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City's six golf courses to get $2.6M in upgrades

Posted at 6:00 AM, May 16, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-16 06:00:10-04

CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Recreation Commission’s $2.6 million plan for upgrading its golf courses will go into motion this summer.

Funding the improvements are tax dollars that the Ohio Supreme Court ruled last year were improperly collected by the state. 

“We’re very proud of the golf courses that we have, and we want them to be world-class and the best versions of themselves,” said Pat O’Callaghan Jr, CRC board president. 

The centerpiece of the plan: $800,000 in improvements to the clubhouse at the 27-hole Glenview Golf Course. The clubhouse at one time was a horse stable and barn, and is in need of modernization, CRC Superintendent Stephen Pacella said. 

The upgrades will include updates to the building’s interior and the addition of an outdoor pavilion. The course hosts close to 100 outings per year, Pacella said, and the upgrades will make the facility more inviting for guests. 

“As golfers, we all like to be outside, right?” Pacella said. 

Though the Glenview clubhouse is central to the CRC’s plans, work on the building won’t begin until mid-October to avoid disrupting services at the course. The upgrades should be completed in time for the beginning of the 2017 golf season, Pacella said. 

Plans for the clubhouse update are still in development and will be finalized later in the summer.

Golfers at each of thecity’s six golf courses – which include Avon Fields, California, Neumann, Reeves and Woodland – will notice some improvements being made during the summer. About $600,000 will be used to improve and repair cart paths and parking lots at each course.

“We want to try to spread around and touch all the courses that we can,” Pacella said. 

Another $100,000 will be needed to repair irrigation system control boxes at three courses. 

The $1 million balance will be spent to purchase new course-maintenance equipment. That includes rough mowers, green mowers, aeration equipment and core harvesters, which collect the dirt cores that are left behind by the aeration process. 

The CRC hasn’t purchased new equipment for its golf courses in at least five years, Pacella said. Operable equipment is shared between courses now. 

“As the equipment starts to deteriorate, it really limits our ability to put a fine cut on the grass,” he said.