Cities change course on golf operations
In the mid-1990s, many cities joined the rush to build golf courses to meet the demands of a “golf boom.” But, a recent decrease in the number of rounds played — a key barometer in determining golf course profitability — has some municipalities searching for ways to bring golfers back, alternative uses for the land, or private companies to take over the property.
According to the Jupiter, Fla.-based National Golf Foundation (NGF), 501.3 million rounds were played at municipal and private courses last year, down from the record-setting 518.4 million in 2000. Also, in 2000, 400 new golf courses were built, but NGF reports that the number of public and private course closures rose to 146 in 2006 from 32 in 2001.
Harding Park, one of four city-run courses in San Francisco, was revamped in 2003 with a state-of-the-art clubhouse to attract the Professional Golf Association’s (PGA) American Express Golf Championship in 2005, its first PGA event since 1969. But the city’s two other 18-hole courses and a 9-hole facility are in disrepair and, as a result, are not profitable. The only other course on city property that remains profitable is contracted out.
Last year, San Francisco hired Richard Singer, NGF’s director of consulting, to study the city’s golf courses. He recommended the city issue contracts for its two unprofitable 18-hole layouts to private companies because the city’s employee benefit structure and rigid unionized labor force make it difficult for the courses to cut costs and react to downturns in rounds played. “I would entice private enterprise to put some money into it in exchange for favorable terms that would relieve the city of the burden,” Singer says.
Phoenix, which promotes itself as a winter golf paradise, also is feeling the pinch of the golf turndown. The city runs five 18-hole courses and three 9-hole facilities. Because of declining rounds at its 9-hole Palo Verde course, city staff considered turning it into a park last December. But, deed restrictions that require the city to plan for any change of use at the site 10 years in advance squashed the plan. Phoenix has instead instituted a promotional campaign to attract more golfers. The city held night golf games at the Palo Verde course with glow-in-the-dark balls and allowed children to play one round for free with a paying adult from July to September, and it will hold a Halloween event there this month.
Some park advocates recommend turning unprofitable municipal golf courses into new ball fields. For example, San Francisco’s seven public and private courses may be too many for the city, says Isabel Wade, executive director of the city’s Neighborhood Parks Council. A study by the locally based Trust for Public Land, a non-profit group that promotes the use of land for parks and public gardens, ranks San Francisco, with 0.9 golf courses per 100,000 residents in high-density areas, second only to Long Beach, Calif. Since the results of a 2004 “recreation preference” survey of San Francisco residents showed golf came in 17th out of 19 activities, Wade says San Francisco should close one of its unprofitable 18-hole courses and convert it for a variety of uses, including soccer fields. One non-profitable city golf course, Sharp Park, and its adjacent land could accommodate four soccer fields, dog runs and hiking trails, Wade says.
Finding a new use for an unprofitable golf course is sometimes the best option for a city struggling to maintain courses and attract golfers. “If [city officials are] not willing to [invest] in [a golf course] and don’t want to lease it out to anybody, then maybe that’s the direction it needs to go,” Singer says.
Paul Kilduff is a San Francisco-based freelance writer.