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The Montgomery County Council passed a lease amendment Tuesday to require the county Revenue Authority to operate Sligo Creek Golf Course until Oct. 1 before terminating its lease because the course was ruled a drain on the county golf system's finances.

On Oct. 1, operation of the course will be handed back to the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which leased operation of four courses to the Revenue Authority in 2006. The Revenue Authority already owns five courses. The amendment will give the Department of Parks additional time to determine Sligo Creek's future.

If the council had voted against the amendment, the Revenue Authority could have backed out of the lease for Sligo Creek immediately because the National Golf Foundation conducted an independent study that deemed the course a financial failure.

This week, the county Parks Department will begin a master plan study to determine the future use of the course.

"We will ideally have a plan to what will occur at Sligo between now and this time next year," said Councilman Michael J. Knapp (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown.

After Oct. 1, M-NCPPC will handle upkeep of the Sligo Creek course, costing an estimated $56,000, until the county determines what to do with it. The community can provide input during the master plan study.

"It's important to be engaged with the community about this issue because there is a lot of fear about losing this green space," said Councilwoman Valerie Ervin (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring.

There is a clause in the lease that prohibits Sligo Creek from operating as a golf course if the Revenue Authority feels it will compete with its existing courses. Planning Board Chairman Royce Hanson has said the facility will likely not be operated as a golf course in the future, but will still remain green space.

While he still voted to support the lease amendment, Councilman Marc Elrich questioned whether Sligo Creek truly was financially adverse to the golf system.

Elrich said the National Golf Foundation is also contracted by the Revenue Authority to perform its customer surveys, which "would encroach on any notion of [the NGF study's] independence from the course."

"I'm prepared to support this to keep the course open until the fall but it raises some questions," said Elrich (D-At large) of Takoma Park.

Keith Miller, executive director of the Revenue Authority, said because Sligo Creek is the only nine-hole course in the golf system, it is three times more likely to not be profitable as the other courses.

"We believe the information that has been provided shows the course is adverse to the entire system," Miller said at the council vote Tuesday. Previously he has said Sligo Creek's operating costs are "about 60 to 70 percent" that of an 18-hole course, with much lower revenue.

The NGF study projects Sligo Creek to lose more than $200,000 in each of the next five years.

Over the past few years, the Revenue Authority devised alternative plans to save Sligo Creek, including adding a 72-station driving range and miniature golf course that would be open at night. The community rejected those plans over concerns of increased traffic and noise.