Negotiations Ongoing for New Fort Meade Golf Course

Quiet spread through a crowd gathered at the clubhouse of The Courses Fort Meade.

The audience, which consisted of many retired service members from the Baltimore-Washington Corridor who used to golf on the nine holes spread over 91 acres that will become the site of the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) headquarters, came for answers from Installation Commander Col. Daniel L. Thomas about the future of The Courses.

Thomas told the group he remained optimistic that the post would continue to offer a good golfing experience and was hopeful that the installation would one day have a brand new 36-hole course.

"In the long run, the future looks good. However," he said, gesturing in the direction of the grounds undergoing construction beyond the windows, "for some time, this is going to be what we're dealing with."

Specific details were not offered, a fact Thomas attributed to the sensitive and ongoing state of the negotiations to build the installation a new golf course. But he hinted that the post is probing three separate avenues to pursue the millions of dollars needed to build new links.

In a best-case scenario, he said, the installation may secure a deal by this summer, and Thomas assured the group that the future of the course remained a top priority. The heightened importance of the future of The Courses is also due to the tough financial straits the facility is in.

While it was once a moneymaker for the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (DFMWR), the golf course provided funding for uniforms and supplies for youth sports. But the number of rounds played at the course has been dropping since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, according to Rick Aleshire, director of golf at The Courses, who also spoke at the meeting.

After 9/11, the installation became a secure facility that required golfers to show identification and submit to possible vehicle searches before entering the post.

Membership in the club since has plummeted from about 1,200 in 2001 to approximately 500 today, Aleshire said.

The drop in use of the facility has hit The Courses' finances hard, said Bill Horvath, director of DFMWR, who spoke after Thomas; he said The Courses went from a profit of $317,000 in fiscal year 2007 to a loss of $159,000 in the last fiscal year.

"Last year was disastrous financially," he said. "We're starting off with a deep hole this fiscal year."

Righting the ship will involve various approaches, Horvath said, including increasing efforts to attract honorably discharged veterans. Other efforts include increasing cart fees by $1 and raising the weekend daily greens fees to $12 for 18 holes.

Improving the facility's finances will require structural changes as well, as the course becomes smaller, Horvath said. What new form the facility will take is unclear, as the 27-hole course is set to lose additional land this year; the new Defense Media Activity will be headquartered in a 185,000-square-foot facility where The Courses' driving range sits.

Focus groups of golfers at the facility led Aleshire to accept the loss of the driving range and keep the remaining 27 holes open for play, rather than convert nine holes into a driving range.

But some speakers at the town hall meeting said lack of a driving range and training facilities would only further decrease use of the facility. Thomas indicated he would consider taking another look at the plans.

Despite ongoing changes to The Courses, longtime golfer and retired Army Master Sgt. Arthur Mallory will continue to putt around the facility he's golfed at for almost four decades.

"As long as they have at least 18 holes of golf," he said, "I'll keep playing."