Metro Parks is trying to boost its flagging Blacklick Woods Golf Course by letting Franklin County residents play free at its nine-hole and three-hole courses beginning May 15.

Metro Parks Executive Director Tim Moloney said people don't have four or five hours to play golf and don't want to pay $40 or more for a round.

For several years, between 28,000 and 30,000 rounds of golf a year have been played at the 235-acre course at 7309 E. Livingston Ave. in Reynoldsburg. In the early 1990s, 70,000 to 80,000 rounds were played annually, Moloney said.

"We're going to make golf fun, approachable, and try to speed the game up," Moloney said.

The greens fees for the 18-hole course will remain at $23 without a cart during the week and $29 on the weekends for Franklin County residents, Moloney said. Out-of-county golfers pay an additional $4 a round.

In the 2019 budget, Metro Parks officials project course revenue to be flat this year at $869,800. They budgeted a $363,550 transfer from the general fund to cover expenses, and transfers will be needed "until we achieve a balanced and eventually profitable golf-course operation," the budget says.

Annual course revenue was $1 million as recently as 2013.

Jim McGregor, one of the three Metro Parks board members, said he doesn't know whether this idea will draw more people to the golf course. "It may not work out at all," he said, but it's worth a try.

If it succeeds, McGregor said, he worries that the free courses might get torn up because they weren't designed for heavy use.

"We want to keep all our options open and see what works best here," he said.

The nine-hole course and the three-hole course will have both the traditional 4-inch hole and a 12-inch hole, Moloney said.

Blacklick Woods also has been home to The First Tee of Central Ohio, a golf program for those ages 7 to 17.

mferench@dispatch.com

@MarkFerenchik