AMHERST — A working group may soon be formed to examine the future of a public golf course in North Amherst that has long relied on municipal funding to remain solvent, even though memberships, greens fees and assorted other revenues are supposed to cover all operating expenses.

With annual deficits continuing in the operating budget for Cherry Hill Golf Course, Recreation Director Rey Harp told the Recreation Commission at a recent meeting that he will be submitting a proposal to create the Cherry Hill Working Group to Town Manager Paul Bockelman.

While Harp said the golf course doesn’t have to be a money maker for the Recreation Department or turn much of a profit, the $54,000 and $50,000 shortfall between anticipated revenues and actual expenses in the first two years he has overseen the department is an ongoing worry.

“I’m in trouble if I bring in a budget that is that far overspent,” Harp said. “The budgetary complication is being underfunded, essentially.”

The fiscal year 2025 budget book prepared by Bockelman shows that the town will appropriate $234,923 for personnel and operating expenses at the 323 Montague Road site, with revenue projections at $226,144 from the sale of memberships, greens fees and money from the pro shop that sells associated products for both conventional golf and disc golf.

Adult memberships for Amherst residents are $615 and for nonresidents $667, with prices reduced for those 17 and under and those 62 and over.

Harp said the current structure is not sustainable. “Our budget doesn’t align with operational responsibility right now,” Harp said.

The budget book also references coming objectives, including expanding Family Day features to bring in parent-child groupings, thus introducing Cherry Hill to families and new generations; looking at the structural and financial long-term viability of the course under the existing budget; and working in partnership with other town staff, North Amherst community members and business leaders, and Cherry Hill members to develop the clubhouse and increase the revenue it can bring in.

Harp said the working group, to make recommendations to the town manager, should look at what the real costs of running a golf course are by looking at comparable municipal nine-hole golf courses. One consideration could be hiring an outside management company to handle operations. The working group may also assess the general long-term viability of golf in Amherst.

The working group would be assembled by the town manager, though the hope is to have Recreation Commission members serve on the panel alongside other town residents.

The number of rounds of golf played at the club in recent years peaked in fiscal year 2021, at 17,659, and went down to 8,829 in fiscal year 2023. Memberships, though, have held mostly steady during that time, going from 78 to 84. Weather can play a role in fluctuations of how often people are out on the course.

The golf course, designed by Dave Maxson and opening in 1963 as a private enterprise, frequently came under criticism from late Amherst resident and Town Meeting member Larry Kelley, after the town bought the golf course and surroundings, a total of 91 acres, for $2.2 million in 1987, saving the course and preventing a private housing development. Since then, Leisure Services and Supplemental Education, which was renamed the Recreation Department, has run the course.

Kelley estimated that in the first 20 years the golf course cost the town $900,000 in deficits, employee benefits and capital expenses.

Matt Cain, a member of the Recreation Commission, said he would like to see if there are other revenue sources, such as using the site for other purposes. The annual WinterFest has been staged on the site.

Commission member Chris Pariseau said revenues may depend on having members bring more guests and having more options, such as bringing food trucks to the site. Even reducing membership fees may bring in more revenue if more memberships are sold.

“You’ve got to try different things, even a cheaper membership,” Pariseau said.

The price point is difficult, Harp said, acknowledging that raising these fees to closer to what it costs to join private golf clubs may push people toward those other options.

While Cherry Hill had been competing with two private clubs in town, Hickory Ridge Golf Course closed in 2019, leaving only the Amherst Golf Club.

Recreation Commission Chairman Andrew MacDougall said there is a question about whether the town can have a loss leader that is for the public benefit, which has been wrestled with in the past. In fact, Bockelman in 2017, during a discussion with the Select Board about the shortfalls between revenues and expenses, said, “we need to decide if it’s an activity we want to support financially.”

MacDougall said he finds that the golf course is in good shape and that it should be an attractive option for those who play the sport.

“We just need more people to come out and golf,” MacDougall said.