Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Editor's note: This story has been updated to show that the golf course rates will increase instead of simply being proposed.

City residents will pay more to golf at Haymaker Golf Course this year, according to a rate schedule presented to the Steamboat Springs City Council on Tuesday.

Resident greens fees will increase across the board for the 2012 season, as will the price of season passes.

The daily and season-pass rates have remained the same the past three years. The last increase in rates came in 2008.

Rates for nine-hole and 18-hole nonresident daily greens fees will stay the same as in 2011, and the shoulder and value seasons for nonresidents will be eliminated unless course conditions justify a discount.

The increases for city residents are anywhere from $1 to $3 per round.

Season passes for residents will increase from $1,250 to $1,295. Early season passes will increase from $1,025 to $1,095. Individual season passes for nonresident property owners will increase from $1,700 to $1,775.

Season pass junior add-ons and junior passes will stay the same. Spouse add-on passes and all punch cards will increase. However, punch cards now will be transferable among golfers.

Haymaker Golf Committee member John Vanderbloemen said the increase in rates is to help balance Haymaker’s budget.

With the increases, Haymaker’s gross operational revenues would be more than $59,000 in 2012 should the course see the same number of rounds and distribution of play as in 2011.

“There have been a couple of years now where the end result is that Haymaker hasn’t quite broke even, and we’ve had to use our unrestricted reserves fund,” Vanderbloemen said. “We don’t want to use (all of) our reserves. We want to get back to a balanced budget.”

The 2012 budget projected Haymaker to lose more than $111,000 this year. Haymaker is one of several enterprise funds — including Howelsen Hill Ski Area, Brent Romick Rodeo Arena, Howelsen Ice Arena and the Tennis Center at Steamboat Springs — that the city subsidizes.

In recent years, however, Haymaker has made up for its operating losses by using its unrestricted reserves fund.

Haymaker Golf Committee members said in November that increasing rates and attracting destination golfers was a possible way to increase revenues for the city-owned course.

Members said it’s important for Haymaker to save its reserves for future capital needs such as a new irrigation system.

“The goal is to increase the revenue from tourist play and increase it from resident play because of rate changes,” Vanderbloemen said. “We’re trying get Haymaker back to a break-even status.”

2012 Haymaker Golf Course rates

Season passes

Individual resident season pass

2011: $1,250

2012: $1,295

Individual resident season pass, early

2011: $1,025

2012: $1,095

Individual season pass nonresident

property owner, early

2011: $1,700

2012: $1,775

Add-on junior pass

2011: $175

2012: $175

Add-on spouse pass, early

2011: $850

2012: $875

Junior pass

2011: $300

2012: $300

Punch cards

Punch card resident, 20 nine-hole rounds

2011: $435

2012: $455

Punch card nonresident, 10 nine-hole rounds

2011: $400

2012: $420

Punch card nonresident, 20 nine-hole rounds

2011: $700

2012: $735

Punch card nonresident property owner, 20 nine-hole rounds

2011: $575

2012: $600

Daily greens fees

Greens fee resident

18 hole

2011: $48

2012: $51

9 hole

2011: $31

2012: $33

Twilight

2011: $37

2012: $39

Nine-hole junior

2011: $19

2012: $20

18-hole junior

2011: $29

2012: $31

Nine and dine

2011: $26

2012: $28

Golf school resident fee

2011: $48

2012: $51

Season pass, friends and family

2011: $48

2012: $51