Frequently Asked Questions
Seattle is pretty rainy. Isn’t Jackson Park Golf Course self-watering?
No. The golf course drains two-thirds of Thornton Creek’s water flow in non-winter months to irrigate the course, harming salmon and other wildlife habitat.
A city study performed in 1994 estimates that the golf course drains two-thirds of the environmentally sensitive north branch of Thornton Creek during non-winter months to irrigate the turf, at a rate of about 1.2 cfs (32,300 gallons per hour).
With climate change and extreme weather events such as heatwaves in Seattle, this need for increasing water to maintain the golf course will only accelerate.
The city of Seattle Thornton Creek Watershed Report notes:
Water is removed from the North Branch of Thornton Creek during the spring, summer, and fall to irrigate the Jackson Park Golf Course. A brief study conducted by SPU in 1994 confirmed that the golf course diverts approximately 1.2 cfs, slightly less than the permitted amount. (section 3-20)
… According to SPU estimates, the golf course withdraws… up to two-thirds of the creek flow at this point. (section 4-32)
Seattle is pretty rainy. Isn’t Jackson Park Golf Course self-watering?
No. Golf courses destroy trees and natural wetlands, replacing them with non-native grass that require toxic pesticides to maintain.
Pesticide use
Reporting by the Seattle times in 2017 highlighted that Seattle Parks and Recreation sprayed on average 19,000 gallons of pesticides every year, with nearly all of the most toxic “EPA Tier-1” pesticides used on 4 major golf courses, including Jackson Park. Tier-1 pesticides “include those determined to be likely carcinogens, endocrine disrupters or a hazard to birds, fish or bees”.
The inset data visualization shows that 1,800 gallons of Tier-1 toxic pesticides were used at Jackson Park every year.
Flooding and heatwaves
Golf courses prioritize shallow-rooted grass species such as Poa annua and Agrostis palustris not native to the Pacific Northwest. Due to their thick mat-like quality, in rainy seasons they cause runoff and can contribute to flooding. In dry seasons, they can die easily in heatwave events, requiring expensive renovations.
The Seattle-commissioned Lund Golf Course report includes this heatwave incident in Jackson Park:
It was mentioned that on two separate occasions, the complete lack of water for 48 hours caused major issues for your shallow-rooted Poa annua-dominated putting surfaces. While the greens were able to reasonably survive the first lack of water incident, the second incident occurred during August, with major turf loss on most of the putting surfaces in full sun, and especially those that had no shade during the warm summer afternoon hours. (page 43)
Is Jackson Park really named after that Andrew Jackson?
Yes. According to Seattle Park and Recreation archives, Jackson Park Golf Course was named in 1930 after the 7th US president Andrew Jackson.
Andrew Jackson owned hundreds of slaves, hoarded wealth created by plantation slavery, and stole Native land by the forced resettlement of tens of thousands of Indigenous people along the Trail of Tears, with the Indian Removal Act of 1830.
Does Jackson Park Golf Course make money for the city?
No. Jackson Park Golf Course is not revenue positive for Seattle and losses are projected to continue to accelerate.
In 2017, Seattle commissioned the Lund golf report, Strategic Business Plan for the Future of City of Seattle Owned Municipal Golf Courses. The report projects that the 4 Seattle public golf courses will incur losses between $4 million - $8 million for the city between the years 2017-2027 (pg 6-7).
While all of Seattle’s public golf courses were originally set up to be net revenue positive, none of the courses are expected to be able to generate enough revenue to fulfill this objective by the year 2027, with Jackson Park Golf Course projected to fall into the red around the year 2022 (pg 108).
Even in 2017, revenue from Jackson Park Golf Course was only barely able to cover its combined operating and non-operating expenses (debt on past capital improvements) (pg 104). Already identified future capital improvements that would be needed to keep Jackson Park Golf Course playable add up to an additional $13.7 million (pg 109). The combination of ongoing operating expenses, expensive necessary capital improvements, and dropping revenues over time as the popularity of golf decreases means that Seattle loses money on Jackson Park Golf Course.
An associated 2018 memo to the Seattle Park Board of Commissioners summarizes the above circumstances:
“Unfortunately, in the last several years course revenues have been declining and have been insufficient to offset all golf related expenses for several reasons. These include such things as poor weather; rising labor costs; utilities; maintenance practice(s); escalating costs and cancellation or delay of capital improvements; use of vendors; operational practices; changing demographics and recreational interests, etc. This trend of declining revenue is projected to continue indefinitely until changes are made to the current golf operational model.”
