The Topeka, Kan., golf course was on the brink of closure two years ago, but public outcry prompted commissioners to look at ways to operate more cost-effectively. By reducing staffing and adding footgolf to its offerings, the golf course is now on solid financial footing.
Less than two years ago, Forbes Golf Course in Topeka, Kan., was on the brink of being closed, but an outpouring of public support persuaded county officials to keep it open, the Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
Today its finances are up to par for the nine-hole course, according to Kerry Golden, director of golf for Shawnee County Parks and Recreation. Golden said the future looks good for the Forbes course after the county took steps that included reducing its staffing and adding a new feature—footgolf, the Capital-Journal reported.
Golden said he was a bit skeptical at first about foot golf, but it has worked pretty well. “Bringing another activity to an existing facility is always a good thing,” he said.
Forbes is among three golf courses the county owns, with the others being the 18-hole Lake Shawnee Golf Course and the 18-hole Cypress Ridge Golf Course. The county took over the Forbes course property in 1975 as part of the federal Legacy to Parks program, the Capital-Journal reported.
Shawnee County owns the land, but restrictions to the deed govern the county’s use of the property in perpetuity. The deed bans the county from using the property for a purpose that isn’t related to parks and recreation, or leasing it out except to another governmental entity, subject to federal National Park Service approval, the Capital-Journal reported.
County parks and recreation director John Knight announced in December 2013 that three full-time employees had been laid off at Forbes amid plans to close the course. At the time, Knight was being required to make cuts totaling more than 10 percent, or $1.5 million, from his department’s budget, the Capital-Journal reported.
But the resulting public outcry prompted commissioners to direct that the Forbes course be kept open at least six months longer while the county looked at ways to operate more cost-effectively. Part of the solution has involved reducing operating expenses, including keeping only one full-time employee and using a lot of seasonal help, the Capital-Journal reported.
The course continues to see 13,000 rounds to 18,000 rounds of golf annually, though this year’s total will probably be lower because of above-average rainfall. The course additionally has generated more than $5,000 this year by hosting more than 800 rounds of footgolf, which it began offering in April, Golden said.
The Forbes course offers 18 holes of footgolf, with lengths of the holes varying from 65 to 190 yards. Golden said footgolf has helped bring some new—and often younger—people to the course, the Capital-Journal reported.
Forbes doesn’t offer footgolf on Monday and Tuesday mornings, when some “pretty strong” senior men’s leagues compete at regular golf, Golden said.
Still, he said, the Forbes course is designed to allow footgolfers to play at the same time as regular golfers. That is in part because the holes the footgolfers are trying to reach are located in the rough alongside the fairway of the regular golf course, the Capital-Journal reported.
“It hasn’t bothered our regular golfers who are out there,” Golden said of footgolf. “I think it’s been a great addition to Forbes.”
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