WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — The Wilkes-Barre Municipal Golf Course in Bear Creek Township has been open to the public since 1967 but over the years the course hasn't had the funding to keep up with maintenance.
"The cart paths, the tee boxes, sand traps, you know, unfortunately, we need the help and the equipment to do it," Lugene Moore, head golf pro, said.
Wilkes-Barre City Council voted unanimously to award the course $1.8 million from the city's American Rescue Plan funds. City leaders said they felt the course needs these upgrades in order to stay competitive.
"It's 500+ acres of cart paths and grounds, irrigation systems that needed to be repaired and if the improvements weren't done, the course would most likely, ultimately, fail," Bill Barrett, Wilkes-Barre City Council, said.
The main vision is to restore the clubhouse to be able to host year-round events, something the city is really looking forward to.
"It could hold parties, events, showers, these types of things year-round, and I am personally very excited they are looking at doing that. I don't golf but I know the potential is there," Barrett said.
The golf course pro said many are excited to hear the bar and restaurant will make a return with plans to stay open year-round after being closed for nearly two years due to the pandemic.
"After they finish a round of golf, sit down, have a couple of beers and drink, chit chat with their friends, they miss that, they really do," Moore said.
Golfers who frequent the course said some people left due to the conditions of the course. So they're hopeful the improvements will help give the course a much-needed boost.
"Everybody has been waiting for some improvements and I think it will attract more golfers. It's a great layout. It has a lot of tradition," Drew Durako, of Laflin, Pennsylvania, said. "And it will get a lot of play if they put some improvements in."
The municipal authority that oversees the course will begin the plans now that the funding has been approved.
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