Managing a municipal golf course

Who knew when I left academia in the late 1990s to pursue golf writing and consulting full-time that my Ph.D. in political science would come in handy? But here I am, nearly three decades later, in a volunteer capacity as chair of my town’s Golf Advisory Committee and it’s as if I never left the classroom.

That’s because my town of Bloomfield, Connecticut, owns a municipal layout called Wintonbury Hills Golf Club. Day-to-day operations are in the hands of Indigo Sports, an arm of Troon Golf. They oversee golf operations, including maintenance, pro shop and range, as well as the food and beverage operation — which, against all odds, actually turns a modest profit each year. The town retains the right of approval on all policy matters and hires but invariably follows the recommendations of Indigo. In return, the management firm gets a monthly fee plus end-of-year bonus for achieving certain gross income thresholds, with that bonus not exceeding 35 percent of their base fee.

We turn a profit, which then goes into our long-term capital budget. The hope is to be financially self-reliant, which is no small challenge when our needs include maintenance equipment, repairs to the clubhouse and parking lot, cart path fixes, replacement of several wetlands bridges and, ultimately, a new irrigation system.

The course, opened in 2004, was designed by Pete Dye for the grand fee of $1 after I threatened him with nasty reviews for the rest of his life. Much of the day-to-day site work was implemented by Dye’s longtime associate Tim Liddy. We have maintained relatively steady traffic of 28,000 to 31,000 rounds annually, with local residents getting a heavily discounted rate and out-of-towners paying a premium for what is widely included on various course ranking lists as among the leading municipal layouts in the country.

Ciaran Carr, our resident golf professional and general manager, is one of only 450 master professionals among the country’s 30,000 or so PGA professionals. Superintendent Dennis Petruzzelli has his status as CGCS, which makes him among the top 10 percent of his peers. He manages the course on an annual budget of only $667,000 — way below most of our municipal competitors, and with bentgrass turf conditions comparable to the finer regional private clubs whose budgets are 50 to 80 percent higher.

As chair of the town’s Golf Advisory Committee, my job is focused on communicating upward to the various town bodies about how our Enterprise Fund is functioning. Our little committee reports directly to the Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services Department, and from there to the town council, the town manager, the Finance Department and the Department of Purchasing and Risk Management. Most of that bureaucratic maneuvering is handled by Dave Melesko, the head of Parks, Recreation and Leisure Services. It’s his responsibility to make sure that all purchasing and contracting adheres to the town’s strict rules.

Don’t tell me about “munis.” As soon as I hear the term, I know the speaker is dismissive of the serious management by which such golf properties are operated — or should be operated. I’ve seen too many examples elsewhere where day-to-day operations fall under a direct parks and rec model that treats the golf course as if it were nothing but a generic sports field. I’ve also seen towns rid themselves of responsibility for the well-being of golfers entirely by handing off responsibility to the cheapest firm, or to whoever offers to pay more money in a straight lease operation and simply siphon off all profit rather than reinvest. And I know of more than a few cases where the citizen golf committee comprises a solid bloc of annual passholders who play five times a week and are simply keen on keeping rates as low as possible.

As I explained to our town council just the other night, the operation of Wintonbury Hills simultaneously provides a discounted service to town residents while operating as a profitable business. It helps that Indigo structures tee times and green fees for “dynamic pricing” so that the prized times go for a premium. I’m also very proud that if you were to look at the first tee each day and see who is playing, the golfers look as diverse in terms of ethnicity, race, gender and class as the demographic mix in our pluralistic town.

When you have serious people doing their job well, the golf part of municipal operations is not that complicated. The hard part is in dealing with the 90 percent of the population that does not play golf and wonders if towns should be in the golf business. That scrutiny is all the more warranted in an era of fiscal constraints marked by rising budgets, limited taxing options and financially stressed residents.

As chair of the committee, I spend much of my time trying to demonstrate the gains to the town of having such a golf property. That means emphasizing the 219-acre site as a nature preserve with status as a certified Audubon International Sanctuary. It also means encouraging programming designed to get kids involved in the game, and to get their parents to visit the course and eat lunch or dinner. And it entails encouraging off-season walking tours of the grounds or using the land for science class observations.

Municipal courses with massive clubhouses, big parking lots and amenities like public skating, swimming, event space and conference rooms have a big advantage in generating diverse revenue streams. We don’t have room for that at Wintonbury. Our small clubhouse is landlocked, and the parking lot fills to capacity on busy golf days. We market ourselves as a traditional golf facility and have succeeded in drawing clients from a multi-state area. That is our identity and our key to success.

Just don’t call it a “muni.” Such carefully maintained public businesses deserve more respect than that.