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Council members were split over whether the course should ever be sold, but they agreed that if it were to be sold, it must remain a golf course.
Updated 5:08 p.m. Jan. 28
Directing staff to balance the budget of the city-owned Palm Harbor Golf Course, the Palm Coast City Council also sought to reassure residents, at the Jan. 28 workshop, that it has no intention of letting the course ever be developed for any other use than golf.
The course has cost the City of Palm Coast an average of $176,634 per year for the past five years, according to a presentation by Director of Parks and Recreation James Hirst.
‘WE CAN’T BE BLEEDING MONEY’
The issue was brought to the "fore" on Jan. 7 by City Councilman Charles Gambaro. Holding up a folder containing the course's financials, he said: “We lose hundreds of thousands of dollars every year. […] Do we need to sell it — but still keep it a golf course? I think it’s important that that land remains a golf course for our community. Could an investor come in and turn it into something different that becomes a destination, get it back on the tax rolls? I don’t know, but I think those are all options I think we should consider.”
He found little support for the option of selling the golf course, at the Jan. 28 workshop, although others did agree that the course should reduce expenses and/or increase revenues.
Mayor Mike Norris said: “There’s no reason we should be playing 50,000 rounds of golf out there, and we’re bleeding money. That’s ridiculous.”
To prevent theft, Norris said, the city should not allow cash transactions at the golf course, but he didn’t receive support from other council members. Attorney Marcus Duffey said a decision about method of payment was more appropriate from the city manager, according to the City Charter.
City Councilman Ray Stevens’ main concern was that the land never be used for something other than a golf course. “Before we even consider selling it,” he said on Jan. 7, “we should look into a resolution, a covenant, making that property for perpetuity either a golf course or used for public recreation, so that someone doesn’t come along, buy it, say, ‘We’re going make a golf course,’ and then turn around and turn it into condos.”
In an attempt to soothe the golf course advocates in the community, Norris said, “Don’t make the mistake of thinking we’re moving forward and putting out that we’re trying to selling the golf corse. No. We’re just trying to improve our community.”
Councilman Ty Miller weighed in at the Jan. 28 workshop, saying that he also believes the course needs to stop losing money. He added that the course is different from other city park amenities because it competes with other local golf courses.
“I’d be in favor, at minimum, of this being full cost recovery,” Miller said.
PAST AND PRESENT
The city’s golf course was designed in 1973 by Bill Amick, and Nancy Lopez became the touring pro in 1978. It was donated to the city in 2009, and was operated by a third party, Kemper Sports, until 2017, when the city of Palm Coast took over operations management, alongside Troon, which now maintains the course.
Upcoming maintenance costs in the capital improvement plan include $150,00 for irrigation pump station repairs, $20,000 for gravel parking lot repairs, and $500,000 for greens renovations.
More than 960 homes surround the golf course.
Of the 52,661 rounds played in 2024, 91% were by local residents. Matanzas and Flagler Palm Coast high school teams use the course, along with other organizations, including the Special Olympics.
The cost of an 18-hole round typically costs 8% less at a municipal course than at a non-resort course, according to city staff.
COMPETITION WITH OTHER COURSES
Miller and Norris agreed that the city’s course should not have lower costs than the marketplace suggests.
Two golf course owners spoke in public comment at the Jan. 28 meeting.
Doug Brown, owner of Cypress Knoll Golf Course, reminded the City Council: “We have a big stake in what you guys are doing here.”
His main concern was that the city offers lower golf rates — at taxpayers’ expense. If a golfer plays three rounds per week, saving $10 each time by playing at Palm Harbor instead of, for example, playing at Cypress Knoll, that comes to $30 per week, or about $1,500 per year — “for one golfer to play golf, subsidized by the city.” Meanwhile, Cypress Knoll loses that business.
Doreen Holl, owner of Pine Lakes Golf Course, said it is “an uphill battle” to run a private course. And while the city has been losing money on its course without paying taxes, she has been trying to run her business in addition to paying taxes. She advocated for the city to sell Palm Harbor and let another company manage it.
Several residents spoke against raising rates at Palm Harbor, or selling the golf course, for fear that the course could, one day, be turned into houses, causing property values to fall.
Miller’s perspective was that the health of the private courses was also in the city’s interest.
“We're potentially talking about that same catastrophic thing happening that everybody is all up in arms about — a sale at this golf course — happening at those other golf courses because they fail,” he said. "This is an earnest effort to prevent all of that and provide everybody with the amenities that they have now. Talking about a sale — that's just one consideration. It isn't anybody pushing for that."
Gambaro maintained that selling the course to another management company should be an option, so that it would go back on the tax rolls. He also suggested that the City Council should look into how and why the city may be "losing" money at other parks and amenities.
