ESCONDIDO -- Efforts to close Escondido's projected $7 million budget deficit have turned to Reidy Creek Golf Course, where city officials have ordered maintenance and staffing cuts this winter.

The city's only municipal golf course has run operating deficits between $25,000 and $100,000 per year since it opened on North Broadway in summer 2002. It has become much harder for the city to cover those losses since sales tax revenues began plummeting in recent years.

City officials plan to lay off 46 of Escondido's 818 employees next month and make drastic cuts to library, police and fire services, and budget director Gil Rojas has said it has become unacceptable for Reidy Creek to run a deficit under those circumstances.

"We can't be talking about layoffs of city employees and not having our golf course cut costs," Rojas said last week.

The cuts include laying off one of three maintenance workers and reducing staffing in the pro shop by cutting employee hours, said Jim Stull, head professional at Reidy Creek.

With a smaller maintenance staff, Stull said, course officials have decided to stop mowing the landing areas in front of several greens and to let the rough grow in some areas on the outskirts of the 18-hole course, which consists entirely of par-3 holes.

While compaints have been few so far, Stull said, in the spring, the course's dormant Bermuda grass will start growing again, and that's when maintenance cuts will be more noticeable.

Rojas said he expects the cuts to reduce Reidy Creek's projected deficit from $77,000 down to zero for the fiscal year that ends June 30. "I think they are well on their way to breaking even," he said.

Despite the operating cuts, Reidy Creek will still take a chunk out of the city's $85 million annual operating budget each year.

The city pays about $400,000 per year to cover the interest on a $6 million bond that was used to finance construction of the course and its clubhouse. And that amount will increase to about $500,000 per year during years 11 through 20 of the 30-year bond, and then up to about $600,000 during years 21 through 30, Rojas said.

The 58-acre course was built for two reasons: to improve drainage in northern Escondido; and to replace the Osbrink, a similar course that operated for many years on the south end of Rincon Street before closing in the 1990s.

While Reidy Creek is a financial burden to Escondido, the city is far better off than Carlsbad, where a municipal golf course that opened in 2007 projects to run a $1.6 million deficit next year.

Carlsbad officials have blamed those projected losses on a diminishing number of people playing golf in a slowing economy. But Stull said Reidy Creek actually saw an increase in the number of rounds played in 2008, possibly because its fees of $37 to $43 are much lower than fees at most courses.

Another course that affects Escondido city finances, The Vineyard near Kit Carson Park, also saw increased use during 2008.

City officials do not operate The Vineyard, which opened in 1993. But because Escondido and the city of San Diego co-own the land beneath the course, both cities receive between $100,000 and $150,000 per year from The Vineyard, depending on how much revenue is generated.

Escondido received $125,000 in fiscal 2006-07 and $115,000 in 2007-08. City officials had projected only $100,000 in revenue for the current fiscal year, but Vineyard general manager Brad Van Horn said usage is up at least 5 percent in recent months.

Van Horn attributed the increase to its relatively low fees, which range from $55 to $75 per round, and an increased focus on course upkeep and appearance.

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.