The Re-Development of Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Course – Part 1

By Alan Prescott
January 28, 2021

Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Course (File Photo)

When I first found out about your golf course, I heard a silent cry for help in a muted way. Too many golf courses are failing in the United States, and most times, instead of the owners/managers either don’t care or don’t know how to help because they don’t know how to proceed because they don’t have a background or, for example, they hire management companies that sell them a bill of goods. With these companies, the dollar is the determining factor as to how much they will do to really help a golf course thrive. But, you cannot JUST THROW MONEY AT A COURSE and hope that some magic golf course improvement fairy will make it happen.

Personally, I have no interest in local politics or placing blame on any individual or group of individuals. I have saved many golf courses within 140 miles of where I sit and I have done so without a penny of compensation. All of these golf courses, excepting one, had no extra money to turn things around, but, I wanted to give back for all of my silent accomplishments and rewards. Please take the following discussion and those that follow as an effort to right a sinking ship.

First, above all, the condition of your golf course MUST be improved. You should hire 2 additional full time employees and at least 1 additional part-time employee. This is to improve the overall condition of the golf course. Overall improvement should be directed towards all parts of the golf course, such as tee boxes, aprons, greens, fairways, roughs, and trees.

Trees—

Trimming of trees should begin TODAY or as soon as the sap begins to flow as the leaves come out. ANY trees that directly impinge on any greens should be either removed or trimmed back substantially.

Aprons and Collars–

If the grass is completely dead, these areas should be verticut and re-seeded. When using a fertilizer to help grass growth, use 1/4 rate with the sprayer or spreader. Make sure to wet the seeded area moderately at least 2-3 times during the day according to daily rainfall amounts. Cover the seeded areas with a light layer of straw and keep the area wet (but not soaked) throughout the sunlight hours. Remember that you must begin this over-seeding when the danger of any frost is gone.

Greens–

When the growth season begins and you notice substantial grass growth on the greens, verticut the greens, insuring that the blades on the verticutter don’t go too deep. When you verticut, immediately top-dress them and drag the greens with a special top-dressing mat with a good top-dressing mixture. If you have any dandelions on the fringe of the greens, the treatment for that is to use a dicot weed control. Dicot weed control is used because dandelions are a dicot weed. But, DON’T APPLY DICOT WEED CONTROL TO THE BENTGRASS ON YOUR GREENS – EVER!!! It will kill the bent grass on your greens rapidly. What you’ll notice with dandelions is that, after you apply dicot weed control, the dandelions will grow rapidly. Dicot weed control is a systemic growth hormone, which will make the weeds out grow themselves and die.

Tee Boxes–

Tee boxes should be leveled and re-seeded. If you want fast grass growth, mix your regular grass with wheat (LIKE YOU EAT) seed in a 50/50 mixture. The wheat seed is an annual plant. It grows up quickly and then is replaced by the regular grass seed, which is a perennial, which will last for years if properly maintained. Use of a high-nitrogen is recommended at a 1/4 rate every 3-4 weeks. Cover your seeded with straw and water for 10 minutes maximum 2-3 times each day. Temporary tees should be used for this time during re-planting.

Roughs and Fairways–

Believe it or not, roughs are very important. They should be maintained at 2-3 inches higher than fairway height. Fairways are important, too. If you have fairway irrigation, and depending on drainage, they should be significantly watered early each morning, and then, depending on temperature and rainfall, again for 15 minutes during mid-afternoon. Watering fairways or greens at night increases grass fungus. As with fairways, on super hot days, a quick watering of about 10 minutes on greens and collars is recommended. One further thing, there should NEVER be fairways that are too high so as to make golfers lose a ball in a fairway.

Part 2: A final mention of Top Tracer

As I mentioned beforehand, Top Tracer, when used in the proper manner and with the proper perspective, can be a profitable venture. In the northern areas of the country , where I live, ventures like this can be profitable, under the right circumstances, between November 1st and April 30th (on the average and in my opinion). For the non-golfing crowd, they can be a moneymaker for recreation as an indoor recreation destination, but ONLY with the right amenities, management, and promotion. In all honesty, you MUST remember that no adjoining bathroom facilities that are properly maintained, no snack bar that is open from daily facility opening until 1 hour before closing, and inadequate staffing, WILL make the facility FAIL. You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

Budgeting and Finances–

Since I have not received complete information about rates and costs, I am going to estimate what needs to happen. First, I would allow pull carts to be used by both members and all other groups including snowbirds. The trail fee for the use of your pull carts should be $3.00 per day, whether the golfer is a member or a greens fee player and, in addition, the fee be paid once daily whether or not the golfer is playing 9 or 18 holes.

Next, for the locals (NOT members), I would increase the greens fees by $3.00 per round and sell a “Golf Frequency Card” that is good for 1 calendar year for 1 free greens fee when you play 12 times (Bakers Dozen Deal. For snowbirds, I would increase their greens fees by $2.00 for 9-hole play and $4.00 for 18-hole play.

As far as the City Budgeting, there should be an allocation of $100,000.00 to the golf course immediately for 2021. It should be used in the following manner: $25,000.00 for golf course machinery improvements, $25,000.00 for golf course repair (tee boxes, fringes, greens, fairways, etc., and $50,000 for labor and some clubhouse improvements and maintenance. Not enough, you say? If all of the above is run efficiently and consistently, the extra money for the golf course will be available to further golf course needs and projects.

But, I am NOT finished by ANY MEANS. This Business Plan is far from complete!! This is merely Phase 1 of my Re-Development Recommendations. In Phase 2, you will understand what could easily out-perform any idea and suggestion that I have heard. In addition, I have heard from over 2 dozen individuals, who have one recommendation in common with mine, and, definitely need to be heard.

Next Article: The Ultimate Golf Center at Fernandina Beach Municipal Golf Course.

As always, I am Alan Prescott, here for you, and reachable at [email protected]

11 Comments
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Bruce Smyk
Bruce Smyk (@guest_60252)
3 years ago

I concur 100%. Regarding the Business Plan, the Casper contract requires a 5-year plan, updated every year. This has never been done, nor enforced by the City.

Frank Quigley
Active Member
Frank Quigley(@frank-quigley)
3 years ago

My concerns regarding TopTracer have been that: One, the City may see it as the Silver Bullet to solve the golf course revenue shortfall . . . a bandaid instead of healing the patient. Second, there has never been a Plan B – which several including local candidates raised when the project was announced. The revenue numbers were merely a projection (which to me seem optimistic) and no conversation about what happens if the revenue comes up short by any material amount? Everyone hopes TopTracer will succeed but concerns exist about whether it will. And it already has the signs of becoming a snake-bit project. When will we know?

DAVID LOTT
DAVID LOTT(@dave-l)
3 years ago

Alan, FYI the approved city budget for FY 2020-21 calls for $460,000 in capital outlays for improvements to the golf course although I think almost all of that was for the TopTracer facility.

Food & Beverage cost ratio to sales is 46% which seems high. One of my boys is a regional manager for a casual dining company and their goal for F&B costs is below 30%. Overall profit margin is 21%. Your perspective?

I know that without seeing the course in person it is difficult to truly assess what level of improvements need to be made to bring it up to a reasonable level. Have you had any conversations with the current manager to understand what has been done or how far the $ allocations you suggested will go. I would suspect that the treatment processes you suggest would have been carried out unless financial restraints prevented them from doing so.

Looking forward to the remainder of your articles. thanks for sharing your perspectives and experience.

Robert Prager
Robert Prager (@guest_60257)
3 years ago

Why is it always remove or trim the trees? How about, any green that impinges on a tree should be trimmed or redesigned?

DAVID LOTT
DAVID LOTT(@dave-l)
3 years ago
Reply to  Robert Prager

Because it is a golf course, not a tree farm.

Bruce Smyk
Bruce Smyk (@guest_60267)
3 years ago
Reply to  Robert Prager

Visit the golf course and try to count the trees. When I asked the last superintendent, he said he couldn’t count the number of trees on the course… “thousands and thousands” was his answer.

Each oak tree sucks water and nutrient from the ground. The tree blocks the wind and sun from allowing the grass to grow.

Presuming the average oak uses 200 gallons of water per day and the course has 10,000 oak trees, you’re talking about 2 million gallons daily. Plus, when fertilizer is applied, the oaks take a proportional amount of the nutrient. Further, the grass needs air and light to grow. An oak tree with a 30 foot branch spread will shade, at noon, about 750 sq. ft ; much more with the sun at an angle. Imaging how much wind an evergreen will block.

Every course needs a tree management plan which should include:

● A maintenance and pruning program.

● A tree planting plan.

● A tree removal plan.

Diana Herman
Diana Herman(@dianah1229)
3 years ago

Stop saying we need to remove trees! We tried this once years ago, and it did not make the golf course more profitable. Get creative — blaming the trees for a financial failure will only end the public support you are seeking.

Bruce Smyk
Bruce Smyk (@guest_60268)
3 years ago
Reply to  Diana Herman

I am not familiar with the attempt you mention to remove trees. When was this, what are the details? It would be interesting to see the extent of removal. It would appear they did not remove enough trees since there is an expense to each tree’s impact on the soil.

w. wayne arrants
w. wayne arrants (@guest_60262)
3 years ago

My wife and I are building on Amelia and moving in 2022 so I read this paper daily with excitement and great anticipation. The series on the golf course has been informative and, especially not being a golfer, an exercise in imagination. The challenges, the failures and plans, salvation schemes, dollars spent here and there, and at the end of the day I just don’t understand why a city is in the business of golf. I understand tax dollars being used to build parks and access to beaches and such but golf…? Don’t visitors to the island usually play at private courses included in their vacation packages? Is the city course for locals and, therefore, shouldn’t the users be responsible for its ultimate survival? Like I said, I do not golf. Perhaps I should take it up and then maybe I would see the light.

DAVID LOTT
DAVID LOTT(@dave-l)
3 years ago

Wayne, perhaps some history of the golf course would shed some light on your questions. The land on which the course is built was originally part of the Navy air base built during WWII to train pilots. Suanne Thamm of the Fernandina Observer wrote an excellent history of the airport and surrounding area in this article back in 2018.

https://fernandinaobserver.com/general/the-first-75-years-of-fernandina-beachs-municipal-airport/

At that time the golf course and surrounding residential area was built, the southern end of the island was largely undeveloped. The Amelia Island Plantation didn’t start development until the 1970s. So, when the municipal golf course was built there was no other golf course on the island and no other in the immediate area. One must remember that the city was still largely a “mill town” and the golf course provided a recreation venue for the men and women living on the island. Today, green fees for the course are substantially lower than the private or semi-private resort courses on the island which have other sources of revenue to help subsidize their golf operations. A couple of years ago the Omni attempted to close one of their golf courses due to its money losing state but was prohibited from doing so by the courts as it would violate an agreement with the AIP Golf community.

As an enterprise fund, the operation of the golf course is supposed to be self sufficient and was so until the last decade when the City, in its infinite wisdom, leased out non-aeronautical airport land adjacent to the city golf course for a private company with intentions to build a 36-hole golf course. The original developer of that course went bankrupt after completing the first 18 holes and after a period in bank ownership, the lease was taken over by a local businessman who made improvements to the course and clubhouse, but after years of effort declared it was a money loser and recently sold the lease to another local business person. During this same period, the city budget didn’t provide sufficient funds for maintenance and renovation of the course and its quality has continued to suffer.

Bruce Smyk
Bruce Smyk (@guest_60269)
3 years ago
Reply to  DAVID LOTT

Also, this competitor course pays its rent to the airport enterprise fund, not the City or the golf course.