Higher Non-Holiday Golf Fees Are Unfair

* This is an open letter to all Ventura County golfers, addressed to the owners and managers of our local golf courses, including the city municipals, which one would think should put citizens’ welfare above pure commercial greed.

Unfortunately, one would be wrong in this assumption in the case of greens fees and cart charges when course management can conveniently lump any number of days under the “holiday umbrella” to increase the cost of a round of golf by 50% or more.

Monday, July 3, was a case in point. It was not a national, state or local holiday. The post office and banks were open, as were 99% of businesses. The only way a working person could have taken this day off was to take a vacation. It clearly is not a holiday by any definition. Yet, one had to pay the “holiday” price to play any of the local courses.

Does the cost of operating the courses go up on this Monday? Would the owners be pleased to pay extra for city utilities and water on that day just because it fell between a weekend and a holiday? Do the owners pay their staff overtime or holiday wages for that day? I think the answer to these questions would be no.

No one objects to courses making a profit. But if any other business attempted to jack up the prices on their product in this way, they would be chastised for price gouging. Why are golfers, who support these courses throughout the year, standing for this blatant rip-off?

WES VEAZEY

Westlake Village