Good news! The board suddenly reversed its prior decisions to close Berksdale by year's end, to close Kingswood and to build a new course on ARKMO. It's always gratifying to find the board listening to our great community. Common sense should always prevail.
Given the reality of who we are today, it was always pie-in-the-sky to believe Bella Vista needed a new golf course. That much was clearly obvious, except to a couple. Still, questions remain: what about the three valley courses? How much golf can we support? The three courses are in the floodplain and they presumably need some "shoring up." Of course, we also have other courses that require attention, like Scotsdale.
In my opinion, we should not close more courses, but there is no easy fix. How much are non-member golfers willing to pay? How much are those who use the annual greens and carts passes willing to pay? Is there a fair pricing structure for all? How important is it to have essentially unlimited tee time choices? At what cost? Are we competitive in the local golf market? Can we reverse the trend of unimproved lots coming in? How much of assessments should be allocated to golf? What about our other amenities like lakes, recreation, restaurants and trails? What reductions in overhead can help? What golf practices and procedures can be changed that will be meaningful to our bottom line?
We need complete, concrete answers rather than pipe dreams. We need transparency and communication.
We live in a beautiful, widely-known, amenity-filled community. With more ears to hear, more hearts to care, we can surely continue to prosper and enjoy who we are and what we do. Remember common sense.
Steve McKee
Bella Vista
Editorial on 07/04/2018