Palm Lakes has lost its swing
12/14/2005
By Ken Robison / The Fresno Bee
(Updated Wednesday, December 14, 2005, 8:35 AM)
Golfers, you have 18 days to play Palm Lakes.
The Fresno City Council voted 5-1 Tuesday to close the city-owned golf course, which was draining city coffers of almost $200,000 a year.
Councilman Mike Dages dissented and councilman Henry Perea was absent for the vote.
Palm Lakes has fallen into disrepair in recent years. Unmowed fairways, fungus-plagued greens and the lack of a driving range, working golf carts, food service and a pro shop resulted in the number of rounds played decreasing to just 7,239 for the first nine months of this fiscal year.
And with some seniors paying less than $5 a round, the course has not had nearly as much revenue as expenses.
The approximately $690,000 shortfall of the past five years was being reimbursed out of excess funds from city-owned Riverside Golf Course — depriving Riverside of much-needed improvements, city officials said.
"I just feel sick about it," said councilman Larry Westerlund, whose district encompasses the 18-hole, 4,200-yard executive-length course north of Fresno-Yosemite Airport.
"But you can't get away from the reality of the numbers. The course is fiscally unviable in its current state."
Almost 16,000 rounds were played at Palm Lakes in 2004 and more than 19,000 in 2003, but the city lost $385,000 on the course over those two years. Palm Lakes saw more than 26,000 rounds played in 2000.
In its decision the council also rejected a proposal by Fresno businessman Steve Roseth to keep the course open. City officials said Roseth was the only respondent to its Request For Proposal to operate the course.
Westerlund said the city-formed committee that requested bids ultimately decided that Roseth's proposal was not credible.
"In particular, they thought the number of rounds projected [28,000 the first year] was way too high and the amount of money he was going to put in was way too low," Westerlund said.
"They did not think it would work."
Roseth said he believed his plan would work without any cost to the city. Longtime golf consultant Tom Nix, former head pro at Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill, was a consultant to Roseth, who owns a packaging manufacturing firm.
"I was rather surprised by the city's response," Roseth said.
"They had no risk [in the proposal]."
The council instructed city staff to continue watering and mowing the property, and creating a park for residents of the condominiums and apartments on and adjacent to the course.
Westerlund said there is no timetable for how long the course will stay closed. Fresno parks and recreation director Randall Cooper has an idea for turning Palm Lakes into a nine-hole course, but Westerlund emphasized that Cooper's plan was "just a concept."
"Right now, we're going ahead with [Palm Lakes] as a linear park," Westerlund said. "If something else comes up [for the property], I'll fight tooth and nail for something I believe is viable."
In June, Palm Lakes residents and golfers packed Westerlund's informational meetings at the Palm Lakes clubhouse after the City Council first broached the idea of closing the course.
But none of them spoke in opposition of Palm Lake's closing at Tuesday's council meeting.
The reporter can be reached at
krobison@fresnobee.com or (559) 441-6279.
Contact : Larry Westerlund Phone : (559) 621-8000