Cedar Rapids considering changes to golf course

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Cedar Rapids officials are considering converting a city-owned 18-hole golf course into a nine-hole course.

The Cedar Rapids Parks and Recreation Department will host two open houses Wednesday at the Jones Golf Course club house to present proposals and hear what people think about the plan.

Officials were prompted to make a change by repeated flooding of the course, which is bordered by a creek and near the Cedar River.

The city estimates repairs from flooding this year will cost $32,480.

Besides creating a nine-hole course, the city would turn other holes into use for instruction, would build a new driving range, expand a putting green and return some land to its natural flood plain state.