On Sunday, Union Leader reporter Dave Solomon wrote about the City of Manchester hoping to get paid back on loans it made to the publicly-owned Derryfield Country Club.

Derryfield, one of only three municipally owned golf courses in the state, has operated at a loss since 2007, requiring annual loans from the city that now total $1.1 million. Even if the golf course can be returned to a break-even operation, it’s unlikely any of that money will ever be returned to the city’s general fund, according to parks and recreation officials.

The golf course is part of the so-called “enterprise operation” the city created in 1998, based on the notion that the country club and city’s two ice arenas, JFK Memorial and West Side, should be self-sustaining. Investment in all three operations, and the bonding required to pay for it, has made that goal elusive.

The Concord Monitor’s Ben Leubsdorf reports that the City of Concord is also losing money at Beaver Meadow Golf Course.

Under the plan approved last night, planned spending at the golf course in fiscal 2013 will be reduced by more than $46,000. An additional $30,400 will be spent from the city’s general fund to pay debt-service costs this year in this year’s budget. The fund is still expected to run a deficit in fiscal 2013, but officials have said they hope the measures will give them time to turn around operations at the 18-hole course.

The measure passed last night on a voice vote as part of the council’s consent agenda, without discussion or dissent.