Regarding the article “‘I don’t want golf to take over the park’: Squirrel Hill residents push back on plans to upgrade Schenley Park golf course” (May 23, TribLive): As former residents of Greenfield (2010-24), my family used the Bob O’Connor Golf Course at Schenley Park regularly, and we still actively participate in and support First Tee programming at the Arnold Palmer Learning Center. The course provides access to golf both through location and affordability that is unavailable to most Pittsburgh residents.
It appears that this is what the “Friends of Schenley Park” are overlooking in their opposition to expansion of programming at “The Bob.” Schenley Park is a City of Pittsburgh Park, not a neighborhood park. It doesn’t belong solely to those very few who are fortunate enough to live close by — it belongs to the 300,000-plus residents of the City of Pittsburgh.
“It would be transformative for the kids,” the programming director at First Tee was quoted as saying in the article. I would suggest the inconvenience of construction, additional parking/traffic and the “sound of titanium drivers” is worth the convenience that an enhanced golf experience would mean for city residents who would use the facility.
I urge Friends of Schenley Park to reconsider their position on this matter, and for those who would like enhanced access to golf in the City of Pittsburgh to support it.
Mark Chachula
Glenshaw