Re: “City solicits golf-club buyers” (A1, Nov. 14): Virginia Beach National Golf Club will never be the same if City Council allows big chunks to be amputated for hundreds of apartments. It should be preserved because:
1. It turns strangers into friends, creating bonds across the city. No price can be put on these ties.
2. It is something special. Visitors tell me so when I am paired up with them, adding to our reputation as a great place to live.
3. It makes a place for everyone. Differences of income, status, job, age and race evaporate when you stand together on the tee box.
Years ago, this land was farmed, then sold for a thousand-acre development called Lake Ridge. But the developer went bust. The City Council stepped in, buying the raw land to prevent housing over-development. Now it is a mecca for thousands to play not just golf, but softball, football, baseball and soccer. That farsighted investment has multiplied many times over. Today’s council would be short-sighted to start nibbling away at that vision and purpose. Will the nibbling stop after the golf courses are diminished?
Which adds more to the quality of life of our city, another apartment complex or preserving Virginia Beach National?

Dennis Hartig, Virginia Beach