Duluth Golf Programs Go Even More in Debt

The 2019 golf season set Duluth back an estimated $190 thousand.

DULUTH, Minn.- Duluth golf programs have dug themselves into a hole, and it’s no hole in one.

After years of trying to pull themselves out of debt, parks and recreation experienced a major setback during the 2019 golf season.

It’s estimated the courses lost about $190 thousand this year, compared to 2018 where they lost $60 thousand.

City administrators say the loss is due to the weather induced death of the greens at Enger Golf Course that closed a third of the course down last Spring.

“For 2020, we’re looking to get back into shouting distance of break even, and in the meantime we’re working those long term strategies to get the program on an annual, financially sustainable path,” director of public administration Jim Filby Williams said.

The city is confident they will be able to decrease the golf program’s losses.

One of the ways they plan on doing that is increasing the cost of rounds played in an 18–round game by two dollars a round.

Additionally, Lester Golf Course will be moving from 27 holes to 18 next year.