LIHU’E — The Kaua’i County Council is considering raising greens fees at the county-operated Wailua Golf Course. If approved, the new fees for residents would go to $13 on weekdays and $17, up from $12 on weekends. The monthly pass,
LIHU’E — The Kaua’i County Council is considering raising greens fees at the county-operated Wailua Golf Course.
If approved, the new fees for residents would go to $13 on weekdays and $17, up from $12 on weekends.
The monthly pass, which now offers unlimited play for $35, would cost $49.
Rates for non-residents would rise even more precipitously. The $25-for-18-holes weekday rate for visitors would spike to $40, and the weekend rate of $35 would rise to $50.
No decisions were made at Wednesday’s council meeting.
The Board of the Kaua’i Golf Association, with more than 800 members, voted at its last meeting to support the new monthly rates for residents. Monthly rates are not available to visitors. But the organization has not yet addressed the daily rate hikes.
Art Fujita, a well-known figure in amateur golf here and on the mainland, said that even at $49 per month, the rates were a bargain.
“This is paradise for the golfer who lives here,” he said.
Fujita suggested a seed fee of $1 that local golfers holding a pass would pay each time they played to help pay for the course’s upkeep.
Fujita also suggested the council take another look at the proposed rate hikes for visitors, pointing out that for not much more than the $54 to play 18 holes with a cart, tourists could play some private courses on the island.
Despite the fees, Wailua Golf Course doesn’t pay for itself, and the council has already ticketed more than $400,000 for course expenses for the upcoming fiscal year.
“This is a hot potato for us,” said Councilman Jimmy Tokioka, a golfer himself. “Golfers are a real vocal minority. I get as many calls on golf rate fees as anything else.”
Staff writer Dennis Wilken can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) and mailto:dwilken@pulitzer.net
