The Hot Springs Village POA Golf Committee’s bi-annual report was presented to the Board of Directors by Phil Belt, Vice Chair of the committee, on April 17, 2024.
Belt said the vision of the Golf Committee is “To make Hot Springs Village the premier golf destination in the Midwest/Midsouth.
The Golf Committee’s mission is “To be the eyes, ears, mouth, and hands of the HSV golf community in maintaining, sustaining, and growing HSV golf. We are open to your comments and suggestions.”
The 2024 goals are to complete the Isabella bunker, drainage, and cart path renovation. Nina remains to be completed. This involves eliminating water in the bunkers and installing new sand. Santa Maria and Pinta are complete, and Nina will start soon.
The committee is working with the golf department on Balboa plans. The collected surcharges are around $2 M or more. This money has only been spent on the Balboa Golf Course. If the Board approves plans later this year, we will probably start additional work at Balboa.
The committee continues to examine course drainage. It has mapped out each hole on each golf course and started prioritizing with the course superintendents. More details will come.
The committee hosts quarterly “nine and dines,” a social event for couples where they play nine holes and then have dinner. More effort and communication will be made.
The committee continues to work with the golf department to improve ponds on our courses. Work on this long-term project also needs to be prioritized.
Another area the committee is working to improve is the restroom facilities, both inside and out. The restrooms have undergone extensive painting and roofing work.
There have been successful volunteer days. Holes can be adopted, and things like fixing sand divots and ball marks are done. Belt emphasized, “You don’t need to live on the golf course or be a golfer to volunteer.” Each course has a volunteer day. While the maintenance crews do a great job, there are tasks that they can’t get to.
The Golf Committee has created a Course Condition Subcommittee. “Subcommittee members complete a course condition scorecard for each course they play, with a monthly summary passed on to the Golf Department. This helps them focus on some of the details from a golfer’s perspective.”
Recently, the Committee reviewed out-of-bounds marking on all courses with recommendations to the Golf Department.
Another area of focus has been working with the course Marshals to improve the program. A robust training program was initiated.
A new annual award, “HSV Golf Hall of Honor” has been established to honor those who have demonstrated especially great leadership in the growth and quality of HSV golf. This was one of the highlights of a recent presentation by the Golf Committee and Golf Department gave to the heads of Village golf groups. The first award ceremony will occur next fall.
Belt thanked Tom Heffer, Director of Golf, and Kelly Hale, General Manager, for promoting Tami Jones to Golf Course Maintenance and Operations Manager. “She has made a significant difference,” Belt enthused.
By Cheryl Dowden from Phil Belt’s notes and audio
Click here to contact the HSV Gazette.
Click here to join our private Hot Springs Village Property Owners Facebook group. Be sure to answer the entry questions.
Click here to visit the POA website – Explore the Village.
This all sounds good. But: The price of golf here is getting as high as groceries at Walmart. For April the cost to play at Cortez is $46.04 including tax for a Member. And, if you want to accompany a guest, their cost is totally ridiculous – you can look it up. At the same time the golf program lost $1.3 Million last year on operations. That loss is also known as subsidy. And that subsidy does not include any capital expenditures. For the uninformed, this loss or subsidy is born by all the dues paying Villagers, money which could be going to roads, bridges, water plants, police, firemen, etc. Folks should bear in mind that while golf rates are sky high the total number of golf rounds played is still stuck at around 220,000 per year where it has been for years now. Back 20+ years ago the Village was recording more like 300,000 rounds per year with fewer golf courses. Something is wrong with this picture.