The city is going to examine whether its public golf courses should be managed by private companies.

City council voted Monday to ask for a report from administration on whether the idea would save the city money and deliver better customer service.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says it would not mean selling the municipal courses.

"Let's keep in mind that many, many city-funded rec facilities are actually run by private operators," he said.

"So, all four of our new rec centres will be run by private operators. Golf courses are run by city staff, and so this really is taking a look and seeing if a private operator could do a better job with that city facility."

Nenshi says he wants to see if that's possible without raising green fees.

Municipal courses have traditionally given Calgarians an affordable way to play golf compared to the higher cost of private courses.

The report is due by November.