Royal Golf Course looks at its future

ROYAL CITY — Royal Slope residents concerned about the future of the Royal Golf Course – closure is a real possibility – will meet at the golf course pro shop at 6 p.m. next Tuesday, Feb. 2, to discuss ideas for moving forward.

The Royal Golf Course has always operated on a slim budget. It has never had the kind of play to afford a full-time pro. The golf shop has been staffed only on weekends and special days, usually by high school girls earning part-time wages.

The Royal Golf Course was a gift which would be a shame for any community to lose. The land was gifted to the City of Royal City by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The construction was paid for and done by about 25 area farmers who used just about every farm tool available in the early 1980s.

Ask anyone who has played the Royal Golf Course or knows its history, and they can’t place a value on it. There is no way to measure the hearts of the men who built it. There is no way to measure the time and sweat they put into it

As a piece of ground, it might still be wild and not worth a lot. Or it could be pasture, a fruit orchard or a vineyard.

Even as a player, I can’t place a value on Royal Golf Course. The first time I played it was just after it was opened. I hardly knew the area.

I came here for a tournament around 1985. I remember walking to the high ground above hole No. 9 and wondering where the tees were. When I found out, I got excited. I’d never needed to navigate power lines and power poles before.

Still, like so many other new players since, I thought it was going to be a piece of cake, easy par, maybe even a little under. Hole No. 6 alone beat me up. The ball kept coming off the green. And No. 4 was a killer in its own way. The approach was long, and I had no idea about that pothole pond in front.

Of course, many of the guys complained when we were finished, but anger turned to laughter as we recounted our adventures and misadventures.

I didn’t come back to the RGC until 2011. I’ve played there several times now. But each time I suspected there were big problems. No way could the RGC operate on $15 green fees when other courses were needing $45 and more.

I grew up on a 9-hole course in Sunnyside and played others. RGC is the best. It’s a good test of golf, with real rough, where you can really lose your ball, greens with more nuances than you can see and well-placed hazards. More than that, it is a pretty golf course. I enjoy it fully when I set in my cart while someone else takes a shot.

Okay, I’m prejudiced. I’m a golfer. But that doesn’t change any of the fine qualities I’ve mentioned. When I think of all the reasons I like the golf course, I scratch my and head and wonder why there wasn’t the needed play long ago.

In addition to the reasons above for saving the RGC, there is this really cool reason.

When you go online to look for it, it’s in the first page grouping with Royal Golf Club of Bahrain, Port of Royal Golf Course UK and Royal Links Golf Scotland.

The way things stand now financially, the course will struggle to survive another year without a doubling of play. The City just sent $10,000 the golf course’s way from the parks fund.

That has never been done before. It’s likely for covering the cost of irrigation.

It will go from $3,000-4,000 a year to $10,000 this year, according to board of directors member Pete Christensen.

According to Christensen, there is enough money to start this year, but if players don’t come out, the season may end early, and the course may be closed.

Christensen dreads the possibility. He’s the Royal High golf coach, and he’d hate to see the loss of that sport to his students. There are few things to do in Royal.

The good news at the RGC is that all, or most of the problems players saw on the course in recent times, have been fixed by Superintendent Shawn Vetterick, who was brought in last year and with whom the board is well pleased.

“Shawn literally has turned the course around,” Pete said. “There is no reason for players not to come out.”

Some of the board members helped with the work.

Pete and his father Ted put in a solid month of toil and sweat last August. Board President Pat Dorsing and his father were out there. Some days the volunteers went from 5 a.m. to dusk.

“I couldn’t just sit there and watch it die,” Pete said.

According to Pete, players paid $33,000 in green fees to the golf course two years ago. That dropped to about $20,000 last year.

The annual Crab Feed fundraiser to benefit the golf course was not held last year. A venue couldn’t be found at the right time.

It’s being planned for March 5. It usually brings in strong financial support, but organizers will have to scramble for volunteers and auction and raffle sponsors.

A sad commentary about the Royal Golf Course is that revenues have been so low that the irrigation system is simply behind the times.

“They don’t make the stuff we use any more,” Pete said.