"Other cities saw that and started drooling," says Rob Fotheringham, a Cedar Hills councilman.

Never mind that the number of golfers in the United States was about to level off and then drop. Or that because of construction debt it can take 20 years for a course to make money. The state's Wasatch course, built in the late 1960s, didn't turn a profit until 1992.

Despite these facts, readily available to any politician looking for them, local governments continued to see golf as a source of revenue throughout the 1990s. Some even bailed out private developers losing their shirts on multimillion-dollar courses, confident they could do it better.

Today, there are 60 publicly funded golf courses in Utah, which accounts for more than half of the courses in the state. While some are making money, others are losing cash by the fistful.

Some privately owned courses are also barely scraping by.

"They've built so many courses it's tough," says Ernie Schnieter, the owner of two Ogden-area courses. "They don't have to pay taxes, like we do, so they can offer green fees at a discount. We have to match that. Then they offer two-for-ones, and we can't compete with that."

Sheryl Starkey, who owns a course in Layton, says her course is just breaking even. Perhaps her accommodations are most telling: She lives in a one-bedroom apartment.

Once viewed as a moneymaker, golf in Utah, in some cases, has become a black hole.

Some blame the economy. Others say the number of golfers nationally is on the decline. But most agree the the supply now outweighs the demand and that local governments are to blame.

Salt Lake County lost $1.8 million on golf last year. Provo's Reserve at East Bay lost $736,000. The state-run Soldier Hollow course lost some $800,000. The numbers are similar across the Wasatch Front.

When a private course loses money, that's bad news for its owners. But when a municipal course loses money, that's bad news for everyone who pays taxes.

Consider ways in which local governments subsidize golf in Utah:

North Salt Lake funnels money out of its general fund, which can pay for everything from road repairs to the salaries of city employees, including police officers. Since 1994, North Salt Lake has taken $3.8 million from its general fund to keep the course afloat. It remains $6 million in debt.

Salt Lake County transfers money from its tourism and recreation fund, which means less money for the Capitol Theatre and the Salt Palace expansion.

Cedar Hills currently needs a secondary water well (largely because it has a golf course to water) that will cost the city $1 million it does not have.

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