Proposal to close Cherokee Golf Course held up after Metro committee meeting

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A proposal to close Cherokee Golf Course is on hold after a committee meeting.

The Louisville Metro Parks and Sustainability Committee passed an ordinance on Tuesday. The proposed ordinance that passed the committee in a 6-1 vote allows a person or business to manage nine-hole public golf courses in Louisville, meaning a PGA professional wouldn't be required.

The ordinance also calls for Louisville to request proposals from private businesses, individuals or nonprofits if the city has managed the golf course for more than a year. Those proposals would be specifically bids for management of the golf course, meaning the repurposing plan that's been discussed for months could conflict if the ordinance becomes law.

In 2019, Olmsted Parks Conservancy submitted ideas for the golf course, which was founded in 1895. Olmsted's ideas included using the space for more walking trails, trees and wildflowers, along with adding paddle-boats and kayaks in Willow Pond and the potential to re-purpose the existing golf club house into a restaurant.

"The proposal from 2019 is almost three years old and if we can't get somebody to run the course, then by all means, we need to do something," Parks and Sustainability Chair Cindi Fowler said. "When this RFP (Request for Proposal) in 2019 went forth, it was not to repurpose the golf course, but to find pros or someone to manage those courses."

Cherokee Golf Rendering 1 — Willow Pond reimagined as a centerpiece to Cherokee Park’s landscape. (Source: Olmsted Parks Conservancy)

The city of Louisville currently has 10 municipally owned golf courses, and Cherokee Golf Course is one of three nine-hole courses in the system. The 52-acre golf course is currently operated by the parks department and doesn't have a PGA professional or nonprofit to help.

Councilmember Donna Purvis (District 5) said Louisville has historically struggled to bid nine-hole courses to golf pros, while Councilmember Amy Holton Stewart (District 25) said prior to city and county golf courses merging into Louisville Metro, county golf courses weren't required to be operated by a PGA pro. Hence, Fowler proposed the ordinance to expand the pool of potential management candidates.

"I don't think there is any data that suggests a golf course manager cannot operate a golf course successfully," Stewart said. "I think that 9-hole courses are attractive to some people who may not have the ability to play an 18-hole course."

Cassie Chambers Armstrong represents District 8, which includes Cherokee Golf Course. Chambers Armstrong, who has held public feedback session for the golf course, suggested broadening the ordinance language for who could manage the land, beyond just a golf course, saying everyone should have "an opportunity to put forward what they would do with it."

Fowler said Cherokee Golf Course is one four public courses in the city that is making a profit.

According to the previously proposed resolution, Cherokee Golf Course showed a $60,000 profit in 2021, but operated at a deficit the previous nine years. Since 2011, Metro Parks reports golf has lost $1.614 million with Cherokee Golf Course responsible for $532,422 of that deficit.

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Cassie Chambers Armstrong represents District 8, which includes Cherokee Golf Course. She suggested broadening the search for who could manage the land, beyond just a golf course, saying everyone should have "an opportunity to put forward what they would do with it."

"I think the public has a right to at least see that conversation play out because... we've already gotten the public invested and I just don't think that's fair," Chambers Armstrong said.

In a statement released after the committee meeting, Chambers Armstrong, District 9 representative Bill Hollander and Metro Council President David James withdrew their sponsorship of the resolution that seeks to approve Parks and Recreation's request to repurpose Cherokee Golf Course.

"We are concerned that moving forward with our resolution to approve Metro Parks' request to repurpose the golf course before the RFP is complete could further complicate the process and produce inconsistent outcomes," the statement says.

Metro Council currently has $1.1 million in deferred maintenance set aside for the golf course for the clubhouse, maintenance facility and cart barn.

According to the withdrawn resolution, 55% of responders supported Olmsted's proposal while 42% wanted the golf course to remain.

"I worry that with this ordinance, the conversations that started we're cutting it short, and we're not having that holistic conversation," Chambers Armstrong said. "I think that's doing a disservice to the public that has engaged on it."

Metro Council is holding a meeting on Thursday. The ordinance passed at the Parks and Sustainability Committee will go to Metro Council for a full vote. The resolution was scheduled to be read into the record as new business, but it's now pulled.

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