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Pending approval from the County Council and Planning Board, the Montgomery County Revenue Authority will terminate its lease to operate Sligo Creek Golf Course, leaving the future of the Silver Spring course uncertain.

The Revenue Authority hired an independent consultant, the National Golf Foundation, to examine its golf system, which includes five courses owned and operated by the Revenue Authority and four it leased from the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission in October 2006.

The study found Sligo Creek's dipping revenue to be adversely affecting the Revenue Authority's golf system, which, under its lease with Park and Planning, allows it to hand back ownership of the course to M-NCPPC.

Sligo Creek, the only nine-hole golf course in the Revenue Authority's system, was performing well below the other courses, said Keith Miller, executive director of the Revenue Authority, a self-sustaining agency that does not rely on taxpayer funds.

"We have to have a system that is sustainable," Miller said. "… Nothing [at Sligo Creek] would result in solving the financial needs of the property."

Miller said the Revenue Authority originally took over the courses from M-NCPPC to operate them at a profit with no burden on taxpayers. Other courses the authority has leased are Little Bennett in Clarksburg, Needwood in Rockville and Northwest in Silver Spring.

Those courses have at least 18 holes, making them far more financially viable than Sligo Creek, according to the National Golf Foundation's study. Miller said the operating costs for a nine-hole course are about 70 percent of those of an 18-hole course but nine-hole courses have far fewer users at lower rates.

The study showed Sligo Creek's revenue for fiscal year 2008 at $640,000 with operating costs at $570,000. All other courses in the system had at least twice Sligo Creek's revenue and the study projects Sligo Creek to lose more than $200,000 each of the next five years after factors like interest and depreciation are included.

Little Bennett is also operating below profit, the study found, but Miller said the Revenue Authority plans to keep its lease for Little Bennett.

The Revenue Authority had devised alternative plans for Sligo Creek, which included adding a driving range and miniature golf course that would be open at night. The community rejected those plans because of increased traffic and noise and concerns that the difficulty of the course would be compromised, said Bruce Sidwell, chairman of the Sligo Creek Citizens Advisory group.

The group presented alternatives to the driving range proposal in September but the Revenue Authority board of directors declined them.

Sidwell questioned whether the course, located at 9701 Sligo Creek Parkway, could truly affect the financial situation of the entire golf system.

"Sligo is just not a big course and would have to be losing a lot of money to put other courses in jeopardy," Sidwell said. "… You can't just walk out of a lease, you need a rationale."

Park and Planning staff has recommended two options to be considered if Sligo Creek is returned to the agency: a $56,000 appropriation that would cover short-term operations through summer of 2010 or a year-long master plan study of the course to determine its best use.

If the Planning Board and council approve the lease termination, alternatives for the course would be chosen and the Revenue Authority would operate the course until October before handing it back to M-NCPPC.

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the matter Feb. 26.