city to steer more junior players for a better instructional experience at the Jones academy while freeing up more time for others on the city's other three 18-hole courses.

Others thought the city needed a quality nine-hole course, and one predicted that the quality of the Jones course would attract people. Seniors and those playing after work like nine-hole golf, some said.

Most seemed to agree with Leff that the frequent flooding at the Jones course hurt the overall health of the city's four-course network as revenue dropped at the Jones course while it was unplayable and as the city spent money to fix it.

Miller has estimated that the repairs from flooding at Jones this year will cost about three times as much as the cost of $11,877 to convert the closed back nine into an instructional academy with a new driving range.

Residents can weigh in with their thoughts by going to www.crtalks.com.

Miller has said the plan is to bring the Jones Golf Course transformation plan to the City Council at the council's noon meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 13.

In 2007, the council floated the idea of selling 20 acres of the city's Twin Pines Golf Course for commercial development, an idea dropped after public protest.

The Jones matter is different, Leff said.