2015-06-02_PR Comm Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Greeter Bob Dolan touched up the windshields of golf carts after a brief rain at Eagle Valley. Four years ago, the course was on a downward slide, but is looking good again. All in all, said city parks director Bob Klatt, “the course is now operating very successfully. We’ve had good seasons and good revenue.” A big change Four years ago, it wasquite the opposite. “By far, 2011 was the worst ever in our existence,” said Dan Moris, head pro and supervisor of golf operations. It began the year before as rounds sold began dropping off fast, and then Mother Nature delivered a blow: the biggest single-day November snowfall in nearly 20 years. “We went from 65 degrees one day in the fall, with greens still trying to grow, to nine inches of snow three days later,” Moris said. “It suffocated the grass. We spent the whole spring trying to regrow the greens. We seeded them three times. That year was brutal.” City officials were tiring of financial problems, and put the golf course on a three-year recovery clock: Get your act together, or risk getting out of the business altogether. Things began to turn around in 2012, with its miraculously early spring. Golfing at Eagle Valley soared. Even last year, with an abnormally wet June, notably on weekends, the course experienced a jump of well over 4,000 rounds played compared to 2011. New Life Academy golfers Nicole Hager and Kristine Nelson examined a scorecard as coach Wally Bomgren watched. Late in 2014, a financial weight was lifted. The City Council found the moneyto buy out debt, save heavily on interest costs, and put the course on a firmer footing.