Sligo Creek Golf Course

Big changes, major reservations

by Lauren Gring

Some neighbors of the Sligo Creek Golf Course have taken up a crusade against a proposal for its reconfiguration. A meeting was held at the Sligo Creek Golf Course on Oct. 27 to discuss changes proposed for the for the course.The most significant change proposed for the course is the addition of a two-level, lighted driving range with 60 to 70 stations, according to the Montgomery County Revenue Authority’s master plan.

The Montgomery County Revenue Authority leases and operates the county’s public golf courses, and introduced the proposed changes as a way to increase revenue.

The plan also calls for shortening and reconfiguring the existing nine-hole course and renovating the club house, with the addition of new classroom space for golf clinics and an area to hold group functions such as birthday parties.

The Revenue Authority is also considering building two miniature golf courses. After the first one is built, if there is is enough demand, the county will then build the second.

“We are looking at all options for an environmentally friendly plan,” said Keith Miller, executive director of the Montgomery County Revenue Authority.“At this time, we have environmental light and traffic studies being conducted.” Once those studies are completed, Miller said, the data will be shared with the community so a plan can be finalized.

Friends of Sligo Creek, a local, non-profit environmental stewardship organization that holds protection of the creek and the surrounding habitat as a vital part of its mission, first learned about the proposal in February and has taken a position against it.

Bruce Sidwell, president of Friends of Sligo Creek, said that the group does not usually take many adversary positions to causes but decided that it was warranted in this case.

The plan for the Sligo Creek Golf Course is “not appropriate for a green space type park,” Sidwell said. If the changes in the county’s plan are implemented, the root systems of the surroundeding trees, some of which are more than 60 years old, could be damaged. The changes would also bring increased traffic, and with it, more trash and other pollution, Sidwell said. Light pollution will affect the animals living there along with the residents that can see the course from their homes.

Heather Phipps, whose home is close to the course, is active in the fight against the proposed changes. “I live really close. My front door opens up to the golf course. The lights at night will affect my quality of life,” Phipps said.

She posted a neighborhood petition online to help gather support for opposition to the county’s plans. The petition lists some of the possible adverse effects of changes to the course, and lists improvements that signers would support. These include excluding the driving range and miniature golf courses and making changes that will be beneficial for the environment as well as agreeable for the neighbors.

Any expansion of the club house or construction of new buildings will increase the amount of impervious surfaces around the course, Sidwell said. That in turn, will create more rainwater runoff.

Instead of making the proposed changes, Sidwell suggests that the the county take steps to make the golf course a greener space through the use of fewer pesticides and less energy.

If Sligo Creek Golf Course becomes a model of a green course, “it would get a certain buzz about it,” Sidwell said, That would attract more people that would come and want to experience it.”

No comments have been posted to this article.

Want to post a comment to this article? Click here.