Board vote Monday may close course, lay off 3

LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - The Lafayette Golf Course may close with a vote by the Parks Board Monday afternoon. The move would lay off three full-time employees.

The No. 10 fairway is more white than green at the Lafayette Golf Course Tuesday. But it's possible that it's seen its last golfer.

The future of the golf course is up in the air with Friday's announcement transferring ownership of the Battle Ground Golf Club to the Lafayette Parks Foundation.

"With the donation coming forward, it makes sense to look at other opportunities for the course," Parks Superintendent Ted Bumbleburg said.

It's a timely opportunity for the parks department, which runs the municipal course.

Bumbleburg said if the course doesn't flood, an average year brings in about $450,000 of gross revenue, paying for itself. There's even $30,000 to $40,000 that put in a Flood Recovery Fund every year.

But that's a big if.

A summer flood can cost $120,000 to get the course to, pardon the pun, get back to par.

"The floods of 2010 and 2011 have really depleted the fund, to a point where, should we have a flood event, we would no longer be able to do that," Bumbleburg said.

Bumbleburg estimates the fund currently has about $50,000, in other words, less than half what's needed if the greens flood this summer.

If the course is closed, three employees would be laid off.

"It's a tough decision," Bumbleburg said. "It's sometimes hard to do but you have to make those at times and in various types of businesses and this was one of them."

As for the future, Bumbleburg said cart paths could be turned into trails, connecting with the Wabash Heritage Trail nearby. There also could be a Frisbee golf course or maybe a soccer field or two.
    
Whatever it is, he said park employees will continue to mow the property, but at park-level standards, not golf course standards.
    
"You have those opportunities," he added. "But there could be many more that we just haven't thought of at this point."

The Parks Board is slated to vote on the recommendation to close the course at their meeting Monday afternoon. Of course, News 18 will continue to follow this story.
    
If the course closes, Bumbleburg does not have a timeline for when new plans for the property will be developed and completed.