The Park City Golf Course’s irrigation system has reached the end of its useful life and must be replaced. That requires ripping up the greens.
The city has looked into other upgrades to coincide with the project since December 2025. Those include reconstructing all 18 putting greens to current standards, renovating all tee complexes and improving drainage.
But the Park City Council was hesitant to move forward with other major upgrades after a discussion Sept. 17.
Modernizing and replacing the irrigation system would cost about $5.4 million. If other upgrades are included, the project would cost about $15 million. Construction would span two summers, with half the course closed each year.
Councilmember Bill Ciraco said he wants the course to generate more revenue through pro shop sales and lessons to help fund future improvements.
“I’m not looking for this investment to be self-funding from that,” he said. “It would be helpful if we could point to say, ‘Hey, this is going to generate an extra $300,000 a year,’ or 350, or 400, or 250, whatever the number is.”
The rest of the council agreed.
Mayor Ryan Dickey said it’s also worth discussing how the golf course works, as it’s meant to be self-supporting.
“We've treated it as an enterprise fund, but clearly we're giving it now a massive general fund subsidy, so we didn't really operate it as an enterprise fund,” he said.
Ciraco said part of the problem is on top of the self-sustaining mandate, council wants the course to be affordable for resident golfers. Residents can play 18 holes for $72; non-residents pay $122.
Councilmembers Molly Miller and Tana Toly also wanted snowmaking to be part of potential upgrades.
White Pine Touring creates more than 20 kilometers of Nordic skiing terrain near the McPolin Farm and on the Park City Golf Course each winter. But low snow seasons make that work difficult.
The council will discuss golf course improvements again later this year.
Park City Municipal is a financial supporter of KPCW.
