At 82, Crabtree says, standing around for that extra time is a strain. Crabtree would like to see Sunnyvale adopt a policy similar to that of Santa Clara, where residents can make reservations one day in advance of other players. While city officials would like to grant resident golfer's wishes, the fact remains that officials also don't want to disrupt to a service that draws business. According to Black, Sunnyvale's golf courses are economically self-sustaining, requiring no tax money support. They're bringing in more money than they expend for operating.
Officials say they hope to continue making a profit on the courses.
Councilman Manuel Valerio said income from the golf course funds many of the city's other parks and recreation services. Granting Sunnyvale residents an advantage that would discourage use by other golfers would be detrimental to the city's other services, he said. In past years, Black said, city residents did have priority on weekends, but that policy resulted in frustration and low customer satisfaction.