State looking for private firms to operate some of its golf courses

Some of the state’s golf courses currently operated by Utah’s Division of Parks and Recreation may soon be operated by private management firms. The state agency has posted a request for proposals seeking 10-year agreements to operate four state-owned courses.

The courses involved are the 36-hole Wasatch Mountain State Park course and the 36-hole Soldier Hollow course in Midway, the 18-hole Palisade Golf Course near Manti and the nine-hole Green River Golf Course. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}

The state has asked that proposals to be submitted by Nov. 7. The state will then decide by mid-December whether any of the firms submitting proposals will be chosen.

State parks officials have said they are following the state Legislature’s direction to determine whether private operation would financially benefit the state. 

The 50-year-old Wasatch Mountain course is the most popular among the venues listed in the request for proposals and consistently makes money. Nearby Soldier Hollow is in the Utah Golf Association’s rotation of State Amateur Tournament venues. In 2012, Soldier Hollow staged the U.S. Amateur Public Links Tournament, the only United States Golf Association championship ever held in Utah.{/mprestriction}