Wichita City Council tees up golf fee increases
The cost of driving is about to go up in Wichita – along with the cost of chipping and putting.
The City Council on Tuesday is expected to approve some new rates and new fees for season passes to the municipal golf courses.
The Park and Recreation Department and the Park Commission are recommending the increases to meet rising costs and replace aging equipment, especially golf carts that are on their last legs.
It is essential that we provide a clean, well maintained and modern golf cart fleet.
Park Department report
“In order to have an enhanced customer experience, it is essential that we provide a clean, well maintained and modern golf cart fleet,” said a department report to the council.
Of the city’s 277 golf carts, 196 are past their eight-year prime and “are costing more in maintenance costs than their trade-in value,” the report said.
To help address that, the commission recommends a 40-cent-per-round increase in cart rental, bringing the cost to $25 for 18 holes and $15 for nine.
In addition, most classes of season passes, including seniors and retired military, will see increases of $20-$25.
Purchasers of the passes don’t golf for free, but do pay steeply discounted greens fees.
The most expensive pass, allowing two adult golfers course access seven days a week, will rise from $970 to $990. The seven-day single pass will go up from $800 to $820.
The only price reduction will be in the seven-day-a-week student pass, which will drop from $125 to $75.
People understand it’s a cost of doing business to keep the courses in the shape they’re in.
Wichita City Council member Bryan Frye
Council members say the overall increases – expected to generate about $96,000 a year for the city golf fund – are part of a long-term plan to keep up the courses.
“The golfers that we talked to as a whole were supportive (of small fee increases) to keep the quality we have right now,” said council member James Clendenin.
About five years ago, City Manager Robert Layton touched off protest in the golfing community when he proposed closing the lightly used L.W. Clapp Golf Course in south Wichita to save money. A 2014 proposal would have reconfigured the course to make land available for development at the corner of Harry and Oliver.
Both proposals were rejected.
“These fee increases are one of the pieces of the puzzle to keep (the Clapp closure) from happening,” Clendenin said.
On the fees, “we won’t have the pushback we had a few years ago,” predicted council member Bryan Frye, a former Park Board chairman. “People understand it’s a cost of doing business to keep the courses in the shape they’re in.”
The council will consider the increase at its meeting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday at City Hall, 455 N. Main, Wichita.
Proposed golf fee increases
Here are proposed changes in Wichita municipal golf fees:
Product | Current rate | Proposed rate |
Five-day single pass | $ 635 | $ 655 |
Seven-day single pass | $ 800 | $ 820 |
Five-day couple pass | $ 800 | $ 820 |
Seven-day couple pass | $ 970 | $ 990 |
Five-day senior pass, ages 62-69 | $ 150 | $ 175 |
Five-day super senior pass, ages 70+ | $ 75 | $ 100 |
Seven-day pass, retired military | $ 150 | $ 170 |
Driving range pass | $ 300 | $ 325 |
18-hole greens fee for five-day senior pass holders | $ 11 | $ 12 |
9-hole greens fee for seven-day senior pass holders | $ 7.50 | $ 8 |
18-hole cart fee | $ 24.20 | $ 25 |
9-hole cart fee | $ 14.20 | $ 15 |
This story was originally published April 3, 2016 at 4:02 PM with the headline "Wichita City Council tees up golf fee increases."