WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Wichita’s golf courses could soon be under new management. The park board voted 5-1 today to privatize the courses.
If approved by the city council, KemperSports would add Wichita’s public golf courses to their list of more than 100 courses it manages across the country. It’d be a move many believe is the wrong one.
Dale Goter spoke at the Board Park Commissioners meeting. He explained, “Ninety-nine percent of public golfers in Wichita are opposed to this. The group that is in favor of it don’t play golf.”
He was one of several speaking out against privatizing Wichita’s public golf courses. KSN went and spoke to golfers at McDonald and Arthur B. Sim golf courses, all of them say they agree with Goter.
“We don’t need to redo what’s already successful. These guys have done a tremendous job,” said local golfer, Dennis Thomas.
Another Wichita golfer, Peggy Clark, added, “We’d rather have more given to the pros on each course to take care of business at each course instead of privatizing.”
The Wichita Board of Park Commissioners President, Eddie Fahnestock, says he understands concerns, but this will be great for the future of local courses, “The past 20 years, outside of the last two years with the COVID boom in golf, golf has been declining. I think it’s important that we turn to a professional.”
For Goter, he’s hoping for a better outcome from the city council, “I think there will be much more critical analysis of it from the council. These folks don’t get it. They never have. They don’t understand the least part of golf operations, and they ignore the blatant lies that are told.”
Under this current plan, the city would pay kemper sports $200-thousand annually to manage the four city-owned courses.
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