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PROVO — BYU golfer Naomi Soifua admits she cried when she heard the news.
The Cougar freshman and former Provo High golf standout has worn her heart on her sleeve while rising through the junior golf ranks. But last week, she was emotional for a different reason.
Soifua was attending a rally at East Bay Golf Course upon hearing reports that the city of Provo was in private discussions to sell parts of the publicly owned property to a private developer, with the anticipation of promoting a new medical school on the land.
Soifua was distraught. East Bay meant a lot to her.
In many ways, it had become her second home.
“People know if I am not at home, I’m at my second home here,” said Soifua, a three-time individual state champion who won a team title for Provo High at East Bay.
“I’ve literally cried here, cheered here, bled here; I’ve done everything. I’ve birdied every single hole here. I’ve met so many great people here, and they’ve become lifelong friends. I won my first high school tournament here, my first state championship here, and it means so much to me.”
Soifua isn’t alone. The course serves as a home course for six high schools in Utah County, and nearly every high school golfer in the state will play at least one round at East Bay over the course of their career, according to Timpview golf coach Jeff Ward.
“There is no other facility that caters to the junior golfers (like East Bay),” he added. “It is a fantastic facility.”
More than 100 people gathered at East Bay Golf Course in Provo last Wednesday evening to voice support for the 18-hole, par-72 championship course at a rally sponsored by Provo City Councilman Kay Van Buren.
News has begun to emerge of a private developer that wants to take three holes of the golf course to build a medical campus. No open-air meetings have been held by the City Council during the sensitive nature of the business discussions, but the private developer has released several public statements about plans for the land.
The chance for public comment will be available in November, according to Provo Mayor John Curtis, who is also running to fill the congressional seat vacated by former Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz.
Wasatch Educational has submitted a proposal to the city of Provo that would take holes No. 10, 11 and 12 (or “approximately 11 percent of the total golf course acreage,” Wasatch Educational said in a statement, the holding company of the university) and turn them into a medical campus for Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions.
The developer has said they would relocate the three holes of the championship course to another location, though specific details of the relocation were unavailable.
Wasatch Educational insists that the addition of the campus will help fill an increasing need for physicians in the state of Utah and beyond. It also promises a significant economic bump in the area of Provo south of Brigham Young University, collectively referred to by residents as “East Bay.”
How do you feel about @provocity's proposal to sell part of East Bay golf course to a private developer?https://t.co/It2XQ3mWgu
— KSL SportsBeat (@kslsports) October 29, 2017
“The economic impact of the proposed education facilities to the City of Provo and Utah County during the next ten years includes 1,588 jobs, $83.1 million in construction business, and approximately $100 million annual business infusion,” Wasatch Educational said via statement. “It is anticipated that the medical school will be a magnet for many more health, medical, biomedical, biotechnology, and related spin-off businesses, which may add hundreds of well-paying jobs and property tax monies to the community.
“Additionally, this proposed initiative should result in more than $8 million directed to the Provo School District in the first 15 years.”
Government officials, of course, have had to balance both sides of the heated argument.
“This can be a win-win for Provo—an enhanced golf course and a medical school,” wrote Mayor John Curtis on his official blog. “Our golfing community will be able to enjoy an improved layout and design. The medical school and the health education facility bring jobs, capital investment, increased property and sales tax and educational opportunities.”
Proponents of the golf course say that the economic stimulus is more political speculation and less grounded in facts. And even more argue that the benefit of the golf course can’t be measured on monetary value—even as the city’s Parks and Recreation Department has taken ownership of East Bay and increased its financial viability in recent years.
“There is no dollar amount that it is worth,” said Sue Nyhus, the women’s golf coach at nearby Utah Valley University who attended this week’s rally. “It promotes so many good things in our community, from the welcoming nature of the Reserve at East Bay to the high school kids and beyond. It’s a gateway for golf to be a leverage in their life for bigger things.”
From the annual professional tournament Provo Open to the newly minted Utah Women’s Open, East Bay has welcomed pro golfers from around the area—and more so, regionally and locally—to Utah County for decades. Nyhus played a Pro-Am round with the late creator of the “Peanuts” cartoon Charles Schultz and has come back to East Bay in her professional career—as well as in her latest stint leading the Wolverines.
Sure, golf courses can be remodeled—even rebuilt. But East Bay is unique in its current configuration.
“It’s a championship golf course,” Nyhus said. “There are memories on memories of this golf course for the whole community.
“So many good things that happen started here … and it’s grown into a larger community. We cannot lose it.”
More than 10,000 rounds of golf were played by Utah youths last year, and nearly 40 percent of them were played at East Bay, estimates Utah Golf Association board member Randy Dodson.
“When we talk about growing the game of golf, this is one of the facilities that most supports that initiative,” Dodson said. “This is an issue that deserves public comment.”
While Wasatch Educational and City Council members were negotiating in private chambers for a potential sale of parts of the golf course, community members in Provo and other parts of Utah County were meeting in the open air of a chilly fall evening on the golf course’s grounds.
They want to be heard.
They want the private developer to know something.
And golfers like Soifua has a special message for them.
“I would tell them that this is my home, and if you take away this golf course then you take away part of my family,” she said. “I don’t want them to do that.”
