On a recent hot afternoon, Randy Lundstedt and some friends are playing a round of golf at Clapp Golf Course in south Wichita.
“The layout of the course is probably one of the most interesting in Wichita, with as short as it is and with all the trees and the creeks and everything that roll through here,” he says. “For a public course, it’s really nice. It’s fun to play.”
The Derby resident has been playing here for about 20 years. But in that time, he says, the course has suffered — the quality of the grass has gone down, the weeds have spread.
“Twenty years ago this place was the place to go, and it just slowly started falling off,” Lundstedt says, “and I don’t know why.”
Wichita leaders say Clapp is the lowest-performing course in the city’s struggling golf system. And now, after more than 50 years, it closes for good on Friday.
“It’s a bittersweet situation," says Park and Recreation director Troy Houtman, "but it’s something that we have to do financially."
A sustainability study from 2018 shows rounds at the city’s five courses peaked in 1997 and have fallen steadily since; at Clapp, the number of rounds is down 55 percent. The city says closing the course, which needs an estimated $7 million in investment and equipment in the coming years, could help fill a hole in the Golf Enterprise Fund.
“I think this is going to strengthen our golf system,” Houtman says. “Or, I know it is going to strengthen our golf system.”
One layoff is possible, Houtman says, but most of the staff at Clapp will be given the option of relocating to another course.
Opponents of the closure have fought to reverse the decision since the park board voted last July. Some are calling for an independent review of the city’s golf system in hopes of finding a different solution to the budget deficit.
Many are concerned that it will leave golfers with just one option on the east side of Wichita; MacDonald at 13th and Roosevelt is about four miles from Clapp.
“We’re losing a part of old Wichita,” Lundstedt says. “But for as little that gets played here, it’s probably not a bad idea financially to the city. I don’t know. I hate to lose it.”
The city is hosting a sold-out tournament at Clapp on Friday to “celebrate the legacy” of the course.
After it closes, Clapp will be converted into green space with trails and disc golf. The city is working on a future plan for Clapp that could include an amphitheater and retail space.
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