Holiday Island Country Club Review of Operations Prepared for: - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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NGF Holiday Island Country Club Review of Operations

Prepared for:

Holiday Island Suburban Improvement District

Presented by

Richard Singer

Director of Consulting Services National Golf Foundation Consulting, Inc. (561) 354-1642 rsinger@ngf.org

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Holiday Island Country Club

Introduction

• National Golf Foundation
• Municipal golf facility consulting
• NGF Staff – Richard Singer
• Not advocate for any position other than Holiday Island Suburban

Improvement District success w/ Holiday Island CC

• Why we’re here:
• Review the operation, economic potential, physical condition of 18 hole

Holiday Island CC, 9 hole Island golf course and clubhouse

• Review the market environment
• Provide recommendations and alternatives for maximizing the economic

potential of golf within the District.

• Methodology:
• Meetings

 Facility inspection

• Market analysis

 Site analysis

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Holiday Island Country Club

Key Components of the Study

• Physical condition of Holiday Island CC
• Recent performance of Holiday Island CC
• Status of Holiday Island area golf market
• Identify how Holiday Island CC can maximize potential
• Help HISID create a sustainable golf facility for long-term

future success

• Present NGF Consulting findings and recommendations

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Holiday Island Country Club

General Impressions

• Holiday Island CC has the basic design features and location to

be a successful public golf course.

• Aging infrastructure, especially related to turf conditions and

irrigation.

• Lack of adequate maintenance staffing, due to low revenue

and low expense structure.

• Remote location with small proximate population and limited

local golfers support.

• Inconsistent operating policies over time, leaving a perception

in the region that HICC is a private, member-only club.

• Declining golf market due to increased competition, reduced

discretionary incomes, aging population, and changing demographics.

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Holiday Island Country Club – 18 Hole Course

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Holiday Island Country Club – 9 Hole Course

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Holiday Island Country Club – Physical Review

Key Issues We See

• Course is more than 40 years old, renovations/upgrades will be

required in the near future (within 3 to 5 years)

• Turf - some form of upgrade or replacement
• Cart Paths - some upgrade and improvement
• Irrigation - problems with breaks and coverage, not fully efficient
• Greens - Bermuda contamination, some disease and nearby tree/root problems
• Tees - should be improved with stronger turf and a leveling program
• Bunkers - should be improved with better sand a linings
• Driving Range - add a few tee stations, more length, and better targets
• Maintenance compound would benefit from general “face-lift”.
• HICC should upgrade on-course “niceties”
• Course signs and markers inaccurate
• Golf holes (cups) are raised too high
• Yardage markers are not complete
• Water stations need improvement

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Holiday Island Country Club

Holiday Island Country Club Needed Physical Improvements

Highest Priority Items Highest Estimated Cost Turf $150,000 Cart Paths 240,000 Amenities 60,000 Irrigation System 1,000,000 Greens 400,000 Sub-Total – Most Immediate $1,850,000 Lower Priority Items: Tees $30,000 Bunkers 70,000 Driving Range 60,000 Maintenance Area 15,000 Total Holiday Island CC Upgrades $2,025,000

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Holiday Island Country Club – Operational Review

Key Issues We See

• Operating policy has been inconsistent, switching between

member-only and semi-private, or daily fee

• Holiday Island CC is operating with a staff that is barely

sufficient to sustain operations

• HICC is being maintained to match budget, as opposed to golf

course needs

• The absence of a true “marketing plan” to define a strategy,

establish goals and define specific activities

• The total revenue earned at HICC is much lower than average

for public golf courses of this type

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Holiday Island Country Club

External Factors

• Decline in overall demand for golf in this local market
• Population growth in the area is at or below the total

U.S. rate

• Course supply in the area suggests a “saturated”

market – small population and lower-than-average golf demand to support golf courses

• Significant downward pressure on green fees in this

market area. Very few northwest Arkansas area / southwest Missouri golf courses are able to charge in excess of $40 or $45 per round (w/cart).

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Holiday Island Country Club

Key Operational Findings

• Holiday Island golf system is basically set up in a traditional municipal

golf format with full District control of facilities and labor.

• No indication that the facility is being mismanaged in any way, but the

golf course is under-staffed to provide a level of high quality maintenance.

• HICC is operating a good quality golf course facility in a generally rural

location with a limited customer base to support operations

• Course is earning total revenue less than half the U.S. 18-hole golf

“standard” of about $1.0 million in revenue

• District has worked hard to reduce expenses in the operation to match

the low revenue, but this has in part contributed to the reductions in maintenance and facility improvement

• Staff includes a Class A-1 PGA Golf Professional, certified for the past

24 years, as well as, a GCSAA Class-A Superintendent with 36 years of golf maintenance experience.

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Holiday Island Country Club

NGF Recommendations

• Commit to a semi-private structure with renewed focus on

attracting non-local golfers

• Enhance marketing, especially related to technology (internet,

email, social, etc.)

• Improve the physical condition of the property with additional

maintenance staff

• Complete the physical upgrades needed, focusing on turf quality

as highest priority

• Implement player development activities that appeal to attracting

new golfers

• Make slight increase adjustment in playing fees bringing the

Activity card average discount to around 20% from peak green fees, and commit to a program of annual fee adjustments to account for increasing maintenance costs.

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Holiday Island Country Club

Preliminary Financial Analysis

• NGF estimated 15,850 to 22,000 rounds in 2015-2018 period.
• NGF projects facility revenue in the $450,000 to $700,000 range

between 2015-2019.

• The annual net income after all expenses is not likely to be positive,

although direct golf losses can be reduced from over $200,000 projected for 2015, down to below $100,000 by 2017 and $65,000 in 2019

• HICC operation, as it currently situated, is not sustainable for the long

term, as it not likely to be capable of sustaining basic day-to-day

• expenses. It is also certain that the Holiday Island CC operation will not

be able to cover any large-scale capital costs and it is likely that the facility will operate with continued losses