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On a recent Sunday afternoon, golfers hit balls that sailed past a gaggle of geese and a lone duck resting on the yellowing fairway of Mountain View’s Shoreline Golf Links. The 18-hole course is part of a 750-acre wildlife refuge and recreation area, a feature that many players say is what makes the course memorable and fun.
“It’s not unheard of to lose a ball in a squirrel hole,” laughed Rameshbabu Pattabiraman, a Mountain View resident and regular golfer.
But it’s not only the setting that draws golfers to Shoreline. They also told the Voice that they show up for the sense of community that has been forged through countless hours playing golf, typically on weekends starting in the early afternoon and ending when dusk falls.
None of this is by accident. This close-knit group pays for the same membership program at Shoreline. Dubbed the “Twilight membership,” it offers one of the most affordable rates and flexible playing times for golfers.
For $124 a month, Mountain View residents can reserve afternoon tee times and play until closing seven days a week. Non-residents can sign up for $135 a month, according to the city’s website.
“This is the poor man’s course,” joked John Schacter, a Twilight member and Stanford resident whose wife teaches at the university. “It’s not just professors and doctors. It’s also plumbers, salesmen and actuaries.”
After offering Twilight memberships for nearly 15 years, the city is planning to end the program on July 1. That decision has sparked opposition from a group of Shoreline golfers who say that it was made behind closed doors and without community input.
“It was very sudden and out of the blue,” said Hormazd Romer, a Sunnyvale resident who was a Twilight golfer until the city recently didn’t allow him to renew his membership.
In addition to ending the Twilight program, the city plans to remove the more expensive Gold membership, which allows golfers to play anytime the course is open.
Mountain View also intends to limit existing Senior and Silver memberships to exclude weekends. The new cost of these memberships isn’t currently known. According to Shoreline Regional Park Manager Brady Ruebusch, the fees will be publicized on June 1.
Romer first learned that the Twilight program was ending when he tried to renew his annual membership last month. The city told him that a renewal was no longer possible but that he could transition to a new Senior or Silver membership when it rolled out. The problem was that playing on weekdays is not feasible with his schedule, Romer said.
Since losing the Twilight membership, Romer has been golfing at other municipal courses, but it has not been easy to find open tee times that are as affordable as Shoreline, he said. He also misses the camaraderie of the Twilight community.
“One of the amazing things about this community was that you had people from all walks of life, all different situations and many different cultural backgrounds,” Romer said. “I feel like the city does not really understand the full extent of the impact on this community. … They only think about it as golf, and it’s actually so much more.”
Sunsetting the Twilight membership
The Twilight program got its start in 2012 at a time when there were not many golfers playing at Shoreline in the afternoon, according to Community Services Director John Marchant. The Twilight membership helped fill that gap.
The sport’s popularity has grown since then, a trend that Marchant linked to the pandemic prompting more people to exercise and socialize outdoors. The city no longer has trouble filling afternoon tee times, he said.
In recent years, other municipal golf courses have eliminated their membership programs, Marchant said. Those courses now offer discounted rounds, similar to what Mountain View provides with its existing Player’s Club program.
“The increase in golfers and the lack of membership options in the area has significantly increased the participation in memberships at Shoreline,” Marchant said. “This has affected the residents’ and the general public’s ability to play golf at Shoreline.”
Before Mountain View began winding down the Twilight membership, roughly 80-85 golfers took part in the program last year, according to city spokesperson Lenka Wright.
Marchant also noted that the vast majority of Twilight members are not Mountain View residents. While it fluctuates monthly, approximately 83% live elsewhere, Wright said.
“The change to Shoreline membership options [is] intended to help address this situation and ensure that Mountain View residents can get the tee times at the best rates,” Marchant said.
Marchant also stressed that the Twilight membership is a fee structure and not a city program that would require approval from the City Council to eliminate. Instead, it can be changed at the staff level, he said.
A change of course
While the city views the Twilight membership as a simple rate plan, the players see it as a program that has created a meaningful community, one that they say a new sports management company has been chipping away at.
Last year, KemperSports, which manages more than a 100 courses nationwide, took over the contract with the city to manage the course. KemperSports replaced Touchstone Golf, a Texas-based operator that the city first hired to oversee the course in 2011. According to the city, the contract’s terms are the same, with only the company changing.
However, Twilight members contend that services have been cut back since KemperSports came onto the scene. They claim the company is seeking to maximize profits at the expense of the community.
In February, KemperSports removed the “starters” and “marshals” at Shoreline. The starters and marshalls, a volunteer group, made sure that tee times were followed and that the pace of games kept moving, according to several members.
“It’s just chaos on the first tee and the golf course itself,” Romer said.
Twilight members also contend that they did not receive notification about the program’s impending elimination until months after the plan was set in motion.
Last October, the city stopped accepting new Twilight memberships and adjusted the reservation system so that the general public could book three days before Twilight members, according to city spokesperson Lenka Wright.
It was not until April 27 that the city notified existing Twilight members that they would not be allowed to renew their annual memberships. In an email, Abe Roof, Shoreline Golf Link’s general manager, told members that the changes were due to increasing operational expenses related to maintenance, water, labor and equipment costs.
“We must align our membership programs with these financial realities,” Roof said.
KemperSports spokesperson B.R. Koehnemann similarly told the Voice that the Twilight membership was costing the city and golf club too much money in lost revenue to continue.
“KemperSports has the responsibility to operate the golf course in a prudently financial manner and protect the interests of the residents of Mountain View,” Koehnemann said in an emailed statement. “In that role, it is customary to make operational changes with city collaboration that impact the financial performance of the club.”
Koehnemann added that there were still other membership opportunities being offered.
Twilight members meanwhile are skeptical that the Twilight elimination is necessary, with many describing it as a money grab.
“Will the profits be capped?” asked Eric Cheong, a Palo Alto resident and Twilight member. “Or is the sky the limit?”
What is the financial picture?
Marchant, the city’s Community Development Director, told the Voice that the purpose of Shoreline Golf Links was neither to maximize profit nor to operate at a cost to the city. However, he suggested that the current model was not sustainable.
“The cost to operate the golf course has significantly increased over the last few years,” Marchant said.
It is not clear though how much money the city is seeking to make from Shoreline Golf Links. The course is already generating income for the city. Last fiscal year, the city was able to funnel $100,000 back into Mountain View’s general fund. The year before that, it was $150,000.
At the same time, city officials project that the cost to operate the golf course will rise. This year, the golf course is expected to cost roughly $3.07 million to operate and is projected to bring in about $3.44 million. Next year, costs are expected to rise to $3.44 million. With the elimination of the Twilight and Gold memberships, along with other fee modifications, the city is looking to bring in $3.83 million in revenue.
Based on these projections, the city anticipates having over $350,000 in excess revenue both this year and next year. The plan is to transfer $150,000 annually to the city’s general fund and save the remainder in a special reserve fund in case the golf course faces future budget shortfalls.
Last fiscal year, the Twilight membership brought in $139,404. However, by eliminating the program and creating more opportunities to sell playing times at market rate, the city anticipates generating $309,988, Wright said.
“City staff regularly monitor the golf course’s operating revenues and expenditures in coordination with the course operator to ensure Shoreline Golf Links remains financially self-sustaining and does not rely on support from the general fund,” Wright wrote in an email.
“Shoreline golf course will continue to offer fees and memberships that are aligned with other municipal courses in the area,” she added.
A ticking clock for the Twilight community
Shouting greetings across the fairway, Twilight members kept up a brisk pace on the Shoreline golf course earlier this month. Members chatted in small groups, occasionally crossing paths as shots flew past intended destinations.
A few joked about the course conditions, pointing out deep divots, a decaying foot bridge, a nearly sandless sand trap and patches of brown dirt meant to be seeded with grass.
“This is not a Stanford golf course,” Schacter laughed. “But most of us don’t care because we love this place.”
One of the groups included Teresa Cho and her daughter Melinda, Saratoga residents who have been golfing at Shoreline for nearly four years. Melinda Cho is a Special Olympics athlete and her mom is a volunteer Special Olympics coach.
Teresa Cho signed up for the Twilight membership because it was affordable and allows weekend playing times, she said. Her daughter needs a lot of time to train, which is difficult to do during weekdays with school and work obligations. She described the course as inclusive, with friendly and helpful staff and fellow golfers, a sentiment shared by her daughter.
“It’s fun,” Melinda Cho said. “I’m happy. The people are friendly.”
Mike Pelham, a Sunnyvale resident, golfs with the Chos on weekends. Sometimes, he gets texts from Melinda Cho at 5 a.m. because she is so excited to play. “It really is like a big family,” Pelham said.
But while generally upbeat, the Twilight members also voiced concerns about the future of the close-knit community.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do now,” said Jennifer Lim, a Sunnyvale resident. “It’s a good price for us and everybody knows each other.”
For Romer, whose membership was not renewed, the clock has already run out.
“To me, it really feels like a loss,” he said. “All of a sudden, people that were my friends and I used to look forward to hanging out with, I just don’t have that anymore.”
