Carson City golfers discuss season pass

About 100 Carson City golfers crowded into the clubhouse at Eagle Valley Golf Course on Thursday to try to find a way to save the course's season pass.

The group comprised mostly of senior golfers spent the first five minutes of the meeting talking over each other, trying to express their opinions all at once on the golf course.

Then, golfers broke into smaller groups to discuss ways to preserve the pass threatened by rate restructuring at the golf course.

Each group elected a chairman who will meet with Carson City Municipal Golf Corporation officials later to work out an agreement to at least keep some sort of pass.

The unlimited season pass was cut from the course's new rates recently as a way to try to control plunging profits at the golf course.

Golfer Jim Collier chose not to join a group, saying he thought the best way for the course to stay viable was to lower their rates and draw more golfers.

"It's so basic and fundamental, nobody seems to understands it," Collier said. "When you charge a hefty price, you drive people away. Every one of these golf courses are scrambling for players. The answer is not to raise prices."

Collier said if the pass is not preserved, he will probably buy the new 50-punch card but said he would spend time at other courses. He was also critical that the city pays millions of dollars each year to subsidize sports such as tennis, soccer and softball, but puts nothing towards the golf course, an activity frequented by seniors.

"There's something fundamentally wrong when a golf course is not part of the parks and rec department," he said. "If golf isn't recreation what is? It is recreation. It keeps us old guys out of trouble. If I had a better set of legs, I'd go up there and play tennis for nothing. What we need to do here is primarily is make the elected officials realize that golf is recreation."

Golf officials have said unlimited pass play on both the East and West courses has resulted in a loss of revenue the course can no longer afford.

City supervisors recently approved rate restructuring for the financially strapped golf course, but asked golf officials to salvage the pass in some form.