NATCHEZ, Miss. – Fee increases are being assessed on users of the city golf course that includes a $5 hike on players riding solo on golf carts.
These are the first across-the-board increases in seven years as maintenance costs have risen, said Duncan Park golf course Superintendent Greg Brooking. He asked the Natchez Board of Aldermen to approve the fee hikes Tuesday.
The new fees include $25 for single golf cart riders (up from $20) and a $15 green fee (up $1). The fee for two-rider carts increases by $2.
Brooking said the new fees for the city-owned Natchez Golf Club at Duncan Park remain less than what’s charged at the Percy Quin State Park golf course near McComb, the closest other public golfing venue.
“I think we’re giving our taxpayers a quality product that’s worthy of it,” he said.
The Board of Aldermen also approved doubling the fee for renting Duncan Park’s newly renovated golf clubhouse. The $500 fee will be charged for using the building for parties or other such gatherings for three hours.
Duncan Park is hosting a state championship this weekend – the first city-owned golf course in the state to ever be asked to have such a Mississippi Golf Association-sponsored event, according to Brooking. The 2026 Bill Cass Senior Four-Ball Championship takes place Friday through Sunday and has nearly 70 golfers from throughout the state registered to play, according to the tournament’s tee sheet.
Duncan Park’s golfing venue dates back to 1916, when its first nine-hole course was constructed. It was expanded in 1993 to make it an 18-hole course.
Duncan Park pickleball players currently use tennis courts that are temporarily reconfigured for their smaller playing space. Natchez Recreation Director Ryan Porter presented the plan for making three of the 10 tennis courts exclusively for pickleball at a cost of about $31,000 – with half funded by private dollars.
Alderman Valencia Hall expressed concerns that having only seven tennis courts would be insufficient for high school tennis tournaments. However, Alderman Curtis Moroney noted high school tennis play is seasonal while pickleballers are year-round, and Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson expressed concerns Duncan Park will lose pickleball players who’ll be attracted to Vidalia’s new recreation facilities.
While the board tabled the pickleball court plans, Gibson told Porter to talk more with high school tennis coaches and others about any concerns they have about losing three tennis courts.
The debate over refashioning Duncan Park tennis courts for pickleball comes as surfaces on westside courts have severe cracks that need to be mended.
Comments