Green Space, Black Holes: Subsidized Golf Courses Costing Cities, Taxpayers

Summary

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The Cedar Hills golf course sits at the mouth of American Fork Canyon on 140 acres once littered with rusted beer cans and broken bottles.

For generations, the farmers of Cedar Hills ignored this land. Too dry, they said. Eventually it became a gravel pit, dull, gray and dusty.

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Extract

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Green Space, Black Holes: Subsidized Golf Courses Costing Cities, Taxpayers

But today the land is green, covered by a blanket of clipped grass. It's a hot summer morning, and the course is all but empty. Over on hole 13, an elderly man in tan shorts is about to sink a putt. There is no one in the tee box, waiting for him to get off the green, and no one ahead on the next hole.

Maybe it's the heat. And maybe it's something else.

There's another golf course across the street. And another a few miles down the road. And another up in Draper, and another in Saratoga Springs, and another in Eagle Mountain. Maybe that's where all the golfers are.

The ball drops in the hole. The man fetches it and strolls back to the cart. Off to the next hole.

For a golfer like this, there's nothing wrong with an empty course. It means no waiting for a tee time, which means no one is behind him, rushing his putts. He can walk slowly. He can take his time.

But The Cedars is no country club. To keep it...

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