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I found myself in California last month, sitting in the clubhouse at Rancho del Pueblo Golf Course, a city-owned, par-3 nine in San Jose. I was there scouting, and vetting, a project for Links Across America, an initiative that creates/renovates new and affordable short courses (3-9 holes). The aim is to provide golfing opportunities for young people, families and adult beginners of all means and ethnic backgrounds.
I was there with Leon McNair, who runs Links Across America, and Tim Miles, CEO of Golf Visions, a Chicago-based course management firm. We were meeting in this clubhouse with representatives of the San Jose Parks and Rancho del Pueblo Golf CourseRecreation Department, talking about how Links Across America could not only keep the facility open but also upgrade it. There had been talk of the city selling the property or shutting it down, but Tim Miles spoke up at one point and said, “Hey, this facility can’t close down. Just turn around and look outside.”
So we turned around and looked through the pane-glass window to the scene on the patio, where about a dozen seniors were sitting, chatting and enjoying a soda. All around them were kids of every imaginable race, color and creed — all of them either waiting to tee off, or headed to the range, or hanging out after their rounds.
“If there was ever a course that is representative of what Links Across America is about, if there was ever a microcosm of what we’re trying to achieve, this little course in San Jose is it,” Leon said to me after the meeting, and I couldn’t agree more.
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Ultimately, our conclusion was that Rancho del Pueblo would, in all likelihood, not be closed. It’s surrounded by homes and they don’t want that land developed (into a strip mall or something worse). But the city, like most cities nationwide, is trying to reduce its costs — and the First Tee of San Jose is trying to preserve and enhance one of the few truly affordable, “gateway” golf facilities in area.
This is where Links Across America (LAA) comes in. LAA is part of The Wadsworth Golf Charities Foundation (WGCF), philanthropic arm of Wadsworth Golf Construction. Basically, Leon and LAA work with cities and park districts to identify facilities that are worth saving and upgrading. Leon pulls in various golf industry firms, plus grassroots organizations like the First Tee and local YMCAs, to put together plans for 1) operating these facilities independent of the municipalities; and 2) upgrading them so they can optimally serve the young and novice golfers we’re targeting.
I say “we” because my firm, Lohmann Golf Designs, has been involved from the get-go. Part of what makes the LAA model work is that Leon has assembled a stable of course builders, managers and architects who have agreed to provide services either gratis or at cost. Once the pro formas for upgrading and managing these properties are vetted, LAA and Wadsworth Golf Charities do their part by kicking in very generous grants to get these projects redesigned, built and operating.
“Our contribution is really based on the two things,” Leon explained. “If it’s a project of 3 or 6 holes, the grant is in the neighborhood of $150,000. If it’s 9 holes, it’s closer to $250,000. We bring the players to the table, and our partners are all committed to providing goods and services — and donating a portion of their profit — so we can build or improve these facilities at significantly reduced costs.
“For example, our architect partners do all the preliminary designs. If a color rendition is needed — as it often is, for fundraising — it’s all done gratis. If we go to bid and the project is a go, at that point they are paid — at cost — for construction and bid documents, plus some allocation for site visits. It’s a significant savings they make possible.”
We love Links Across America, what it does and how it works. Lohmann Golf Designs was involved in the very first LAA project, The Links Learning Center at Randall Oaks, a universally accessible short course and golf practice facility scheduled to open in Dundee Township, Ill. this summer. And we can’t wait to do more, because the cause is good and the Links Across America approach is so darned practical.
For example, the First Tee is a great program but it tends to concentrate on development. It’s difficult for First Tee projects to sustain the maintenance and operations of its facilities year after year. But LAA can partner with First Tee projects to provide that management vision and funding. What LAA is proposing in San Jose, it is already doing with the First Tee in Savannah, Ga., which will open this year; the First Tee of NW Arkansas will break ground on a 3-hole with driving range facility this fall, in Lowell.
LAA is also equipped to work with existing facilities that have become a financial burden to cash-strapped municipalities. Leon & Co. are willing to put this whole package together for cities, in exchange for an affordable long-term lease. In Rapid City, S.D., the YMCA has taken over a par-3 the city didn’t want, and LAA is there to get the place fixed up and running.
On the same trip to California this spring, we met with the Alameda Junior Golf Association, a 501-C3 or non-profit organization trying to save a par-3 track at the Chuck Corica Golf Complex in Alameda. Same story: The city is trying to reduce debt by selling the par-3, and this group is trying to save it. What’s required? An affordable, long-term lease; some funding from LAA; and a course upgrade, because it’s long been neglected.
Personally, I like to see these projects take place at existing municipal facilities, which are already known to the community as unintimidating places where kids and novices are welcome. Also, existing courses can more easily set aside 7 or 8 extra acres for a short course — then just fold its operation and maintenance costs into existing budgets.
I really enjoyed our mission to California. It’s inspiring to travel and talk with Leon. He’s clearly inspired by this work, and that inspires me.
“There are a lot of reasons for golf’s stagnant status but one reason is definitely affordability, and Links Across America is a big first step, a step forward,” Leon said. “We just don’t have affordability for kids and seniors. I’m a PGA member and there are a lot of programs out there, but they are primarily aimed at teaching people how to swing a club, period. That’s Step 2.
“The problem is, we don’t have Step 3, which is teaching people how to play golf. There are thousands of questions a new golfer has when he or she is playing golf: how to rake a bunker or why, where to stand, what to do with the pin on a green... We need someone walking around with them, or playing alongside them, so they can get answers to all those questions. When we get that piece, we’ll be creating real golfers.”
Questions about or donations to Links Across America should be directed to Leon McNair at leonm@wadsworthgolf.com. For more information, visit www.wadsworthgolfcharitiesfoundation.com