Junior golfers get break in Deer Park fees

It will be basically a hold-the-line fee structure at Deer Park Municipal Golf Course in Yorkton.

Fees were frozen, with the exception of those for Junior golfers, which saw a significant cut, as a way to hopefully increase course usage.

“The Deer Park Golf Course generates between 18,000 and 20,000 rounds per year. Similar golf courses in other cities in the province generate upwards of 30,000 and in some instances upwards of 50,000 rounds. Currently, Administration projects that approximately 23,000 rounds are needed to break even at Deer Park. Direction from Council has been to try to make the course more accessible to the general public in order to increase rounds,” Darcy McLeod, Director of Community Development, Parks & Recreation told the regular meeting of Yorkton Council Monday.

“Therefore our goal (and that of any golf course) is to continue to increase rounds played.

“This can be done through a combination of means and methods, of which the most typical and controversial is through user fees.”

McLeod said running the course costs money.

“Maintenance costs continually rise each year but these costs are required regardless of the number of rounds played. Reducing maintenance standards is considered each year but is difficult to implement given that grass needs to be cut regardless of the standard. A past example of reducing maintenance standards includes the reduction of fertilizer applications from three per year to one. The cost of doing one application is the same as it used to cost for three previously,” he said.

“The question always is how much can rates be raised before people are turned off from purchasing your product? Administration faces this struggle each year and there are a few schools of thought on setting fees. One is that setting rates lower may increase revenue by increasing rounds played by making the product more attractive to a greater number of people. The opposite thought is that setting rates too low undervalues the product we are trying to sell and if we don’t value our own product, how can we expect others to value it.

“There are flaws with both of these thoughts however it provides some insight into the thought process that goes into providing golf courses fee recommendations.”

In terms of fees Deer Park does look at other courses, said McLeod.

“Deer Park fees are typically below the provincial average for similar courses although they are at the upper limit for area courses. This remains true and while expenses continue to rise, the typical response is usually to increase fees but further increases could also be detrimental to the course,” he said.

In the end Administration recommended holding the line on fees from 2014.

“A freeze in fees was discussed as a means of increasing rounds,” said McLeod.

However, Councillor Ross Fisher wanted a couple of changes.

“By-in-large the fee structure is fine,” he said, then added if there was a group the City would “want to subsidize it our Junior, or young people as much as we can.”

Fisher said he wanted to simplify the Junior fees, which in 2014 were $110 for a new member, $185 regular and $140 for those under 12.

As an amendment to the fee structure Fisher made the motion of a flat $100 membership fee for all Junior players.

Green fees were also changed for Junior to $7.50 for nine holes, and $10 for 18.

The amendment passed with only Coun. Les Arnelien opposed, who said Junior fees were “very reasonable” as they were.

The fee structure from 2014, with the Junior amendments then passed unanimously.