Conquistador Golf Course in Cortez is adding a private access point in an effort to regulate neighbors’ use of the golf cart paths.

At the city Golf Advisory Board’s first meeting of the year on Wednesday, Parks and Recreation Director Dean Palmquist said golf course staff plan to add a path on the east side of the property. The path would go past holes 2, 4 and 1, then connect to an existing service road. It would adjoin private property near the golf course, which is already used by golfers with private carts, and course staff hope it will keep those neighbors from entering in the wrong places.

One resident near the northwest corner of the course approved an easement several years ago to allow golfers who lived in that area to enter the course through his property. Ever since then, Palmquist said, many people who live on the east side of the course have entered it from their own private property, sometimes even removing fences in order to get easier access. He hopes that by creating an official access point and path, he can prevent that from happening. But the course will need the neighbors’ permission to get an easement allowing such access.

“The next thing is, I believe, just to send out a notice to the property owners that this is the route we’re recommending that you take,” Palmquist said.

He also said the golf course would need to put up safety signs telling people to yield to golfers and respect the path’s boundaries. Once the path is created and the signs are up, he said, the course would penalize Conquistador members who enter the course from the wrong side. Like the access path on the west side, this one wouldn’t be open to the public, but only to members of the course who live nearby.

Conquistador manager Micah Rudosky said the course has been busy. Because of abnormally warm weather, the course opened on Feb. 14, about a month earlier than usual.