Source: Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek Calif.)
Work on Lone Tree Municipal Golf Course's new clubhouse is nearly done, a facility its manager says is not only bigger and better but likely will eliminate the need to raise green fees.
Crews are expected to finish paving and landscaping around the approximately $6 million building by mid-December, and groups already have started renting the banquet room for wedding receptions and class reunions.
The municipal golf course began rebuilding the structure in November 2002 in a three-phase operation that involved tearing down one part of the original structure at a time so the club house could stay open.
"It was very outdated," said PGA General Manager Jack Oakley of the 1960s-era facility, adding that building's layout was confusing and inconvenient.
"I called it the Winchester Mystery House. It was very disjointed for the customers. They'd have to walk around the building, (sometimes) in the rain, to the bathrooms."
But not any longer.
The 20,400-square-foot clubhouse also is more spacious, featuring a ballroom that holds 300 yet can be divided into several sections for smaller groups. By contrast, the former structure's single meeting room only could accommodate 50 to 60 people, Oakley said.
In addition, the ballroom commands views of the 18th hole -- a popular design for modern club houses -- whereas the previous room overlooked a parking lot, he said.
And good views matter -- not only to patrons but to the golf course's operators, Oakley said.
The new golf shop is situated between the first and 10th holes, enabling the employee responsible for monitoring foursomes to see both locations simultaneously.
Until now, limited visibility from the golf shop meant that someone had to remain at the 10th hole with radio in hand as long as people were playing so he could alert the golf shop when the next group could tee off, Oakley explained.
Now, however, only one person is needed to coordinate golfers, he said, noting that the change will reduce labor costs.
Lone Tree's club house is also plush: One set of bathrooms comes with cherry wood lockers and a shower for both men and women, features that the old ones lacked, Oakley said.
Consequently, commuters no longer have to change clothes in their car if they stop off to play a round on their way home from work, he said.
"It's just a little more customer-friendly," Oakley said.
The club house also includes a 1,509-square-foot kitchen that's not only about four times the size of the original but sports the amenities of a full-scale operation, including a walk-in cooler, freezer and a keg refrigerator for beer.
"It's really the difference between night and day," said John Dixon, the facility's food and beverage director. "This is the kind (of equipment) you would find at a midsize hotel as opposed to a grill and fryer."
In a competitive market that has no fewer than eight golf courses, these kind of features will give Lone Tree Golf Course an edge, Oakley said.
He also predicts that the clubhouse's banquet room eventually will help defray the cost of playing a round of golf, which currently ranges from $8 during weekday twilight hours to $34.50 for a weekend morning game.
The green fees cover maintenance expenses for the course and go up by about 3 percent to 4 percent each year.
Once the public starts using the banquet room in earnest, however, Oakley says the income from that should be enough to offset the inflation.
"All our eggs aren't in one basket," he said. "We're not counting on the golfers to support the entire operation."