- February 5, 2025
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Dear Editor:
At the Jan. 28 City Council meeting, Mr. Doug Brown, owner of Cypress Knoll Golf Course, addressed the council and made the claim that the city was subsidizing golf rounds at the rate of $10 per round. The Observer quoted him in its Jan. 30 article about the golf course.
A simple check of the websites of the three local golf courses (Palm Harbor, Cypress Knoll, and Pine Lakes) to examine their posted rate structure puts the lie to Mr. Brown's statements. Cypress Knoll has two rate structures — one for the public, one for Florida residents. Pine Lakes has a third rate structure for county residents. Palm Harbor has rates for public, Florida residents and city residents. Palm Harbor also offers an annual pass program for $200 that provides a discounted rate to people that purchase the pass. Pine Lakes and Cypress Knoll have no such program.
The "public" morning rate for 18 holes of golf with a cart is $62 at Pine Lakes, $60 at Palm Harbor, and $55 at Cypress Knoll. The Florida resident rate is $54 at Pine Lakes, $52.50 at Palm Harbor, and $48.50 at Cypress Knoll. Pine Lakes charges county residents $49, and Palm Harbor charges city residents $45.50 (7.4% less than Pine Lakes. The national norm is that municipal courses are around 8% less than their public competitors).
I know from personal experience that Pine Lakes offers discounts to larger groups and leagues. Palm Harbor does not. I'm not sure how Cypress Knoll handles that issue.
The pattern for afternoon rates and twilight rates is the same with Palm Harbor being slightly under the Pine Lakes rates and slightly over Cypress Knoll rates (Cypress Knoll does not offer any twilight discounts).
I think it's time for Mr. Brown to stop spewing incorrect information to the city council.
Mark Gregoire
Palm Coast
Dear Editor:
You have to wonder if anyone in the Palm Coast city government can do basic math. Palm Harbor Golf Club has been losing roughly $175,000 per year with over 50,000 rounds played per year, which is a lot.
Raise the greens fee by $5 per round and you immediately have a small profit. Raise it by $10 and you have a nice profit and you could use some of that for capital projects and course maintenance improvements. You might lose a few rounds which would actually be a good thing, but the cost of playing would still be incredibly reasonable.
Terry Overbey
Palm Coast
