Spending Money To Make Money

Some try to get ahead by cutting back. Others take the opposite approach, figuring you've got to spend money to make money. It's not easy taking Door No. 2 these days, but that's what a group in Ogden, Utah, is proposing for the city-owned Mount Ogden Golf Course.

The course, which carries four stars out of five in Golf Digest's Places to Play ratings, has been posting annual losses of $250,000, reports the Ogden Standard-Examiner. A citizen advisory group is proposing to build a $70 million condo/hotel complex overlooking the course to attract more golfers and increase revenue.

The plan includes $6 million to $8 million of work on the course by Nicklaus Design, an expense that would (theoretically) be offset by the sale of timeshare condo units. Also part of the proposal: a new clubhouse. "I'm excited that they have come up with a solution that doesn't involve taxpayers footing the bill," Ogden Mayor Matthew Godfrey is quoted as saying.

-- P.F.