By Alan Prescott
February 9, 2021
Today, my discussion is two-fold. The first part concerns the Golf Advisory Board. It is very difficult to run all aspects of a golf course, including the golf course maintenance, golf practice range, pro shop, Top Tracer, and the clubhouse. In this example, there are 3 or 4 key people who should work and communicate together and then present to the Golf Advisory Board twice a month. During the first Golf Advisory Board meeting of the month, a discussion of the final figures of the month should be presented. This will allow the Board to compare actual revenues with the past month’s projection for golf course revenues. During the second Board meeting of the month, the actual figures for the current month, as well as any changes for the current month, should be discussed so as to make any additional adjustments that are necessary.
In order to refine this discussion, you could title your golf professional the “Director of Golf Operations” and small pay raise to compensate him for additional tasks and responsibilities. The Golf Course Superintendent should present any information/concerns to the Board once per month at the first Board meeting to address progress on major golf course projects and special needs for the next month, if any. And, an experienced Club Manager should be responsible for running Top Tracer and the clubhouse operations, including events, food and beverages, and other aspects of the clubhouse facility itself.
And now, as promised, a discussion of an original idea that would further develop and enhance the Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Course experience for its patrons. This is just a concept that has been discussed over the past 40 years. It is just a suggestion for the future, as the golf course revenues significantly improve.
I call this suggestion, “The Ultimate Golf Club Testing Facility”. Imagine a 30-acre piece of land in the shape of a rectangle. Divide that rectangle into 2 squares. On the right side square, the smaller of the two, is a driving range. On the other, larger, left side square is a 3-hole golf course with regulation length holes in the shape of a triangle. It consists of a par-3 hole, a par-4 hole, and a par-5 hole. This is the Ultimate Golf Club Testing Facility. In the beginning, a prospective golfer wants to purchase a set of golf clubs, but he/she wants to hit golf balls, with the assistance of the golf professional, on the practice range. With the price of golf clubs being what it is today, they also want to play a few holes with a demo set. They are now able to test out a new set on the 3-hole golf course. When they finish the trial 3 holes, they can either purchase a set or pay a $10.00 trail fee for using the 3-hole golf course. In addition, they are charged for the practice balls on the driving range.
So far, I have offered several suggestions for the re-development of the Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Course. However, I am just halfway in this journey. In my next Article, it’s time to effectively promote your golf course to raise the revenue at a nominal cost. It’s an “OPEN LETTER” to all golfers at your course. But, it’s NOT just a letter.
As always, I am Alan Prescott. I am here for you and can be reached at [email protected].
Be safe
Unfortunately, the Golf Course Advisory Board has largely been MIA over the last 9 months as all these issues came to a head. The City Clerk reports that the GCAB failed to meet in the months of April, May, June, July, October and November of 2020 as well as January 2021. They did meet in December 2020 twice – their regular meeting on December 9 in which Mayor Lednovich and Commissioners Kreger and Ross attending and a special meeting on December 16 in which the GCAB made a consensus recommendation to have the city negotiate a 5-year contract with Indigo with specific performance clauses.
The monthly budget report for the Golf Course Enterprise Fund given by the Comptroller Ms. Testagrose is of little value without looking at the detail on a month-to-month level. The collection of the annual membership fees at the beginning of the fund’s fiscal year will always show revenues in a misleading positive light as they always seemed to be framed in percentage of annual goal compared to the number of months represented in the financial report – a fact acknowledged in the summary report to the Commissioners given at the second CC meeting each month. From the October 2020 summary report given at the 11/17/20 meeting: Revenues exceed expenses due to annual memberships and the transfer from the General Fund. Annual memberships were $9,040 higher this October compared to last year. Both margins on Pro Shop Sales and Food and Beverage are below the budgeted ratios. Expenses for food and beverage exceeded revenues for October. Recognize this is a summary report but I hope the Commissioners would have sought out answers to the following from the City Manager since then: Where do annual memberships stand today compared to 2020? What margins were actually realized on Pro Shop Sales and F&B. Why were there shortfalls? Why was there such an imbalance between expenses and revenue for the F&B operation? What is being done to correct that going forward?
Questions the GCAB should also be addressing.