Henry County has plans to reduce Cotton Fields Golf Course from 18 holes to 12 holes or less. That move is essentially going to destroy the golf course. There are many people that are elderly that this is their only opportunity to get weekly exercise. Additionally, this is the golf course that 4 local high schools use both for practice and tournaments. Those would be completely eliminated if the reduction happens as any tournament must be played on an 18-hole golf course. Additionally, at this point in time, Cotton Fields is profitable. The workers at Cotton Fields say they are averaging over 160 players per day, often over 200. The other opportunity that is being missed is the opportunity to teach young people a game that also teaches integrity and morals. Adding the FIRST TEE program to Cotton Fields only makes sense and would make it the only course in South Atlanta that offers that program. The people of Henry County deserve to have a decent, daily-play golf course, and Cotton Fields is the only one available in the county, and for that matter, pretty much in South Atlanta. An Aquatic Center in Henry County would be a very positive move for the county. However, doing that at the expense of the only daily-play golf course in the county, is unnecessary. There must be other land available in this large county that would work for those who would want to enjoy the advantages of an aquatic center.
The placement of the parking lot for the proposed Aquatic Center, negatively impacts homeowners who purchased their property because of the golf course. Also, plowing up a green space and deforesting this golf course will negatively impact golfers participation. More importantly, there will be an affect on local wildlife. Families of Canadian Geese have made their homes at Cotton Fields Golf Course. For decades, year after year, the Canadian geese have hatched their eggs and raised their young at the Cotton Fields habitat. Herons, Egrets and a variety of birds and other wildlife make their nests and rear their young on the Cotton Fields Golf Course sanctuary. It is as much an animal sanctuary as it is a golf course.
Finally, we contend that the destruction of Cotton Fields Golf Course will have a long-term, if not permanent, negative impact on the citizens of Henry County, and the indigenous wildlife who both enjoy the environment, and coexist, as it is today.
