Operations, november 1, 2013

     The city of Pacific Grove, California is thinking about turning over its highly desirable golf property to the private sector. Pacific Grove Golf Links, an 81-year-old layout co-designed by Jack Neville and Chandler Egan, would surely generate interest among the nation’s management companies, for many people consider it to be “the poor man’s Pebble Beach.” Financially speaking, the course has been neither a boon nor a bane -- “It’s roughly breaking even,” Mayor Bill Kampe told the Monterey Herald -- but the city wonders whether professionals might improve its bottom line. Besides, it’ll soon need upgrades that the city can’t afford to pay for, including a conversion to reclaimed water. City officials plan to discuss their options next week.

     Many residents of the Maldives fear that their island nation will soon be consumed by rising seas, but not Czech entrepreneurs Jiří and Radka Šmejc. The couple has created Velaa Private Island, a small, exclusive, one-of-a-kind resort on Fushivelavaru Island that they promise will provide “calm for the mind, nourishment for the body, and memories for the heart.” The place had better deliver all that and more, because the Telegraph reports that a night in the nicest accommodations will cost a vacationer $30,000. Velaa Private Island will have 48 villas and other places to stay, a spa, a restaurant, a champagne bar, and a golf academy designed by José María Olazábal. To manage the golf facility, the Šmejcs have hired Troon Golf, which promises “the most unique golf experience the world has to offer.” Velaa Private Island is expected to begin offering “the vacation of a lifetime” by the end of the year.

     The Hudson County Improvement Authority has hired KemperSports to oversee the construction of a nine-hole, player-friendly course that will take shape on part of a reclaimed landfill in Jersey City, New Jersey. “They have a proven track record of building strong public awareness, working with local schools, and finding creative ways to attract residents and seniors to public courses,” said Norman Guerra, the authority’s CEO. Lincoln Park West Golf Course has been designed by Roy Case, a Royal Palm Beach, Florida-based architect who’s made a career of working on what he calls “difficult sites.” He’s done at least two courses on landfills, in Houston, Texas and West Palm Beach, Florida. When Lincoln Park West opens, most likely in the summer of 2015, KemperSports will operate it.

     While KemperSports tends to the venture in New Jersey, it’s having trouble making ends meet at Palm Harbor Golf Club, a property owned by the city of Palm Coast, Florida. The Illinois-based management company, the self-described “most trusted name in golf,” took over the club’s operations in 2009, the year the city acquired it, and anticipated turning a profit by this year. However, the club hasn’t managed to finish in the black even once. Palm Harbor is expected to attract roughly 39,000 rounds of golf in the current fiscal year, down from about 44,000 in the year previous, and its loss will likely reach $100,000. KemperSports blames the deficits on hard times in the golf business and what the Palm Coast Observer calls “unfriendly weather.” But the firm insists that Palm Harbor won’t bleed red ink forever. In fact, it promises to turn a profit next year.

     Changes are on the horizon at Vista Verde, an 825-acre golf community in Rio Verde, Arizona. Vista Verde’s new owner, an LLC with ties to TerraWest Communities, plans to change the community’s name, add an “amenity center,” upgrade its 18-hole, Ken Kavanaugh-designed golf course, and bring in OB Sports to oversee the golf operation. Mike Jesberger, the principal of TerraWest, told the Fountain Hills Times that OB Sports will assume management of the facility “in the near future.” Vista Verde was built in the mid 2000s to complement a pair of nearby communities, Rio Verde and Tonto Verde, both of which have 36-hole golf complexes. Vista Verde was also supposed to get a second 18, but TerraWest has declined to pursue the opportunity. TerraWest bought Vista Verde from a trust that includes David Ritchie, the community’s original developer, reportedly for $45 million.

     It took nearly a year, but the city of Burbank, California has finalized a contract for the private operation of DeBell Golf Club. Scott Scozzola, the director of golf at the 27-hole complex, has relieved the city of a headache by agreeing to a lease that the Burbank Leader says obligates him to pay $300,000 annually. Shortly after he takes the helm, in January 2014, Scozzola will also provide the city with a capital improvement program, as the complex has several pressing needs. Only one problem: DeBell, which is paying off a loan used to build a $9.4 million clubhouse, doesn’t generate enough income to pay for the upgrades that ought to be done immediately, let alone the forthcoming work that will inevitably be required. So now the city has another headache: How to find $600,000, the estimated cost of the first wave of upgrades.