Other cities in Oregon have exempted golfers from similar laws, but the ban in the state’s largest city would apply to all four of its municipal courses. Tobacco products would also be banned from being sold at the facilities, but groups renting courses for tournaments could apply for smoking permits. Portland would join a growing group of cities, including New York, San Francisco, Houston and New Orleans, that now also include golf in their smoking ban.
The Portland (Ore.) City Council is scheduled to vote on Wednesday, February 18 on an ordinance that would prohibit the use of tobacco products in city parks, The Oregonian reported—and the ban would include the city’s four golf facilities, creating an unprecedented prohibition on smoking for golfers in the state.
The vote is scheduled could be delayed a week for amendments, Jennifer Yocum, a parks spokesperson, told The Oregonian.
The city owns five golf courses—two at Heron Lakes, as well as Rose City, Eastmoreland and RedTail—which amounts to by far the biggest collection of government-owned courses in the state, The Oregonian reports. And while the tobacco ban for golf would be unprecedented in Oregon, it was noted, it would be in line with a national trend in which cities are forbidding the use of tobacco products on golf courses, as part of banning them from park properties.
Outside of Portland, other cities in Oregon that have banned smoking in their parks have exempted golf courses, the Oregonian noted. In Eugene, Ore., the city-owned nine-hole Laurelwood course allows tobacco use, which is prohibited in city parks. Lake Oswego, Ore. also has a tobacco ban in its parks, but allows smoking on the par-3 Lake Oswego Golf Course.
In Newberg, Ore. the Chehalem Park and Recreation District barred tobacco use in parks, but after much discussion, continues to allow it at Chehalem Glenn Golf Course. Head professional Branden Thompson told The Oregonian that he and his staff were concerned about how a ban would affect rounds played, and also how they would able to enforce a ban. The district opted to allow smoking on the course, but to quit selling tobacco products there.
“That’s kind of how we addressed it,” Thompson said.
Nationally, cities such as Seattle, Los Angeles, Albuquerque and Honolulu have exempted golf courses from tobacco bans for public parks, The Oregonian reported. But other major cities have instituted total bans at public parks that include golf courses, including New York City, San Francisco, San Diego and Salt Lake City. Last year, Houston joined the list, and last month, New Orleans passed a ban that will go into effect in April.
San Francisco’s ban went into effect in 2005. The city’s municipal courses include the famed TPC Harding Park, a historic track that has hosted PGA Tour events, a Presidents Cup and has been awarded the 2020 PGA Championship.
During the 2009 Presidents Cup, the ban led to NBA legend Michael Jordan, who was serving as an honorary captain for the U.S. team, being asked to extinguish a cigar he had lit on the course.
“It caused a little bit of a stir,” said Tom Smith, the course’s General Manager, told The Oregonian.
Smith was not on the job at TPC Harding Park when the smoking ban went into effect, but he said the data he has seen showed no drop in rounds played because of the ban.
“We hear positive things about it from non-smokers who want to come out for the fresh air,” he said. “They value that policy.”
John Zoller, Manager of Golf for the city of Portland, confirmed to The Oregonian that the proposed Portland ordinance that is scheduled to come up for a vote on the 18th does not include a provision to exempt golf courses.
“If they pass this, it’s going to be everybody,” Zoller said. “It’s going to be across the board. It’s going to be all parks and parks properties.”
When Portland first broached the idea of a parks smoking ban last year, Zoller studied the potential impact, speaking with the courses’ concessionaires (the city contracts private companies to run the courses) and working with Barb Trammel of the Oregon Golf Association to gather information from other state associations, The Oregonian reported.
“At the end of the day, what we found was there was a negligible impact in terms of revenues and loss of customers with other cities and programs that have done this,” Zoller said.
To help with potential lost revenue, the city’s proposed ordinance would allow groups that rent city courses for tournaments to apply for a permit that would allow smoking, The Oregonian reported.
If the ordinance passes, the city courses would also have to stop selling tobacco products. Zoller estimated to The Oregonian that each of the city’s courses sells about $5,000 in tobacco products a year, and with the high taxes on them, the profit on those sales is only about $2,000.
“Five thousand dollars is not a lot in a single year, and it’s a lot of single cigars,” Zoller said.
The unknown for the ban is enforcement, The Oregonian noted. At TPC Harding Park, Smith says course employees don’t have law enforcement power, but most find that a gentle reminder is sufficient to stop smokers who violate the policy. If problems arise, he said, park rangers are called.
“Most people respect it,” he said.
Portland’s proposed policy, which would go into effect July 1, says education will be the primary method of enforcing the ban, but a violation can be a misdemeanor that could result in a citation, with repeat offenders “subject to parks exclusion,” The Oregonian reported.
Zoller said he is unsure how course officials will be asked to enforce the ban.
“That all is going to be developed for us and by us, but we’re waiting for the council to make that decision, and we’ll be able to act on whatever that final decision is,” he said.
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