CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland’s once heavily subsidized and history rich Highland Park Golf Course has come roaring back under city management to a point where it could be breaking even in the next few years.
Public Works Director Mike Cox said Monday that revenues at the city-owned course in Highland Hills have climbed from $120,000 in 2018 to $683,000 last year, closer to the $1 million a year needed to maintain and operate the place.
“My projection is this year and next year we can probably get close” to breaking even, Cox said in remarks to City Council. “I see a trend where more people are coming back to play.”
Toward that end, City Council approved raising the rates at the 36-hole course. Legislation authorizing the changes in rates will need Mayor Frank Jackson’s signature to take effect.
Weekend rates would rise from $12 to $14 for nine holes for Cleveland residents and from $13 to $15 for non-residents. The rates for 18 holes would increase by $2 to $24 for residents and $25 for nonresidents.
Rates on weekdays would rise from $11.50 to $13 for city residents and $12.50 to $14 for non-residents.
The cost for nine holes on weekends and holidays would be more than $3 less for non-Cleveland residents and more than $4 less for Clevelanders than the average rates at 10 public courses in the region, Cox said.
Seniors age 60 and older would pay $1 more. For residents, the rate would rise from $8 to $9. For non-residents it would rise from $9 to $10. The rates for 18 holes would increase by $1 to $16 for residents and $18 for nonresidents.
For city residents who are under age 18, there is no charge for nine holes. An $8 fee for 18 holes would be eliminated. For non-residents, the nine-hole rate for juniors would rise from $9 to $10. The rate for 18 holes would increase by $1 to $18.
Cleveland has purposely kept rates down over time. This increase would be the first since 2010, Cox said.
Highland Park’s history includes holding the PGA Tour’s Cleveland Open tournament in 1964 and 1965 – the first pro tournament to offer a $100,000 purse – and was also host for the National Minority Golf Championship from 1987 to 1997.
Charlie Sifford, the first African American golfer to play and to win on the PGA tour, claimed it as his home course for a time. Sifford, who died in 2015, has been referred to as the Jackie Robinson of golf.
The golf course, located in suburban Highland Hills, is the only public course near Cleveland’s East Side wards and historically has been a place where African Americans golf.
Some members of City Council complained that the city shouldn’t be running the golf course, particularly if it must subsidize operations. But others have noted that the city subsidizes other recreation programs. Youth baseball, for example, gets about $1million a year.
And the level of subsidy for Highland has shrunk each year since 2018.
The course had declined to a point that in 2018 there was no league play. This year, the course will have nearly a dozen leagues, and revenues are about $20,000 greater than the first four months of 2020, Cox said.
“That’s due to the conditions of the course and people coming out to play,” Cox said.
Councilman Blaine Griffin argued that even if the city must subsidize the course, it is important that it be kept operating.
“I’m a fervent advocate for the Highland golf course,” Griffin said. “This is probably one of the few opportunities that a lot of inner-city young people, as well as older people, have an opportunity to engage in golf. … It’s very important and crucial to the East Side of the city of Cleveland.”
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