THE HISTORY OF THE SCGA
We protested. We marched. We wrote. We testified. We put up 1,000 yard signs. And we saved Sligo Creek Golf Course. The story of this grassroots effort would be amazing if it ended there, but it didn’t.
But first the past. Until 2006, Sligo Creek Golf Course was one of four golf courses operated by the Parks Department in Montgomery County while five other courses were operated by the Montgomery County Revenue Authority. Alarmed at tax subsidies for the Parks courses, the County Council that year put the four Parks courses under the Revenue Authority, where the cost would be borne entirely by golfers. Unbeknownst to most golfers and residents, a provision — later declared illegal by the state attorney general — allowed the Revenue Authority to close any of these four courses and return them to Parks.
In later years, the Revenue Authority sought to transform Sligo into a Par 3 course built around a double-decker, lighted driving range. This was rejected because of opposition from the community. So in 2009, the Revenue Authority sought to close the course and Parks began planning other uses.
Several hundred golfers, environmentalists, civic leaders, and neighbors showed up at a Park and Planning Commission hearing to protest and within a week we formed the Sligo Creek Golf Association. Save Sligo Creek Course signs soon peppered down county lawns. We discovered that the Revenue Authority was charging Sligo Creek the same $139,000 management fee as its 18-hole and 27-hole golf courses, a crushing 25 percent of Sligo revenues.
Fortunately, County Executive Ike Leggett and the County Council listened. They agreed to provide bridge financing while a task force studied options. The task force didn’t solve all the problems. Sligo needs a new clubhouse with handicapped accessible bathrooms and an upgraded irrigation system. But out of the discussions, the Revenue Authority agreed to keep operating Sligo under a lease with Parks with some changes, including closing the course from December through February.
But the work of the Sligo Creek Golf Association was only beginning. We decided to put our money where our mouth had been. We formed a nonprofit corporation to raise funds for course improvements that neither Parks nor the Revenue Authority was willing to make.
Through our charity tournaments and donations, we have raised and spent more than $100,000 on the golf course, including the Sligo Sound Stage, Biergarten, annual flowers, new tee signs for the course, rebuilding sand traps, rebuilding tees, water/erosion mitigation projects, benches, tree planting, bridge repairs and parking lot repairs.
MoCo Parks and the Revenue Authority are now our partners. Head Groundskeeper Marlon Rodriguez and his team have put Sligo Creek Golf Course in the best condition in years. Course Manager David Degirolamo has upgraded the food and beverage offerings, brought the music series, and other new promotions to the course.
But our fight won’t be over until the future of Sligo Creek Golf Course is absolutely assured.
For more details about the history of SCGA and the fight to save the course, please fill out our contact form and a board member will be in touch.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT
We are grateful to the community that supports SCGA and the course. We raise funds through our annual charity tournament and individual donations to our 501(c)(3).
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Protecting native species (plant and animal) is part of the raison d’être for organizing Sligo Creek Golf Association and continues to play an important role in our activities. We work closely with Friends of Sligo Creek on tree plantings and other environmental protection projects.
Sligo Creek Golf Course has achieved “Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary” status through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program (ACSP).
REPORTS OF INTEREST
Task Force on Maintaining Sligo Creek Golf Course
2010 Laws of Maryland Chapter 476 (statute prohibiting closing of county park property by persons other than Maryland–National Capital Park and Planning Commission)