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- Salt Lake City is seeking minor fee increases at its six golf courses.
- New fees could generate over $500,000 annually, helping the city address deferred maintenance projects faster.
- Golf popularity is up across all of the courses, adding to revenue and demand.
SALT LAKE CITY — Golf is about as popular as ever across Salt Lake City's six public courses, but it may soon cost golfers a little more to hit the links in Utah's capital city.
Salt Lake City's golf division, a section of the city's parks and public lands department, is seeking to slightly increase fees across many of its courses and age groups.
The division oversees the Bonneville, Glendale, Nibley Park, Forest Dale, Mountain Dell and Rose Park courses scattered across the city.
Proposed Salt Lake City golf course fee changes
- An extra $1 would be added to a nine-hole round of golf for public, senior, young adult, junior, city club or junior city club green fees; and $2 more per 18 holes at Bonneville Golf Course.
- The young adult price for a nine-hole round of golf would increase from $15 to $16 at Forest Dale Golf Course.
- Junior prices would remain the same, but an extra $1 would be added to all other groups for a nine-hole round and $2 for an 18-hole round at Glendale Golf Course.
- Nine-hole rounds would remain the same, but an extra $2 would be added to all groups on an 18-hole round at Mountain Dell Golf Course.
- The young adult price for a nine-hole round of golf would increase from $13 to $14 at Nibley Park Golf Course.
- Junior prices would remain the same, but an extra $1 would be added to all other groups for a nine-hole round and $2 for an 18-hole round at Rose Park Golf Course.
- Golf cart fees would also increase by $1 at Forest Dale and Nibley Park golf courses, as well as an extra $1 per nine holes at Rose Park Golf Course. Golf club rental fees for an 18-hole round would increase from $40 to $45 at Mountain Dell Golf Course, as well.
- Private cart trail fees would increase from $5 to $10, while there would be a new fee for twilight rounds at Bonneville Golf Course, ranging from $35 to $45.
- Some high school and university team rates are also slated to increase, largely matching rate changes across the system. All tournament fees would remain the same across the system.
The proposed increase comes as there's been a surge in popularity since the Salt Lake City Council, in 2017, authorized a major shift in how the city's golf courses are funded. Salt Lake City's golf courses are operated separately from the city's general budget, which means the division relies on fees and other sources to operate and maintain facilities.
The city reported 371,599 total starts at its six courses last year, up about 39% from 2018. Average utilization of courses — a measurement often tied to available tee times — also jumped from 58% to 109%.
Some of the increase is likely tied to the COVID-19 pandemic, as the popularity of the sport skyrocketed in 2020 and 2021, said Matt Kammeyer, director of Salt Lake City's golf division, who presented the request to members of the Salt Lake City Council on Tuesday.
However, he said there are other factors in play that he's less certain about. Participation dropped in 2022 only to surge to new highs in 2023 and 2024.
Those highs seem to mirror national trends, though. The National Golf Foundation reported last year that off-course engagement and social media "have played key roles in golf's popularity and cool factor," noting that celebrities, athletes and content creators have helped boost "golf's positive visibility" to "sizeable followings."
"This has been a great shot in the arm of the entire golf industry. This isn't something that's unique to Salt Lake City; it's across the board," Kammeyer said.
That's both good and bad when it comes to managing golf courses. On one hand, revenues have jumped from a little more than $7.1 million in 2018 to $12.3 million in 2024. That's a 73% increase, or 38%, when accounting for inflation.
On the other hand, the demand can add to the already long list of deferred maintenance projects at all six venues. While the proposed increases may seem small, division officials expect the change will generate about $553,000 in new revenue, which they say will help speed up the division's ability to tackle a growing list of "critical deferred capital maintenance projects" at the six courses.
The combined cost of those projects is now about $35 million, according to Kammeyer. He explained that many of the projects center around "fundamental infrastructure" like irrigation systems, on-course restrooms, aging clubhouses and fixing other issues like sinkholes.
"Our goal and strategy throughout this time period is: OK, how do we ride that wave (in popularity) and continue to funnel whatever excess revenue we have back into these projects?" he said, later adding they also want to maintain positive experiences.
Division officials wrote in a memo to city leaders that the proposed fee increase was selected over requests from the general fund, which is formed by taxpayer money.
It's unclear when a decision will be made on the fee increase, but a decision is expected by this spring. That's when the division will report its budget to the City Council. The changes could implemented before the next fiscal year begins on July 1.
The division has the authority to set fee prices earlier than the start of a fiscal year, which is a unique feature the Salt Lake City Council gave it in 2017. That's also when the city split the division of the general system to settle yearly budget debates.
