County needs to build golf course

Ross Crebbs Charlottesville
Published: July 6, 2008

I have read several recent letters to the editor from people who desire more athletic fields for various sports being played in this area. I would like to add my request to this growing list.

McIntire Golf Course has never been much of a golf course. It was adequate as a beginner’s course or a practice course, but not much for the avid golfer. Now we are losing two holes of McIntire to a highway and somebody else wants the rest for a botanical garden and walking trails. There will be no more McIntire Golf Course.

The city some years ago built Pen Park Golf Course to take the place of McIntire for city golfers.  Pen Park has been overcrowded since it opened, due to the large number of golfers from the city and the county.

Why won’t Albemarle County build an affordable public golf course for the thousands of golfers of all ages who reside in and around the county? A golf course is a serene, beautiful venue that also serves as a sanctuary for all sorts of wildlife.

Some years ago a local citizen offered to donate enough land to the county to build a golf course and the county declined the offer.

Pen Park paid for itself much quicker than expected due to the large amount of play that it received. I’m certain the same would hold true if the county ever built a golf course.

Wake up, Albemarle County! “If you build it, they will come.”