GolfSpy Barbajo Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Allentown golf course lease draws three proposals Some golfers don't want it to be leased out. (APRIL BARTHOLOMEW / THE MORNING CALL ) Allentown golf course lease draws three proposals Three proposals to manage the Allentown Municipal Golf Course have been submitted, city officials announced Wednesday. Oliphant/Haltom Golf of Wisconsin, Billy Casper Golf of Virginia and Commonwealth Golf of Bucks County all responded to a city request for proposals to lease the golf course, according to a memo provided to The Morning Call. Allentown officials are requiring The Morning Call to file a right-to-know request for the actual proposals. A half-dozen potential bidders attended a mandatory tour of the course in October, giving them the right to submit a proposal for the management lease. The lease plan, which city officials quietly unveiled that month, calls for a private operator to take over management, operation, improvement and maintenance of the city's municipal course. The lease could begin as soon as Jan. 1. A request for proposals issued for the lease did not specify the duration of the agreement, instead allowing bidders to suggest their own term. No minimum price was set. Allentown officials do not have to accept any of the bid proposals. At a budget hearing Wednesday on the city's proposed parks and recreation budget, Lindsay Taylor, director of the department, said the city expects to get $1.4 million in revenue from the golf course in 2016, $126,000 less than the revenue budgeted for 2015. Budget documents show that the city expects to come up short for revenue in 2015. Allentown expected to make nearly $1.5 million on the course this year, but only $1.2 million will likely be realized, according to budget documents. Cart rentals, greens fees, the driving range and the course's pro shop are all expected to come up short of budgeted revenue. In four of the last five years, the course ended the season with a negative fund balance. According to the city's last available finance report in September, the golf fund had $58,201. The course was minus-$311,000 in April. The golf fund ended 2014 with minus-$163,000.Expenditures are expected to be slightly over budget for 2015. Overtime is expected to cost $4,000 more than expected. If the budget projections for revenue and expenditures are correct for 2015, the golf fund would end the year with minus-$33,758. Parks and recreation officials have pointed the finger at labor costs as a problem for the golf course, which pays seasonal employees near union-level wages under an agreement set to expire in mid-2016. Pay increases and holiday pay are guaranteed to seasonal employees, allowing some to earn up to $19 an hour. Other than overtime, labor costs are expected to be in line with the budget by the end of 2015. Ryan Hunsicker, president of the labor union that represents employees of the golf course, said labor is not the problem. Most of the employees are seasonal, he said. "You don't pay health care for them," he said. "You're getting a hell of a bargain." According to the request for proposals, the lessee would have the power to hire its own staff and golf pro. The lessee would not have to hire city employees, but would have to make a good-faith effort to interview and consider hiring current staff. The RFP made almost no mention of the city golf course restaurant, which has been operated by Jack's Slice since 2014. A lease with Jack's Slice expires in December 2016, and may be "mutually extended" for two additional two-year terms, according to the RFP. The RFP did not state whether the city or a new lessee would be part of that "mutual" decision. Taylor said the city will evaluate the proposals received for the golf course lease, but she did not give a timeline for a decision. What's in the bag: Driver: TSR3; DynaPWR Carbon FW Wood: DynaPWR 3-wood; TSR 2+ Hybrids: PXG Gen4 18-degree Utility Irons: ZX MkII 20* Irons:; 699/699 Pro V2 Combo; D9 Forged; MT86 (coming soon!); VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; Wedges: RTX6 Zipcore Putter: HB Soft Milled 10.5; Newport Special Select; Willamette, BB8; 8802; MATI Monto Ball: Tour B RXS; Z-STAR Diamond; Triad Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: Follow @golfspybarbajo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmikecpa Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 The shame of it is that it is a really nice track. Played there a bunch in high school and college and remember it was always in great shape. Casper generally does a good job and has (or at least had) a good foothold in that area in terms of managing courses. They ran the Wilmington DE munis and Philly Munis when I lived in the area and really did a good job with upkeep. WITB 2024 Driver: Qi10 LS 9* HZRDUS RDX Smoke Blue 60 6.5 Fairway: M5 15* Evenflow Black 75g 6.5 Fairway: Sim 19* HZRDUS Red 75g 6.5 Hybrid: 0317x 22* KBS Proto 95x Irons: X Forged CB 5 - PW MMT 105 TX Wedges: Jaws Raw 50*, 54* & 58* TTDG "OG" Spinner Putter: Toulon Madison BGT Fire 34.75" Ball: Z Star Diamond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 What was the weather like this year? Was it a case of poor weather which reduced revenue but increased the need for course maintenance? Just curious. Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaidJacket Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I feel for them. First off the article didn't mention how much a green fee is or price of cart rentals. Kinda need to know this. The city where I live has one 36 hole city owned muni golf course. It's an "Ok" facility but has many many issues. First off the city charges too little for an 18-hole GF. Same for carts. For example, a weekend green fee with cart is approximately $26. Play as much as you want only paying for cart if more than 18-holes. The GF's are even less during the week. These courses run about 66,000 round annually. The 2 courses are poorly maintained. Why? Because they don't have enough money or help. Imagine that. I went on a mission 2 years ago going around talking to anyone with the city who'd listen including the Mayor, council members, etc down to the golf course Pro and superintedent. The golf course already collects 2 fees included in the green fee. One is a "course improvement" fund at $1.50/rd and the other for $1 is to pay off existing debt which was around $1 Million two years ago. I suggested to the city that they consider getting out of the golf business because they don't know how to run and manage one. Of course they got a little offended but I could tell some of them agreed. I suggested they find a management company that would come in and revamp the course and operate it for an extended period of time. (or forever for that matter) The city could essentially take a royalty of some amount while still owning the property. I suggested they increase green fees and cart fees too. But the city has a mind set of golf for everyone at any price. Make golf as cheap as possible basically. Ok fine, but what do you get in return for that? A goat ranch. Anyway... after all my begging and pleading the city "loaned" the golf course $1 million (on top of the $1 million they already owed). The course went out and spent the million but you'd not know it really. Oh sure they fixed some irrigation and a few cart trails. Re-grass some fairways but it's still the same old goat ranch. A million dollars won't get you far in the golf business. By the way.... the green fees are still too cheap and the courses will never pay off their $2 million dollar debt. My Sun Mountain bag currently includes: 771CSI 5i - PW and PFC Micro Tour-c 52°, 56°, 60 wedges EXS 10.5*, 929-HS FW4 16.5* Willimette w/GolfPride Contour Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GolfSpy Barbajo Posted November 20, 2015 Author Share Posted November 20, 2015 Lots of time it's easy to forget that the first line on a P&L statement is either Sales or Income. Imagine charging an average of only $10 more per round - if the course Plaid referenced suffered no loss of rounds that would be another $660,000 in income with no additional incurred costs. Would you lose some play? Probably, but you'd have to lose a substantial amount of play for the price increase to actually become a negative on the bottom line. What's in the bag: Driver: TSR3; DynaPWR Carbon FW Wood: DynaPWR 3-wood; TSR 2+ Hybrids: PXG Gen4 18-degree Utility Irons: ZX MkII 20* Irons:; 699/699 Pro V2 Combo; D9 Forged; MT86 (coming soon!); VIP 1025 V-Foil MB/CB; Wedges: RTX6 Zipcore Putter: HB Soft Milled 10.5; Newport Special Select; Willamette, BB8; 8802; MATI Monto Ball: Tour B RXS; Z-STAR Diamond; Triad Stat Tracker/GPS Watch: Follow @golfspybarbajo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmikecpa Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 What was the weather like this year? Was it a case of poor weather which reduced revenue but increased the need for course maintenance? Just curious. One of the better weather summers in the area. Some of the issue in that area is that private courses are opening for public play more and more these days. That alone makes it hard for muni's in the area to compete. WITB 2024 Driver: Qi10 LS 9* HZRDUS RDX Smoke Blue 60 6.5 Fairway: M5 15* Evenflow Black 75g 6.5 Fairway: Sim 19* HZRDUS Red 75g 6.5 Hybrid: 0317x 22* KBS Proto 95x Irons: X Forged CB 5 - PW MMT 105 TX Wedges: Jaws Raw 50*, 54* & 58* TTDG "OG" Spinner Putter: Toulon Madison BGT Fire 34.75" Ball: Z Star Diamond Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbil8802 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 My parents have lived just outside Allentown for 7 years. I've only been playing for 4 but I always try to get out on different courses with my dad when I go visit them and I've never even heard of this course. Driver - M1 9.5* w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 70X Fairway - M1 5W 19* w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 70X Hybrids - G25 4H 23* Irons - JPX 850 Forged 4-PW w/ Nippon N.S. Pro 1150S Wedges - S5 50*07, 54*12, 58*12 w/ Nippon N.S. Pro 1150S Putter - Oddyssey Metal-X #7 w/ SuperStroke Pistol GT 2.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver & black Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Maybe people just can't spare the cash to play golf? Even at $26.00 for a round and cart, a lot of people just won't pay it if they need to put gas in the car to go to work the next week. Don't take this personally, I certainly don't mean it that way but... I get the feeling that quite a few of you on here make a substantial amount of money and can't/don't relate to what it's like to live hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck. edit: I probably shouldn't have posted that. It's been one of those days, and I'm not really feeling all that understanding. I apologize to anyone who is offended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbil8802 Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Maybe people just can't spare the cash to play golf? Even at $26.00 for a round and cart, a lot of people just won't pay it if they need to put gas in the car to go to work the next week. Don't take this personally, I certainly don't mean it that way but... I get the feeling that quite a few of you on here make a substantial amount of money and can't/don't relate to what it's like to live hand to mouth, paycheck to paycheck. Man, that's a loaded statement. Maybe some guys on here don't live hand to mouth, but maybe that's because they've earned it. Maybe they used to live hand to mouth or did growing up because their parents weren't rich. What I can say is that I have yet to meet one guy on here that acts like a pompous a**hole. I golf in the area in question very frequently. Golf is doing well there. There are numerous courses that are not struggling. Maybe it's just poor marketing/management that is bringing this one particular course down. Driver - M1 9.5* w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 70X Fairway - M1 5W 19* w/ Aldila Rogue Silver 70X Hybrids - G25 4H 23* Irons - JPX 850 Forged 4-PW w/ Nippon N.S. Pro 1150S Wedges - S5 50*07, 54*12, 58*12 w/ Nippon N.S. Pro 1150S Putter - Oddyssey Metal-X #7 w/ SuperStroke Pistol GT 2.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG STU Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 We recently had a simular situation here in the Grand Strand more spefically Myrtle Beach. The course at the former Air Force base was turned over to the city years ago. The city has no idea of how to run a golf course and it showed. Now they had a lot more competition than the average muni does with all the courses here. Their employees were rude and obnoxious ran a lot of locals and tourists off alike. They were loosing money year after year on it and wondered why. When the average tax paying citizen started seeing reports of how much money they were loosing year after year especially when the economy went bad they started raising hell. The city published reports that they were going to turn it into some kind of park or something. The federal Government said NO it was given to them to run as a golf course and that is what was going to happen or the Feds were going to take it back. They ended up with a compromise deal. The folks that owned TPC here had sold TPC to another group and ended up leasing that course from the city. I do know the first thing they done was "clean house" of rude not caring city employees. I have not played it yet but I do drive by it everyday on the way and back from work. It really looks good now but the greens fees have went up to compete with the mid tier courses here. I have not played it since I have a MB Passport which is owned by the Founders Group that bought 21 courses here and my home course is part of the Founders Group. I do not know what golf package deals the former city course is on either. But driving by casually observing it has improved 100% condition wise and play has increased Driver ---- Callaway Big Bertha Alpha Speeder 565 R flex- 5W TM V-Steel Fubuki 60r--- 7W TM V-Steel UST Pro Force Gold 65R----- 9 W TM V Steel TM MAS stiff---- Irons 2015 TM TP CB Steel Fiber 95 R--- GW Callaway Mack Daddy 2 52* shaft unknown junk pile refugee. SW Callaway PM Grind 56* Modified sole grind--- KBS Tour Wedge-- LW Vokey 58* SM5 L grind--- Putter Ping B90I Broom Stick G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
revkev Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 I do agree that the guys on here are great and a part of that is not really trumpeting what they do or do not have. Having written that Silver and Black is telling us that he's just venting and I certainly have a great deal of sympathy for that. I have folks venting at me all day - you can always PM me buddy! Back to the concern at hand I'm wondering if the number of courses that have gone from private to public hasn't been the killer for this course. If its price point is too close to theirs its a loser. I've written about it in other threads but our Muni is a cash cow for the city. Honestly its not even that well priced, you can play better courses for the same or less by going on Golf Now - but it is convenient, consistent (as good as you are going to get condition wise for a course that gets so much play) and it is fun to play - not too tough but tough enough. It also has a variety of tees so that anyone can be challenged or have a crack at glory and it has a nice enough practice facility. But this is also a county with 900K plus people in it and this is the only muni in the lower part of the county (where most of the people live.) Taylor Made Stealth 2 10.5 Diamana S plus 60 Aldila R flex - 42.25 inches SMT 4 wood bassara R flex, four wood head, 3 wood shaft Ping G410 7, 9 wood Alta 65 R flex Srixon ZX5 MK II 5-GW - UST recoil Dart 65 R flex India 52,56 (60 pending) UST recoil 75's R flex Evon roll ER 5 32 inches It's our offseason so auditioning candidates - looking for that right mix of low spin long, more spin around the greens - TBD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silver & black Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 Thanks Rev, I appreciate it. I should not have posted what I did. All of you on this forum are good people and very accommodating to everyone, with your knowledge and time. Chalk my post up to a very bad day.... which had to do with financial matters, and a lack of judgement on my part. Again, I apologize to everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny B Posted November 20, 2015 Share Posted November 20, 2015 There are NO courses in my area, and that covers 100 miles, where you can get green fee and cart for $26. Minimum is $40 except when courses have specials. “We don’t stop playing the game because we get old; we get old because we stop playing the game.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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