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SALT LAKE CITY — Glendale and Wingpointe have joined the Jordan River Par-3 as golf courses that will be cut from the city’s program.

The Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office is in its final stages of drafting a plan to overhaul the city's recreational assets. The initiative includes repurposing the Glendale course, transferring the Wingpointe course under Salt Lake City International Airport domain, and shutting down the Jordan River Par-3.

However, a course previously considered for closure — Nibley — has been tentatively removed from the chopping block. A contract that mandates if the use of the land were to change, ownership of the property would revert back to the family that originally endowed the land to the city.

Art Raymond, spokesman for Mayor Ralph Becker, said while the Salt Lake City Council has recommended to encourage the airport to continue operating the Wingpointe Golf Course as a revenue producer, it will ultimately be up to airport officials to decide whether the facility remains open.

The City Council voted last year to close the Jordan River Par-3 on Nov. 1 and filed recommendations for the other closures to Becker in February. But as city leaders draw closer to finalizing the budget, it’s become clear the city will indeed be making those cuts from its golf operations.

“The city golf program is at a point where it is no longer fiscally viable,” Raymond said. “Unfortunately, getting back to a solid, viable financial base at this point is just flatly going to require some course closures.”

The city has reported its golf program has more than an $800,000 operating deficit and needs more than $20 million in upgrades over the next 10 to 15 years.

The debt spurred city leaders to re-evaluate recreational assets and use the closures as opportunities to expand upon Salt Lake’s green space, as well as preserve the future fiscal health of the city’s golf courses, Raymond said.

The plan also includes placing a bond on the November ballot to use a tax increase to renovate the city’s outdoor assets, such as its trails and parks, as well repurpose the city’s open spaces. That would include Glendale’s 160 acres.

The city golf program is at a point where it is no longer fiscally viable. Unfortunately, getting back to a solid, viable financial base at this point is just flatly going to require some course closures. –Art Raymond, spokesman for Mayor Ralph Becker

City Council Chairman Luke Garrott said he “respects the disappointment among the golfing community," but he said the closures will help city golf in the long run, especially if voters approve of the bond, which could allow the city to build a new secondary water piping system so the remaining courses could spend less to water their greens.

“I’m looking at this as a reinvestment in golf,” Garrott said. “Even as we’re closing a couple of courses, this is about making the system stronger and more sustainable.”

Analysis of the city’s golf fund has indicated an overall decline in play at Salt Lake City golf courses of 18 percent since 2001, according to a city report. Raymond said the decline in rounds played has “set the table” for the golf program's issues, including deferred maintenance.

But Bill Walker, Utah Golf Association executive director, said the local golf industry has seen an “upswing” of interest, despite declining national trends. According to a Golf Alliance Utah report, the Utah Golf Association has increased membership by 600 since 2011, and golf facilities in the Salt Lake Valley, which directly compete with the Salt Lake City golf courses, have shown positive increases in both rounds of golf played and revenues over the past two years.

“Our thoughts within the golf community are the reason the rounds are down at those (city) facilities is they have so much deferred capital improvements that the facilities aren’t competitive with other golf courses on the market,” Walker said. “They’re seeing golfers go elsewhere.”

Walker said it’s “worrisome” to see the courses close in the capital city of one of the few states that is running against the national decline of golf.

“When you lose those, you lose them forever,” he said, adding that said Glendale in particular is a valuable facility because of its appeal to both advanced and beginner golfers.

Salt Lake City resident Jon Cronk, 23, said he has played as a serious golfer since he was 13 years old, and he’s disappointed to hear of Glendale’s closure and the uncertainty of Wingpointe’s future.

Cronk said Glendale is a more “relaxing” course to play in comparison with other city courses that contain large trees and lakes that can be intimidating to golfers who would rather not worry about losing balls.

“I’m looking at this as a reinvestment in golf. Even as we’re closing a couple of courses, this is about making the system stronger and more sustainable.” -City Council Chairman Luke Garrott

“It’s sad to hear about golf courses closing, because while we have other courses, each course is special in its own way, and there are memories there,” he said. “Some guy may hit a hole-in-one for the first time in his life there, but if the course closes, with the course goes the memories. That’s the saddest thing.”

Raymond said while the city has named the courses slated for closure, the facilities won’t be shut down until the city has set a “complete repurposing plan” in place. In order to construct that plan, he said the city will be launching an “expansive public outreach plan” within the next few weeks to gather input on what city residents would want to do with the open space, as well as the amount of the bond that would go with those renovations.

“We will be listening very closely to what people have to tell us about their interests in terms of new parks and recreational development,” Raymond said, adding that the city has already heard residents' interest in more play fields, especially for soccer and lacrosse, and more hiking and biking trails.

The broader vision of city’s recreational assets includes fewer golf courses, he said, but more parks and other amenities that cater to a wider demographic.

“It’s about the changing needs of our community,” Raymond said. “The mayor’s office and the council body are excited to hear back from our residents about what they’d like to see happen.” Email: kmckellar@deseretnews.com

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