WATERLOO - Skip Holton's death has left the Gates Park golf course pro shop operations snarled in legal limbo.

"The pro shop is operating with Skip's stuff, but nobody has any (legal) standing," Waterloo Leisure Services Director Paul Huting said Tuesday. "They can't continue to run that way any longer."

Holton, who died of heart failure Aug. 2, had been the head golf professional at Gates Park. He operated the pro shop - concessions, cart rentals and merchandise - as a private contractor for the city. He operated as a sole proprietor and apparently lacked a will naming an executor of his estate.

Waterloo City Councilman Harold Getty said he believes Holton's staff has been keeping the operation running well while the city waits for the courts to name an executor. But the city had to pay those assistants because no one else could cut a check from the business accounts.

"It's kind of a mixed-up mess," Getty said.

While the city likely will begin searching for a new professional to run the clubhouse for the 2010 season, Huting conceded Leisure Services may need to assume operations for the balance of this year.

J.B. Bolger, the city's golf manager, said the city would probably lose money running the pro shop through the balance of this season because the fall months don't generate much revenue. The city may not seek to get a liquor license or dram shop insurance coverage for those months either.

"It wouldn't be something we'd do with the thought of making money," Bolger said. "We would do this as a service to our golfers."

The intent would be to retain Holton's staff but pay them through the city's system, he added.

While the city's Leisure Services Commission board supported the city taking over the pro shop through the fall, no final decision was made Tuesday on how to proceed.