YOUR AD HERE »

Vail Daily letter: It’s not about safety

The Vail Town Council and Vail Recreation District had been sending out emails to all concerned citizens who signed up for notification any time the golf course was on the agenda. However, when it came time for final approval of moving the 18th green, they apparently did not want all the citizen opposition to show up. So no notice that this was on the agenda was mailed out.

Mayor Andy Daly`s statement that “this is a totally different project” than the clubhouse is incorrect. With the use of “detuned” golf balls this year, as well as keeping the tee boxes farther back on the driving range, there are no more balls falling on the 18th fairway and therefore “safety” is no longer an excuse to move the green!

The only reason to move the green is to present a fait accompli to destroying a great hole and therefore remove golfer opposition to this events center! (Actually, the green was being moved back on the fairway to the place where all the balls used to fall, thus requiring further extremely expensive net modifications!)



Your reporting of the neighbors’ assessment that this is part of the same clubhouse plan is entirely correct. Eighteenth hole safety was never an issue for the past 40 years and was easily solved in a very simple economical way.

If the Town Council were truly concerned about “safety,” then they would move the soccer field! There is far more risk of serious injury there from errant sixth hole tee box driver shots than the previous floaters over the net onto the 18th fairway. Recently, there was just such a tragedy when a small girl was hit, requiring an ambulance ride to the emergency room and many head stitches. It is time to end this ill conceived and enormously expensive boondoggle. If the Town Council does not want to continue the costly maintenance of the building then they should do an economical renovation without expanding out onto the golf course.

Support Local Journalism



Rol Hamelin


Support Local Journalism