AMSTERDAM, N.Y. -- At Amsterdam Muni, the city is asking golfers to help generate a little more green.
"You need to do things differently and if you don't change, nothing changes," Mayor Ann Thane said.
Under a new policy by Thane, peak tee times are being reserved for golfers who pay by the round. Those who buy annual memberships will have to hold out for an open tee time. This comes after complaints members were taking up prime time spots while walk-ons ended up walking away.
"It's really beneficial for the city because you have new people coming in to the golf course and you realize additional revenues," Thane said.
Thane said this simple policy change could generate as much as $13,000 in revenue for the city and the golf course. That's something pretty much everybody is excited about. But what some commission members aren't so excited about is the way that she put it into place.
Getting a peak tee-time at Amsterdam's golf course just got a little easier as long as you're not a member. That may sound counterintuitive, but in a move to generate more revenue for the course, the mayor is opening up more tee-times for those who pay green-fees. Our Mark Repasky reports, that's got some members a little tee’d off.
"I don't think the members are too happy," Golf Commission Chair Ron Barone said.
He said the commission didn't have any input. Now he's the one who's dealing with the backlash.
"It's tough for me to charge you for a membership and then a month later, two months later change all the rules," Barone said.
Alderman Dan Roth says he was left in the dark too.
"We're not able to brief the golfers and honestly the commission is looking clueless, myself as well," Roth said.
The idea came from a separate ad hoc golf committee Thane set up after she says some people weren't being heard by the commission. But others say it's politics on the course and if it continues it's the city that could land in the bunker.