Struggling under the weight of financial losses at its 18-hole golf courses, the city of Modesto, California has set out to find new private-sector management.

The number of rounds played at the Dryden and Creekside tracks has fallen by 20 percent since 2007, according to the Modesto Bee, and the city has been forced to fill the financial breach with nearly $1 million in taxpayers’ money. As a result, next month the city plans to cut its ties with FM Golf, which had been hired to manage the facilities just last year. The city alleges that FM Golf owes it more than $231,000, a claim that FM Golf’s lawyer disputes.

Valley Crest Golf Maintenance, which currently tends to the courses, has offered to operate them in a joint venture with KemperSports, but the city appears to be intent on weighing other offers as well.