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Centennial golf bunkers could be renovated for $128,000

September 10, 2012 By 12 Comments

Twenty-nine bunkers, or sand traps, could be renovated at Centennial Golf Course for $128,000 under a resolution to be considered by the Oak Ridge City Council tonight.

The Golf Course Fund would be used to pay for the repairs at the city-owned golf course. The work would be done by First Place Finish Inc. of Oak Ridge, with help from Signet Golf Associates.

The bunkers receive daily maintenance, but no significant renovations have taken place since the golf course opened in 1997, a city memo said.

“The current bunkers are high maintenance and require substantial hand work at the start of each day,” said the memo, written by Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Director Josh Collins. “Several have poor or inadequate drainage, thus creating ponding problems after heavy rains.”

The new bunkers will improve access and make the course, managed by Billy Casper Golf, more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Collins said.

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Filed Under: Government, Recreation Tagged With: , , ,
  • Tj

    I understand the Billy Casper co. has leased the course and is profitable.
    I also understand the city is paying about $60,000 month on the bonds sold to build the course.
    What idiots voted to put the city in the golf course business, when there were three already here?- and a half dozen 30 minutes away?

    • CK

      Can we say “Boondoggle” ? We should teach the meaning of this word in schools.Wait those would be government owned and operated schools,never-mind.

    • Onslow West

      I can’t recall there being three golf courses “already here.” There was the OR Country Club course and a nine-hole public course. So that was technically one and a half courses, in total, but the public could play only 9 holes.

      I agree that Jeff Broughton’s support for the Centennial golf course got the Citizens Against Virtually Everything tribe up in arms and it contributed to his firing, but it also cost Oak Ridge a very competent and visionary city manager. I say that because he has done quite well since being jettisoned by the COR. He’s been in Bristol since 2004 and was recently named Tennessee’s City Manager of the Year by his peers, largely because of his effective promotion of Bristol. How’s this sound: Under Broughton’s leadership, Bristol has achieved balanced budgets that haven’t required new or increased taxes or cuts to the city’s workforce or services?

      • CK

        Centennial was #3 # of 3 18 hole courses.If anyone was paying attention South Hills had added a very nice back nine ,I have played it many times,and it was well maintained .Too bad that course is gone ,it was challenging but affordable.

        • Onslow West

          You are right. I forgot about the addition of the back nine at South Hills. So Oak Ridge had one 18-hole private course and one 18-hole public course before adding an 18-hole municipal course.

          Of course South Hills is now Groves Park Commons, a residential development that is struggling to get started, much the way than the golf course struggled to stay solvent in its latter years. Maybe it would have been wiser to use the land occupied by the back nine to build new homes. That way the homes would have been in a golf community, which adds a certain cachet to developments.

          I’m thankful we still have two courses, and Centennial is a very nice course and golf facility.

          • http://www.facebook.com/max.smart.35977 Max Smart

            Onslow: I think that if you think a bit more you might remember that the “back nine” at South Hills was built on an old landfill and therefore the land is unsuitable for home construction.

  • Sam

    The golf course was the brainchild of former Mayor Ed Nephew and, at the time, city manager Jeff Broughton. Broughton actually said that “this will pay your taxes for years to come.” And he said it without giggling. Needless to say this little project cost Jeff and four city council members their jobs. Ah, the good ole days….

    • Onslow West

      So, you are opposed to the proposed improvements, based on decisions made 15 years ago? What are your qualifications for running or maintaining a golf course? Do you play golf at either of the two courses in Oak Ridge? Do you expect to still be around in 5, 10, 15 years? If not, do you mind if people who do expect to be around and who do play golf at Centennial, play through your snarkiness?

  • Sam

    OW… I am against spending money we don’t have but you continue to be unconcerned with the city being up to our eyeballs in debt. No change there, it’s all “manageable” as you like to say.
    And I’m happy to see that Jeff is doing well. The majority of voters in OR did not seem to agree with your view of the debacle that he directed. But then, that is no surprise. You are still out in left field. Come in from the cold.

    • Onslow West

      Sam, you a typical ideologue. Unable to grasp reality while obscured by a tangled mass of biases and long-held grudges.

      First, as Huotari reports above, the funds for bunker renovation are to be dispersed from the Golf Course Fund. There is no need to borrow money that is already in the bank and set aside for such expenditures. Council is only being asked to approve the expenditure.

      Second, Jeff Broughton took the fall when the council members who pushed the Centennial development were ousted by a newly elected puppet council. Although my view was, as you say, not in the majority at the time, many of those who orchestrated the over-reaction now see the folly of so much fire and smoke. The petition drive, council change and city manager ouster set real estate development in the COR back at least a decade.

  • mushroomcloud

    What does ADA
    (Americans with Disabilities Act) mean?
    It gives all the disabled access to life and does not discriminate against
    anyone. It opens up Court Houses, Public Schools, Libraries, Businesses,
    churches. Any entity collecting money for a service has to have public ADA
    access to Handicapped Parking; as well as, other amenities. Public water
    fountains have to be lowered and be wheelchair accessable.

    Most recently the Oak Ridge City Council voted 6-1 to spend
    $128, 442 on sand traps for the Centennial Golf Course. Pro tem Mayor Jane
    Miller called it a ”Quality of life” issue. Josh Collins, Oak Ridge Recreation
    Director said the lower entry points will help address ease of access to sand
    traps and will make the course more ADA Compliant.

    I do not even go into the front yard for fear that my
    Electric Wheelchair will become stuck.

    Last week, I went to the dentist and had to park illegally
    and mailed a check for $1200 for their service. Then I went to the super
    market. There is no Wheelchair Accessible Parking. All over Oak Ridge there are businesses that
    ARE NOT ADA COMPLIANT.

  • mushroomcloud

    Oh, Well City Council man Chuck Hope voted against a Senior Center but Voted for Sand traps to improve ADA Handicapped accessibility in Oak Ridge —–to make the bunkers more compliant.
    Now I know where to go do wheelies to help improve my “Quality of Life”.
    Maybe Tiger Woods will come and play the Oak Ridge Peeble Dunes.
    The truth hurts———— .