Golf Returns to County Parks

Putting green and driving range at Brown Deer Park Golf Course. Photo taken July 23, 2024 by Graham Kilmer.

It’s officially spring and golf is coming back to the Milwaukee County Parks system.

Parks opened the courses at Grant Park and Lincoln Park for play Friday. They will close again over the weekend for inclimate weather. The department hopes to have all 13 courses in the system opened by early April.

Unseasonably warm weather earlier this month allowed Parks to hold a soft-opening at six courses: Currie, Grant, Lincoln and Whitnall, Noyes and Lake Parks. Between March 10 and March 15, more than 3,000 rounds of golf were played, Andy Gieryn, golf services manager told Urban Milwaukee.

The courses were closed again for the recent snowfall. Parks maintains a website to schedule tee times and showing course availability.

The annual inauguration of the golf season is important for everyone in Milwaukee County, not just the golfers. The game has become a vital source of revenue for the county parks system.

One effect of the county’s wider fiscal woes is that it is unable to provide the parks department the funding it needs to operate the system. As a result, the department has to generate more than 50% of its annual operating revenue through money-making programs (like golf), food and beverage sales and venue rentals.

As the sport has grown in popularity since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the department has managed to generate 20% of its annual operating revenue through the golf courses. More golfers on the county links means more money for the department so it can continue to maintain the amenities that don’t make a buck, like bike trails and pools.