Finkbine Golf Course at University of Iowa has lost $320,000 in the last three years as course managers tried to reduce rounds played to maintain the quality of the course for college play and tournaments. Veenker Memorial, Iowa State University’s golf course, expects to break even on a five-year basis.

College golf courses in Iowa face many of the same financial hurdles as municipal courses, with a declining number of golfers overall, the Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gazette reported.

Finkbine Golf Course at the University of Iowa (UI) lost $320,000 in the last three fiscal years as course managers tried to reduce rounds played to maintain the quality of the course for college play and tournaments. The UI Athletics Department, which does not get tax money, has covered the deficits, the Gazette reported.

“I don’t like losing money, but we know the benefits that are derived from it,” said Mick Walker, chief financial officer for UI athletics. “The Finkbine Golf Course is an outreach facility for the Athletic Department and the university.”

Iowa State University’s golf course, Veenker Memorial, lost $178,500 in fiscal 2011 and 2012 combined, but the course made a profit in fiscal 2010, and officials expect to be about $80,000 ahead in the year that ended June 30, the Gazette reported.

“Our expectation is that we will break even on a five-year basis,” David Miller, associate vice president for facilities, said.

Parts of Veenker were underwater for five weeks in the summer of 2010, Miller said, which put the self-supporting enterprise in the hole for fiscal 2011. Finkbine doesn’t have to worry about flooding, but dry summers can mean increased water costs, the Gazette reported.

Finkbine, an 18-hole course known for bentgrass fairways and a signature island hole, went from 29,000 rounds of golf in fiscal 2011 to 25,700 last year. Fewer golfers came out because Finkbine raised prices, Director of Golf Jeff Moore said, adding that he expects fiscal 2013 will be down another 2,000 to 3,000 rounds, the Gazette reported.

“We made a conscious decision not to have as many rounds last year,” Moore said. “We’re not trying to milk every nickel.”

Moore hopes that fewer rounds will maintain Finkbine’s quality, so it can compete with nearby courses like Blue Top Ridge, the course at the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, the Gazette reported.

About one-quarter of Finkbine’s total rounds for fiscal 2012 were from the UI Athletic Department, which includes collegiate golfers, donors and car dealers, the Gazette reported.

“Part of what we do out here is hard to measure,” Moore said. “The Foundation brings donors out here to play. We have so many events. I can’t put a price tag on that kind of thing.”

The new Hoak Family Golf Complex, a $2 million training facility for intercollegiate golf teams, opened in February adjacent to Finkbine, but did not affect play on the course or driving range, the Gazette reported.

Veenker had 25,800 rounds in fiscal 2012, a slight increase from the previous year. The ISU course does not get tax money and must cover its own losses, Miller said. The course’s $1.2 million annual budget has received about $10,500 a year from athletics to provide services to Cyclone golfers, but that payment will end now that ISU has built a new practice facility, Miller told the Gazette.