Are New Ascarate Golf Carts Good For Taxpayers?

Like a lot of El Paso, the county’s Ascarate golf course is undergoing changes.

A revamped clubhouse, a spruced up driving range and better greens are just some of the upgrades in recent years.

But the puttering of the course’s old golf carts has left golfers and course employees frustrated at times, and even stranded at other times.

“They’ve been running around in golf carts that leave them halfway up the fairway,” El Paso County Commissioner Sergio Lewis told ABC-7. “Then, they go and get another golf cart, and that one leaves them halfway.”

Monday, commissioners voted unanimously to lease 100 new Yamaha golf carts for Ascarate at a cost of $6,300 per month.

Mike Smith, the course “pro” who oversees Ascarate, said though player and member fees were raised a bit ahead of the new fleet, he hopes the new carts will mean more tournaments for the county course.

“Right now, it’s suspect to even have a tournament because don’t have enough golf carts,” Smith said. “We’ve got some down here that are 10 years old. It’s like Fred Flintstone out there, pushing the carts.”

Smith also said the new carts could mean good things for El Paso taxpayers with increased revenue.

“All the money goes into a general fund, so we want to make (the course) self-sustaining,” he said.

According to the contract displayed on the county’s website, the county will have the new carts through November 2015 for a total cost of $118,921 over the four years.

The lease begins in December.