Forth Worth, Texas - Some days, the greens are hardly crowded at all.
Good news for golfers. Bad news for city golf courses.
"Used to be, we were the only game in town," said Sam Maraffi, the city's pro shop superintendent. "But now ... there's too many golf courses for the same number of people."
Faced with a 20 percent drop in public usage and a $3 million loss over the past three years, officials are at a crossroads with city golf courses.
At issue is whether to let a private company take the financial risk to run the facilities or to provide a community service even if it means losing money.
"It's going to be a challenge, either way we go," Mayor Mike Moncrief said last week. "We are not going to break even."
The City Council is expected to vote during its 7 p.m. meeting Tuesday at City Hall, 1000 Throckmorton St., on whether to seek proposals from private companies to lease and run the public courses.
"We're testing the waters," said Randle Harwood, acting director of the city's parks department. "We want to see if there are companies ... willing to bring the resources and financial stability to the table to improve public golf in Fort Worth."
City golf courses have been plagued in recent years by a sluggish economy, too much competition, rising costs and few new players, city officials say.
And after years of running in the black, the city's courses are losing money despite cost cutting. The courses lost $1.7 million in 2001-02, $1.3 million in 2002-03 and are on track to lose more than $305,000 this year.
Options include privatizing the courses, creating a nonprofit group to run them or getting a private company to run only the pro shops.
"We have grappled with the idea of what to do," said Councilwoman Becky Haskin, who heads the council government and neighborhood relations committee.
"Golf is a luxury, not a basic city service."
Golfers aren't heading to the links in the numbers they once did.
In 1997, 14 percent of people surveyed in Fort Worth said they regularly played golf. By 2003, that number had dropped to 8 percent, Harwood said.
This year, officials expect golfers to play 194,000 rounds on public courses, down 20 percent from a high of 243,000 rounds in 2001-02. Golfers played 203,000 rounds last year and 220,000 rounds in 2000-01.
"We have a stagnant or shrinking market," Harwood said. "Plus, there's more golf courses, more competition."
Parks officials have become more aggressive in marketing, trying to bring new users out to the courses.
A city survey released last month shows that about 42 percent of Fort Worth households polled said they were very satisfied or satisfied with the city's golf courses, about 42 percent were neutral and about 17 percent were dissatisfied.
But there was no clear consensus about letting a private contractor operate the city's golf courses.
The survey shows 29 percent were very or somewhat supportive of privatization, 40 percent were not sure and 31 percent were not supportive.
But city officials say something must be done because they can't keep letting the golf fund operate in the red.
They've already pared the budget from $6.4 million in 2002-03 to $4.6 million for next year. So far, 23 positions have been eliminated through attrition or by transferring workers to other
departments. Maintenance has been reduced in some nonessential areas and use of pesticides and chemicals has been curbed.
In addition, officials continue to look at other options, such as reducing the size of the courses, changing the way they are maintained or trying to boost rounds -- and revenue -- through new
promotions.
"Golf courses are high-cost maintenance operations," Councilman John Stevenson said during a recent discussion. "Let's look at outside help."
If council members give the go-ahead Tuesday, the request for proposals within 45 days could go out this week.
The goal would be to find a company to pay the city to run all five golf courses in a long-term deal, Harwood said. To be considered, companies must have a history of financial stability and high standards, he said.
"I think response to this will tell us whether altering our own management model will get us where we need to be or whether we need one of these companies to do it," Harwood said.
Ronald Norman, chairman of the city's golf advisory committee, said the proposals could give the city ideas for better course management. The committee has opposed privatization.
"It's a matter of economics," he said. "If we want to keep municipal golf, we have to make some adjustments.
"If appropriately managed, with appropriate business decisions, we think municipal golfers are better served if the municipal golf courses are operated and maintained by the city."
The city dabbled with privatization of its five golf courses in the 1990s.
Private companies operated the Rockwood Golf Course at 1851 Jacksboro Highway and the Z Boaz Golf Course at 3200 Lackland Road. The goal was for the companies to take the risk and any financial gain to run the courses.
But problems were rampant, ranging from late payments to unmaintained courses, and the city eventually took them back.
"We had an awful experience when this happened before," Norman said. "It was a total disaster.
"The people operating them mined them," he said. "They created all the revenue they could create, spent as little money as possible and ultimately gave them back to us."
In the end, officials say, it took a couple of years and thousands of dollars to get the courses back into good shape.
City officials say they don't want that to happen again.
"What happened before, as their profits dwindled, [the companies] took it out on those courses," Councilman Chuck Silcox said. "We need to be careful."
Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram (Texas)
