NATCHEZ — Local officials say keeping Duncan Park Golf Course one of the top public courses in the state takes one simple step: Just add water.

Resident Dan Bland, who volunteers his time to help oversee the city-owned course, asked the Natchez Board of Aldermen at its last meeting to consider installing an irrigation system to water the back nine holes of the course.

Bland said he has received three proposals for the system that indicate it would cost approximately $180,000.

A pond at Duncan Park, Bland said, can supply the water for the irrigation.

The system is needed, Bland said, to keep the golf course in good condition and one of the best municipal golf courses in the state.

Golf course superintendent Greg Brooking said current dry weather and no irrigation system for the back nine is causing brown spots on the fairways.

The golf course staff has installed lawn sprinklers that run all night to water the back nine holes, which are the original part of the course that was built in 1920, Brooking said.

The sprinklers, however, do not provide adequate moisture for the course, especially during dry weather, Brooking said.

Brooking said the course needs a new irrigation system, but said he does not want it to be a financial burden for city taxpayers.

“If our roads need to be surfaced for the good of all or if our police department needs more police cars … I’m for Natchez, and I want what is best for Natchez,” he said.

Natchez Mayor Butch Brown said he believes the irrigation system is a needed expense.

“We’re committed to having the best municipal golf course in the state,” he said.

Bland and Brooking said the golf course is also a tourist attraction and economic development recruitment tool.

“When you look at a location, you look at it from the industrial side of it, and you also look at it from the employee side of it,” Bland said. “People who come here may not be able to pay country club dues or may not want to join a country club to play golf.”

Duncan Park’s golf course offers an alternative to that, Bland said.

Brown said the city will look at how much revenue the golf course is producing, try to evaluate the sustainability of that revenue and determine if it could help pay for the irrigation system.

“We know revenues are up,” he said. “We’ve got to do a good fact check and (find) what the profits are and how long it would take us to pay for the new improvements.”