With credit rating officials looking at Macon's finances and the city's enterprise funds under scrutiny, a City Council subcommittee is looking at ways to shape up the city-run Bowden Golf Course.
The city might not hire another golf pro to oversee the course, and a private company could be brought in to manage the operation and stem losses there.
Councilman James Timley, chairman of the special subcommittee, is expected to report this week that Bowden would be better off with a superintendent and a manager, rather than with another professional golfer to replace the departed Jim Hickman.
Hickman presided over the public course for more than 15 years, until last month when he became director of golf at an upscale Monroe County club.
Timley said the subcommittee wants to make sure that the golf course will endure, as long as it's not losing money.
"It's a community enrichment thing," he said. "It's a community service. Financially, it can balance itself or make money."
The operation has in the past decade had to rely on hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars to stay afloat. But officials are hopeful that the day will come when Bowden does not need an cash infusion from the city's general fund.
Bowden took in roughly $300,000 in revenue in fiscal 2004, and the same is expected for the current budget year, which began July 1. Expenses are expected to be about $500,000 for both years, according to city records.
Councilwoman Filomena Mullis said one option for the city would be to lease the course to a private operator.
Timley said every municipal course he studied had player fees of less than $25, except those where a private company had taken over management. Bowden currently charges weekend fees of about $22.
"We want it affordable," Timley said.
Hickman was praised for maintaining the course in the wake of steadily declining budgets. Yet, many familiar with the 18 holes in east Macon feel they have a long way to go.
Hickman said Bowden "has got one of the best layouts in the area," but that the course will support itself only with about $1.5 million in improvements and increased player fees.
"People today want to play on nice facilities," he said. "They don't mind paying $30 to $35 to do it. They won't pay $24 to play what their playing on now."
Hickman said the only substantial improvements to the course in its 65-year history came last year, after he purchased about $54,000 in used mowers and other equipment. He said he also was able to plant about 3,000 donated trees.
Otherwise, Hickman said, "not much has been done."
"The best thing that could happen to that golf course is to privatize it," Hickman said. "I don't think a private company would touch Bowden right now."
Timley said Hickman did a good job with the course and that, other than possibly needing to rebuild a couple of greens, Bowden is "in good shape." He said the golf business, in general, is leaning away from putting professional golfers in charge of operations.
Timley said the two new positions could be filled for about what Hickman was making in salary and in profits from selling merchandise and related services. He said golfers likely would have to hire their own professional for lessons.
Hickman's annual salary was about $40,000, and he said in his best year he made another $18,000 in golf-related sales. A good superintendent, to oversee the course fairways and greens, would cost at least $55,000 a year, he said.
Timley, a regular golfer, agrees that the course needs work. He said greens can be rebuilt in-house for less than $5,000 each, while Hickman priced the work at five times that.
"If you do it halfway, you might as well not do it at all," Hickman said.
Alice Jackson, a member of the Bowden ladies association who served on Timley's subcommittee, said the city needs to invest in the course to "get it up to par and keep it there."
"It's in a state of emergency," she said. "The golf course can be an asset for the city, (but) they're going to have to spend some money."
Jackson said the course has suffered lately from a lack of oversight. For example, she said the city did not make repairs to a water pump in time to save greens from dying, which she said happened last month. The city once paid as much as $3,500 a month for water, when fixing a lake irrigation system would have only cost $23,000, Hickman said.
Hickman said the clubhouse at Bowden needs improvements and that City Council needs to give more budget control to the golf staff.
"When the city told me we need to have a marketing plan, I told them we didn't have anything to sell," he said.
Councilwoman Elaine Lucas, chairwoman of the committee that will hear Timley's recommendations, said she favors hiring a superintendent and a manager. If that doesn't work, she said, a private company might be considered.
Moody's Investor Services, a worldwide credit rating firm, recently put Macon on a 90-day watch list, in part because enterprise funds such as Bowden are losing money. Representatives from Moody's are expected to meet with city officials this month.
Source: The Macon Telegraph
