San Diego Mayor Sanders' new Golf Plan & the non-residents of North County....
....the new plan eliminates the county rate and lumps in North County players with non-resident visitors, anyone who doesn't live within San Diego's city limits will be paying $229 per round by 2011.
"Politicians come and go, but golf in San Diego isn't going anywhere."
Steve Roberts - Vice President Torrey Pines Men's Golf Club
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Excerpt from Golf Commentary
July 5, 2006
The non-residents of North County
The fight over the future of Torrey Pines Golf Course long has been deemed an issue for the City of San Diego. But when the City Council last week voted 7-1 to adopt Mayor Jerry Sanders' controversial five-year golf plan, it quickly became a topic of interest for North County golfers.
County players currently can walk the South Course for $65 on the weekends.
But since the new plan eliminates the county rate and lumps in North County players with non-resident visitors, anyone who doesn't live within San Diego's city limits will be paying $229 per round by 2011. Starting next year, it will jump to $163.
"County play has been totally glossed over," said Carlsbad resident Steve Roberts, vice president of the 1,300-member Torrey Pines Men's Club. "It's too expensive for a lot of people, so now it's going to become maybe a once-a-year thing, a special occasion."
Roberts estimates that about 10 percent of the 172,000 rounds played each year between the North and South courses come from county residents. The new plan will "basically decimate county play," he said. "Nobody is going to play Torrey now. It's too expensive."
Roberts said he's not sure what the next steps are, but he insisted the fight is not over.
"I'm not giving up," he said. "Politicians come and go, but golf in San Diego isn't going anywhere."