Golfers who use the nine-hole golf course at the U may soon be forced to play somewhere else.
A new master plan development at the U, slated to be completed by January 2008, will likely call for the closure of the golf course to allow for further campus expansion.
“We anticipate that university growth will eventually come about in that space,” said Mike Perez, associate vice president for facilities management. “The master plan is about finding out how that may occur.”
Ten years ago, when the U drafted its last master plan, the golf course was “identified as the university land bank,” Perez said, meaning the U anticipated the space would eventually be used for construction.
Critt Aardema, a second-year medical student at the U, uses the golf course, but said if the U decides to use the land for other purposes, he has no problem going elsewhere to play.
While Aardema enjoys the cheap rounds of golf the U course offers, he said if students are going to be better served by having new buildings on campus, he thinks that is more important.
Other golfers, however, aren’t so comfortable with the idea.
Matt and Gwen Schwab of Draper said the golf course closure would be a big loss.
Matt Schwab said the U golf course is one of the only places they can play as a family.
“Where do beginners go?” he said. “Wouldn’t it be in (the U’s) best interest to expand their off-site campuses?”
Although the master plan will be the guideline for development at the U, it is a fluid document and could be revised, Perez said. It is a “broad structure that helps drive what we do.”
Perez said that the plan will define those elements that will shape the U campus for future generations.
“We’re excited about this effort, and its result will benefit the university for years to come.”
Up-to-date information on the campus master plan can be viewed at www.campusmasterplan.utah.edu.
Inquiries and comments may be addressed to the Office of Facilities and Planning at (801) 585-6751.
Brigham Sikora sinks a putt as John Balzotti watches on the green of the fifth hole of the University Golf Course on Saturday evening. Expansion of upper campus in the coming years could mean paving over the golf course to make way for new medical buildings. The course, now only nine holes, once was a full 18-hole course, which hosted a PGA Tour event in 1945. It is the oldest golf course in the state.