It looks like golf isn’t exactly good business in San Diego.
That was among the findings of a recent audit of municipal golf courses conducted by city officials. The study found that city-owned courses are losing as much as $2 million per year.
Councilwoman Lorie Zapf called it “stunning” and “mind-boggling” that the three courses still operate according to a 1980s model more than three years after the golf division adopted an ambitious new business plan.
“I thought it was going to be a well-oiled machine,” Zapf told the San Diego U-T.
Among the problems cited by the audit was the city’s failure to hire a marketing director for the courses and the fact that people still canot book tee times online.
Zapf wants the city to consider leasing the two money-losing courses to outside operators, which the city already does with seven other courses it owns: Carlton Oaks, Fairbanks Ranch Country Club, Tecolote Canyon, Mission Trails, Presidio Hills, The Vineyard and the Pro Kids Golf Academy.