BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Buena Vista Golf Course, located between Bakersfield and Taft, is fighting for survival after being hit by a fire and two burglaries. The summer’s hard times gave course owner Chad Sorensen some major losses.
“We lost a couple hundred thousand dollars of equipment, getting back 40 which we already spent just getting old equipment up and running,” Sorensen said, referring to the fire that occurred in early July. The course was then targeted by thieves twice, with tools stolen from sheds next to the burnt equipment. “Wrenches, sockets, drills, air compressors. Everything you can think of. And right as we were getting our new alarm system in, they hit us again,” Sorensen said.
Even with those challenges, the course remains lush, thanks to Sorensen’s dedicated grounds crew. “Luckily, the public has not seen too much of it except maybe we have not been able to trim our trees as much as we would like. But for the most part, we have kept the golf course in good shape,” Sorensen said.
Despite these setbacks, Sorensen said the biggest threat to the course’s future is the staggering water bill. To conserve water, Sorensen has left some areas between the fairways dry and brown. The course’s water bill is nearly $600,000 annually, as it must import water from other parts of the state. “We do not have the ability to drill because everything underneath us is salt,” Sorensen explained. “If we pulled out, we would have to buy a mix, get new facilities to mix that, and then push, and that would still be about the same in cost.”
Transforming the course into a desert landscape to reduce unused green areas is not feasible due to the high cost of replacing sprinkler heads. “We just do not have the ability with the irrigation system the way it is. And those heads are 300 bucks a piece and we have 1,800 of them in the ground,” Sorensen said.
The water costs are becoming unsustainable. “It will jump up to about 38 to 40 percent of your income will be to water and you just cannot do that. I would love to. But that would be a little bit too high,” Sorensen said.
One of Sorensen’s main motivations for keeping the course open is his employees. “I have got 20 plus employees here and they have been here for a long time and I love those people,” Sorensen said, becoming emotional. “They know that our time is limited here unless something happens, but they come out, they do not leave, and they are going to be here with me till the end and hopefully that is in 20 years.”
Despite Sorensen’s efforts to cut costs, the hefty water bill continues to challenge the course’s ability to stay afloat.
