Golf course for all?

BREC could open the City Park Golf Course to other forms of recreation, following the lead of courses worldwide that are finding ways to serve more than golfers.

Why it matters: The idea could settle some of the simmering arguments over the course in the master planning process. One side wants the nine-hole course left untouched, while others want to open the land to different uses.

• It also could make room for runners, walkers, kite flyers and children who want to spin until they get dizzy and fall down.

The details: At a BREC Commission meeting Thursday evening, Central Mayor Wade Evans, who serves as a BREC commissioner, said he introduced the idea of sharing the course with other users to the golf committee. The panel wanted to discuss it further.

• Evans sees an opportunity to make the land available to more people while reducing golf-related losses through revenue-generating programs such as movie nights and food-truck roundups.
• Commissioners encouraged Evans to keep digging into the idea, including how BREC could balance time reserved for golf with time set aside for other activities.

Meanwhile: BREC accepted the master plan for City-Brooks Community Park through a resolution that also made clear the commission was not approving the implementation of any part of it.

• Commissioner Carl Stages offered a separate resolution that would have stopped any work stemming from the plan for 12 months.
• Several commissioners, including Lon Vicknair and Chairman Mike Polito, pushed back. They said the board’s role is to set policy and let BREC’s staff—especially with a new superintendent—do its job.
• Stages’ resolution was soundly defeated. He represents the Baker mayor on the commission.

The bigger picture: The master plan would be carried out in phases, with the first few years focused on improving the broader City-Brooks park area. That means the golf course is unlikely to be reduced in size anytime soon.

• That timeline to reduce the course size also could delay projects that might otherwise move quickly, including adding a carousel and creating natural areas along Dalrymple Drive.

The bottom line: The commission is moving toward opening the golf course to other uses while tiptoeing around the contentious master plan, but nudging it forward in the process.

The next big thing: Can supporters get a conservancy to oversee the park and University Lakes moving? That would be the primary way to raise the private donations needed to build and maintain the public spaces more quickly.