Public golf courses consolidated

The Montgomery County Planning Board voted Thursday to transfer control of half the county’s public golf courses to the county Revenue Authority, which already controls the other half. The four courses maintained by the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in Montgomery County — Needwood, Little Bennett, Sligo Creek and Northwest Park — have lost money for eight of the past nine years, planners told the board.

“We have been unsuccessful in that there is a flat demand for golf,” said acting Deputy Park and Planning Director Bill Mooney. They have worked for more than a year to turn around performance, he said.