Mayor Jerry Sanders unveiled his own plan for the municipal golf courses on Thursday, April 6, which includes raising greens fees, scrapping the new clubhouse for Torrey Pines for now, slashing the Torrey Pines golf clubs’ tee times, limiting individual play and eliminating senior discounts.
The mayor supported increasing greens fees for residents to cover operational costs and for non-residents to facilitate capital improvements. Raising greens fees is not contingent upon building a clubhouse, Sanders indicated.
Sanders ruled out constructing a clubhouse because it would require using the general fund as collateral. The United States Golf Association also assured Sanders that a clubhouse is not necessary for the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Nonetheless, the city will still process building permits for the clubhouse should the city decide to build it after the U.S. Open.
“The mayor doesn’t have the courtesy to acknowledge that this clubhouse is unanimously rejected by the community,” said Paul Spiegelman, co-founder of the San Diego Municipal Golfers Alliance, a grassroots organization of golfers.
Torrey Pines Men’s and Women’s golf clubs watched their tee times disappear at the meeting. Sanders cut the golf clubs’ tee times by 50 percent on Thursdays, and the men’s Sunday tournaments to three times per year instead of 12, according to Arthur Stromberg, president of the men’s club.
This will ensure that the same people aren’t getting the tee times every day, said Julie Dubick, an attorney in the mayor’s office. An additional 17,000 tee times will open to the public by taking tee times from the golf clubs and hotels, including the 7,300 tee times the pro shop returned to the city.
The golf clubs believe that they’re not taking tee times from the public, but providing an organized game for the public.
“We’re taking a percentage for organized play rather than random play and that’s our key message,” Stromberg said.
If the mayor’s proposal passes, the men’s club’s 484 monthly Thursday rounds between 6:30 and 10:30 a.m. will be cut to 225 rounds, with 150 tournament rounds on Sundays dropping to 42 rounds. Stromberg compared those figures to Torrey Pines Lodge, which receives approximately 600 rounds of golf per month under a contract with the city.
The golf clubs continue to fight the tee times allocated to the hotels. The men’s club is behind a lawsuit against the city for failing to enforce a 1983 settlement agreement that said the city would not give preferential tee times to hotels.
Sanders was unavailable for comment on the lawsuit.
The men’s and women’s clubs are open to golfers of all ages and abilities, Stromberg said. Golfers pay approximately $100 in yearly fees, which provides the player with a handicap and membership in the Southern California Golf Association, comprising more than 1,200 member clubs.
In an attempt to capture broker fees for the city, advance registration will be available through the golf course at a surcharge of $25 to $40 for residents, and $35 to $50 for non-residents. No party will be able to play more than twice per week.
“We’re opening this to the average person and the old vested interests are having a hard time accepting this,” Dubick said.
The men’s club opposes this system, perceiving that residents will now have to pay a surcharge to secure a good tee time.
Under the new plan, senior fees will be eliminated and instead calculated through an income waiver process. Junior fees will not increase as proposed by the original plan.
Sanders halted the five-year plan for Torrey Pines, Balboa and Mission Bay golf courses on March 1 after local golfers fiercely protested the plan for a new clubhouse at Torrey Pines, linking it to increased greens fees. Golfers also objected to the spike in junior fees and elimination of the county rate.
Stakeholders were invited to meet with the mayor, including Torrey Pines men’s and women’s golf clubs, Torrey Pines Lodge, the Torrey Pines Hilton, San Diego Municipal Golfers Alliance, tee time brokers, the Century Club that works to bring the Buick Invitational to Torrey Pines, and the city’s golf operations department.
Golf operations approved the mayor’s plan, which will go before the City Council’s Natural Resources and Culture Committee on Wednesday, May 17, 9 a.m., at council chambers, 202 C St., 12th floor. For information call Nicole Capretz, (619) 533-6465 or e-mail [email protected].