Chris Conley and Jane Roberts - The Commercial Appeal -

Memphis City Schools is interested in using Whitehaven Golf Course to teach its students the game and the life skills the game teaches.

Negotiations with the city are in the early stages, said Deputy Supt. Irving Hamer.

Within the last month, Park Services Director Cindy Buchanan said MCS expressed an interest in running Whitehaven, which loses about $200,000 a year.

"We sat down and discussed it ... to see if it would make sense," Buchanan said.

Hamer said the plan includes allowing the community to continue using the course.

"The objective is to have the facility for the purposes of introducing our students to the wonders of golf," he said. "We really would like young people in this urban setting to know about golf, the discipline associated with it and the integrity associated with it."

Meanwhile, the city is preparing to send out requests for proposals for private management of its least-played, costliest courses -- Davy Crockett, Pine Hill, King-Riverside and Overton Park.

The RFPs should be sent out within the next few weeks, Buchanan said.