Operations, january 3, 2014

     The members of Audubon Country Club, in Naples, Florida, have turned over the management of their property to Troon Privé. Audubon, which is said to be debt free, is the centerpiece of a 755-acre gated community. It features an 18-hole, Joe Lee designed golf course, a 35,000-square-foot clubhouse, and an expanse of wildlife areas. Jim McLaughlin of Troon Privé believes it offers “the ideal South Florida lifestyle” and is confident that his company’s management approach “will contribute positively to the experience of members and their guests.” The club is looking for members. It has 290, according to its website, and can accommodate 60 more. Troon Privé manages three other golf properties in Florida, including BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens and Colonial Country Club in Fort Myers.

     After conducting a financial evaluation of its golf operation, the city of Chattanooga, Tennessee has decided not to seek a private-sector operator for its Brainerd and Brown Acres courses. “The golf courses were certainly a question as we began our investigation,” the city’s mayor told the council, “but it became clear over time that the community valued them, and financially they were an asset rather than a liability.” Last summer, some council members felt that the courses were, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, “a drain on the city’s finances and could be better run by an outside firm.” However, the financial review determined that the tracks generated a surplus of $144,000 in the 2013-14 fiscal year. In 2012-13, the courses attracted almost 64,500 rounds.

     A struggling private club in Pell City, Alabama is looking for a government bailout. Larry Lemak, the owner of Pine Harbor Golf & Racquet Club, hopes the city will assume a five- or 10-year lease on his property. The club, which has roughly 100 members, loses between $70,000 and $80,000 a year, according to the Talladega Daily Home, and may not be able to continue operating without the city’s financial commitment. The parties haven’t settled on a price, but it appears that the city expects to spend about $80,000 a year. Pine Harbor features an 18-hole golf course that opened in the mid 1960s. The course is the only 18-hole track in St. Clair County, and both the city and the county would like it to remain a going concern for economic-development purposes. City officials believe that the club “could at least break even” if it’s is opened to the public, the newspaper says, but they want assurances that its membership can double before signing on the dotted line.

     O. C. Welch has won a 12-year contract to operate the city of Savannah, Georgia’s Bacon Park Golf Course. The 27-hole complex suffers from “poor maintenance and low turnout numbers,” according to the Savannah Morning News, but Welch seems intent on engineering a turnaround, no matter how long it takes. “I hope I die there,” he told the newspaper, “but no time soon.” Welch, an auto dealer who owns Black Creek Golf Club in nearby Ellabell, plans to eliminate nine of the complex’s holes and to restore its 18-hole, Donald Ross-designed layout. He grew up playing golf at Bacon Park and conducted a highly visible public campaign to win the concession.

     National Golf Management, the premier golf operator in Myrtle Beach, has agreed to a settlement on a financial claim made by one of its former employees. The employee, a bag-drop attendant, had accused NGM and its parent company, Burroughs & Chapin, of violating federal law by paying him only $5.80 an hour -- the minimum wage is $7.25 -- and refusing to pay him overtime even though he routinely worked 50 or more hours a week. Without admitting any guilt, NGM and B&C have proposed to pay the employee $3,000 in wages and to cover his attorney’s fees and court costs, which amount to $10,500. In exchange for the money, the employee will drop his legal claims.

     The one and only proposal for management of the municipal golf course in Baker City, Oregon has been unanimously endorsed by city officials. Last month, Bill Tiedemann secured a three-year contract on Quail Ridge Golf Course, an 18-hole layout. Tiedemann was the city’s sole choice, as nobody else responded to a request for proposals issued earlier in 2013.