The city of Owasso is counting on an outside golf management company to bring back the fun and challenge of the game at Bailey Ranch Golf Club after several years of decreasing returns.
"We're excited to have gotten people from the private sector who understand golf management, but, at the same time, two people with a history with Owasso," said Owasso City Manager Rodney Ray.
KC Golf Management of Tulsa took over management of the city-owned course, 10105 Larkin Bailey Blvd., on Monday. The Owasso City Council, acting as trustees of the Owasso Public Golf Authority approved the contract with the management business at a July 6 meeting.
Owned by Ken Campbell, KC Management will oversee operations of the course, which has been open since 1992.
KC Management's Campbell and his associate, Tim Lampton, previously worked at the Bailey Ranch Golf Club under the first Owasso director of golf, Warren Lehr, Ray said.
According to a memo from Ray to the golf authority trustees, the course has seen a decline in the number of rounds of golf played since the fiscal year 1998-99. Each year since has had fewer rounds played at the course than the year before, even with the temporary closure in recent years of several nearby courses.
Re-opened courses and new courses, like the one being built in Verdigris, could threaten Bailey Ranch's business, because the supply outweighs the demand, Ray said.
Other public courses such as LaFortune Park, Page Belcher and Mohawk Park in Tulsa; the renovated and recently opened Cherokee Hills in Catoosa; Battle Creek in Broken Arrow; Heritage Golf Course in Claremore; and South Lakes in Jenks also are vying for golfers' attention and dollars.
Ray said the city hopes KC Management can make Bailey Ranch stand out. He originally was not interested in outside management coming into the picture.
"I was opposed to it. I didn't even consider it as an option until I got a call one day from two men who had worked for Bailey Ranch," Ray said.
Because of Lampton and Campbell's history with Bailey Ranch, Ray and the trustees listened -- KC Management has been contracted to operate the club through December 2006, for an annual base compensation of $40,000.
The contract also offers incentive compensation to management for increases in the net operating income (defined in the contract) and schedules performance reviews by the city manager every six months.
The city already has addressed the concerns of some golfers who contacted Ray about deterioration of four of the greens, he said.
The memo to the trustees states, "The condition was 'underreported' but certainly not unnoticed by golfers. As determinations and recommendations were being developed, the Director of Golf resigned."
Russell Carlson resigned from his position in late 2003 to take a position out of state.
"I certainly accept the responsibility that goes with being city manager, that I should have done the job (monitoring the greens)," Ray said.
The city manager acts as OPGA manager, who reports to the OPGA trustees, he said.
It is the responsibility of the director of golf to report conditions of the course and club to the OPGA manager, he said.
Ray said he inspected the deteriorated greens in March. Also in March, Corey Burd, formerly head golf professional, was named interim golf director.
Now that KC Management has contracted with the city, Burd said management is still considering his new title and responsibilities.
Burd said he looks forward to working under the new arrangement.
"In the competitive marketplace we're in right now, I believe the supply is more than the demand. But we'll be trying some innovative marketing to get people to come back to Bailey Ranch Golf," Burd said.
Ray said Burd and the city have remedied two of the damaged greens and are working on the other two.
"I was on the course last week, and I'm convinced that we're back, and the golfing experience at Bailey Ranch will be premier," Ray said.
He also said the working relationship between Campbell, Lampton and Burd is promising because all three care about the club's future, and because "Corey's natural skills are remarkable. He's the future of our course."
Bailey Ranch construction on Bailey Ranch Golf Course, 10105 Larkin Bailey Blvd., began in 1989 and concluded when the course opened in 1992, said Owasso City Manager Rodney Ray. The 18-hole course was built on 200 acres of land donated by the Larkin Bailey Foundation and with money financed from the sale of more than $5 million in revenue bonds.
It was designed by Bland Pittman, president of Pittman, Poe & Associates of Broken Arrow, who also designed Battle Creek Golf Course in Broken Arrow and has designed courses in Colorado, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Africa.
According to the club's Web site, www.golfbailey.com, the course was designed with a links-style layout with features such as creeks, lakes, trees, thickets and native grassland.
The club also has a golf shop, an eatery called the Bailey Grille, and banquet and meeting facilities.
Source: Tulsa World (Oklahoma)