Municipal golf under siege

NATICK, Mass. - In March, the executive-length Sassamon Trace Golf Course became the focal point of an election for town selectman when a candidate proposed closing or selling the course, which was projected to lose $300,000 in its fiscal year ending June 30.

While this case took place on a small scale – an executive course in a small town – it illustrates the challenges facing municipalities across the country. In a down economy, towns and cities look to improve their fiscal bottom line. And with course revenues and rounds played numbers either flat or falling nationwide (see story below), municipal golf courses can be seen as good targets for cutting costs.

“It’s the towns, cities and golf courses that lose out,”said Pat Berger, business manager for Boston-based Sterling Golf Management, which operates Sassamon Trace.

The town of Natick also considered terminating its agreement with Sterling. The town’s finance committee has approved the course’s $400,000 budget, which will carry operations through December, or until the Sterling contract runs out. At press time, the budget still needed to be approved at an April town meeting.

Beyond December, the course’s future is uncertain. Before that time, the town will consider whether to renew the contract with Sterling, lease the course or close it altogether. However, the town still owes money on a construction bond, so it appears unlikely the town would close Sassamon Trace, town administrator Philip E. Lemnios told a Finance Committee meeting in late March, according to the Boston Globe.

Sterling also manages a municipal course in nearby Chelmsford with much different results for that city. That contract calls for Chelmsford to receive $50,000 a year or 16 percent of the course’s revenue, whichever is higher.

According to Pat Berger, business manager for Sterling, the situation in Natick is just the latest in a line of similar problems. Sterling also faces a lawsuit from a competitor who lost out on a bid to manage Strawberry Valley Golf Course for the town of Abington last fall.

“Things are particularly difficult in this area right now between trying to do the best job we can managing the courses we have and having our bid contracts delayed by the legal battles of the losing bidder whenever our proposals are chosen over theirs,” Berger said.

The course was built three years ago atop a former landfill. In its history, its revenues have never covered expenses, but officials had always been willing to give it time to grow.

A sampling from around the country shows a number of municipalities taking a hard look at their golf courses in an attempt to keep spending under control, with varying results.

RECLAIMING CONTROL

Some cities, like Seattle, are reclaiming control of their courses from third-party managers. In Seattle’s case, this was a non-profit organization, Municipal Golf of Seattle (MGS). Faced with a $1.2 million operating defecit, the city decided to take control of three of its largest golf courses, West Seattle Golf Course, Jackson Park Golf Course and Jefferson Park Golf Course.

In the beginning of the relationship, MGS promised to upgrade the city’s courses, but never got around to doing so. The Seattle Times reports MGS was $1.3 million behind in payments to the city for maintenance.

The future of the courses is unclear, but according to reports, the city has already fired two of the three directors of golf and reassigned the third to a new department. Seven temporary maintenance positions have also been eliminated.

GETTING OUT OF GOLF

A number of municipalities are washing their hands entirely of their golf courses. The city of Scranton, Pa., recently sold its municipal course at an auction for nearly $3.5 million. Among the prospective buyers for the course was nearby Jefferson Township, which dropped out of the bidding because it could not bid any higher without raising taxes, the Scranton Times reported.

The move appears to make fiscal sense for Scranton. With $695,000 remaining on a note against the sale, the city stands to pocket a tidy sum on the sale and will no longer have to incur operating costs.

GETTING INTO GOLF

The news is not entirely bleak on the municipal golf front. There are some municipalities, like Jefferson Township, looking to add a golf courses to their budgets without having to take on the expense of construction. One such city is Raleigh, N.C., which is considering the purchase of the Donald Ross-designed Raleigh Country Club, currently mired in Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Of course, for this tentative plan to work, the club would have to miss its June 9 deadline for emerging from Chapter 11, something one of the club’s members told the Charlotte News Observer he is confident it will do.

Among the reasoning for the city to investigate such a purchase is the desire to preserve open space.

ALTERNATIVE LAND USES

Of course, not all municipalities even want to consider golf courses. In one of the most unique “golf course alternative” decisions in the country, the city council in Kansas City, Mo., decided that, rather than sink funds into building a municipal golf course, it would instead create a dog park on a small portion of the city’s Penn Valley Park. The decision came after a number of residents near the proposed site opposed to a golf course.

Part of the rationale behind the decision was that the city didn’t want to give up so much open space in the 176-acre park. If the golf course had proceeded, it would have dominated that space, whereas an off-leash area for dogs will only occupy a very small percentage of the park, leaving the majority untouched and available for non-golfing residents. The city also already operates five golf courses.

MUNICIPAL GOLF’S FUTURE

Where the future of municipal golf lies is up in the air, but there are a number of organizations that would like to see more cities getting into the golf course business in order to preserve the notion of affordable public golf.

The American Society of Golf Course Architects (ASGCA) has encouraged towns and cities to pursue building and operating golf courses as a way to grow the game.

“Research by Golf 20/20 shows that there is a pent-up demand for courses that are fun to play by people new to the game, and we believe that growing communities, especially in non-metropolitan areas, will recognize the opportunity,” ASGCA president Jay Morrish said.

Morrish said he hopes communities will realize that golf courses can be as important to the recreation mix as other types of facilities.

“Most growing communities are quick to provide baseball fields, soccer complexes and tennis courts, and now we are seeing a realization that simpler, less-expensive golf courses can be part of the overall recreational mix,” Morrish said. “And, unlike the other free facilities, municipal golf courses can support themselves and even provide additional funding for the other sports fields.”

Courses like Sassamon Trace that are built atop less-than-desirable sites like landfills also will play an important role in the progression of municipal golf, Morrish said.

“Many communities are converting landfills, brownfields, quarries and abandoned rail yards, mines and other degraded sites into golf courses,” Morrish said. “If there’s enough land for a regulation 18-hole course, that’s great. If there isn’t, an executive course, par-three or short course will work, too.”

As a means of controlling expenses and boosting revenues, Morrish suggested municipalities may want to look into building such “alternative” courses, such as Sassamon Trace.