CITY DISMISSES NEW MANAGER AT GOLF COURSE

After only two months on the job, Jaycee Municipal Golf Course Manager Robert Casey this week was dismissed by the city.

Casey, 27, was hired April 19. He previously worked as an assistant manager of a golf course in Kansas City.

Dan Muser, director of the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department, said Thursday Casey "just didn't work out.

"Basically, his job performance wasn't what we thought it should be," Muser said. "What we thought was needed at the golf course and what he should be doing and what he was doing there were two different things."

Efforts to contact Casey this week at his home were unsuccessful.

City officials said in April they hoped a full-time manager would hasten play and further improve the condition of the course.

The course manager was hired after a year-long "trial" to see if course improvements and a more active management role by the Golf Course Advisory Board would be sufficient to improve play.

Some city council members have for years urged that a full-time manager for the course be hired, but the council early last year accepted a golf course board recommendation to not hire a manager.

The city instead continued to use Carroll Williams, a golf instructor at Southeast Missouri State University, as a course "consultant."

Although board members and city officials said complaints this year about the course's condition have largely subsided with the improvements, complaints about the management of the course persisted.

Muser said Casey was hired to solve the problem. He replaced two employees who previously shared administrative duties at the course.

Unfortunately, Muser said, Casey apparently wasn't the man for the job. He said there was no specific thing that prompted Casey's termination.

"There were a lot of things, and to say it was one thing over another would be impossible," Muser said. "A lot of it had to do with routine business paperwork and administration of the golf course."

The parks and recreation director said the city will replace Casey, who was one of several finalists for the job in April. The city now is advertising the position with the hopes of securing additional candidates.

"We'll probably look at some of the people who applied before," Muser said. "But hopefully, we'll get a few more people to look at also."

Muser said the city plans to replace Casey, who was hired at an annual salary of $21,000, by July 10. "We're trying to get someone as soon as we can."

In the interim, Recreation Coordinator Penny Wingerter is sharing the responsibilities with Williams.