Why this matters
The Chula Vista Golf Course, owned by the city and operated by a contractor, sits on a flood plain along the Sweetwater River channel.
Some residents want Chula Vista to fix what they say are deteriorating conditions at the city-owned golf course, pointing to bare fairways, an aging irrigation system and repeated flood damage.
A group of golf enthusiasts told the city and county officials during recent public meetings that the course needs more care and suggested moving the facility’s management out of its existing department and into Parks and Recreation.
“There’s more dirt on that golf course than there is grass,” Robert Strahl said in an interview.
Strahl, who has played there for more than 50 years and previously was president of the Chula Vista Men’s Golf Club, blamed many of the problems on an irrigation system he said dates to the course’s opening in the 1960s. He said inconsistent sprinklers, faulty wiring and other equipment failures make it difficult to distribute water across the property.
Elizabeth Lebron, who regularly walks the popular Bonita trail around the course, said its brown and patchy appearance stands out beside Rohr Park.
“What we saw was a golf course that’s just being let go,” Lebron said.
All revenue tied to business operations at the Chula Vista Golf Course goes to the city’s contracted operator, KemperSports, which in turn maintains and improves the course. The facility generated $3 million in total revenue in 2022, a staff report said.
The company did not respond to a request for an interview. Over the past decade, the city’s contractor has invested in upgrades such as $200,000 in new and used equipment, $175,000 in tee box and irrigation repairs and roughly $500,000 for new golf carts, staff said during the city’s latest contract renewal.
The city has also included $200,000 for tees and fairways in this year’s capital improvement program, spokesperson John Cihomsky said in an email.
Mark Liuag, current president of the Chula Vista Men’s Golf Club, said the more urgent threat is flooding from the Sweetwater River channel. The course was constructed on a flood plain. Sediment has accumulated in the riverbed, he said, reducing the channel’s capacity and causing water to back up during heavy rain.
Liuag said flooding over the past several years has damaged irrigation pipes, the pro shop and several fairways. He said fairways were replaced, but the underlying drainage problem remains.
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Responsibility for the channel is divided between Chula Vista and San Diego County. Liuag plans to continue to keep raising the issue with officials from both agencies. If the riverbed is not addressed, he said, “all the investments and all the repairs and all the things that they’ve done, it’s just going to go by the wayside.”
Liuag acknowledged that revenue has been reinvested into the course over the past three years and that some conditions have improved. Still, golfers contend decades of deferred work created problems that will require more extensive repairs.
Cihomsky said the course remains a “key assignment” of the city’s Real Property Department and there are no plans to change that. He noted the city’s Parks and Recreation Department already manages 70 parks across 52 square miles.
Type of Content
News: Based on facts, either observed and verified directly by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
