The club, established in 1926, owns land for nine of the 18 holes at the golf course, leasing holes seven through 15 from the city since it expanded in the 1960s. The property is also about $400,000 in debt, and a sale price has not been disclosed.
Officials from the cash-strapped Watertown (N.Y.) Golf Club have put the course up for sale, according to one of its principal shareholders, the Watertown Daily Times reported.
Joseph M. Butler Sr., former city mayor who is President of the club’s Board of Directors, said Wednesday the club is about $400,000 in debt—a level that has made it challenging to keep the Thompson Park golf course open. The board decided at its July meeting to advertise the property for sale. Butler did not disclose the sale price, the Times reported.
The club, established in 1926, could have difficulty finding a buyer because it owns land for only nine of the 18 holes at the course, Butler said. The club has leased the course’s remaining 66 acres—holes seven through 15—from the city since it expanded from nine to 18 holes in the early 1960s, the Times reported.
“We’ve done some national advertising to find a buyer and haven’t had any luck, because anyone who purchases the golf course would need a lease from the city,” said Butler, 78, a club member since 1968. “They would be at the mercy of the city to become an 18-hole golf course.”
If a prospective buyer wanted to purchase the city-owned land, Butler said, that process would require obtaining approval from the state Legislature, because the sale would involve parkland used for recreational purposes, the Times reported.
“It would probably take at least a year for approval because it’s land that has to be maintained by the city for recreation,” Butler said.
The club appears to have taken a selective approach, however, in its search for a buyer. Butler said P.J. Simao, owner of Ives Hill Country Club, has expressed interest in buying the club. “He requested that we get together and talk about it, but we’re not interested at this time,” he said, adding that no timetable has been set for the sale.
Simao said Wednesday he remains interested in buying the property and “will wait to see how it plays out. Obviously I’m a competitor of theirs and will continue to be, and I wish them the best of luck. I thought it might make sense to run the golf courses together. But I think they’re afraid of me buying it and closing it down, and I can’t change what they think.”
To attract Watertown Golf Club members who might want to leave because of the expected sale, Simao said, Ives Hill is now offering a promotion for new members. Those who decide to become members in 2016 can pay $125 to join the club for the rest of this season; the remaining $700 for the 2016 membership would be due October 31, the Times reported.
Watertown Golf Club’s board hopes to find a buyer who will remain committed to continuing the operation, Butler said. “It could be a family who wants to have a golf course,” he said, adding there’s still a chance the club could climb out of its financial rut. “If the debt turns around and we’re able to maintain our financial obligations, it’s possible we could stay with it.”
The public golf course owns nine holes, the clubhouse, the pro shop and a maintenance building on its 57 acres of property. The decision to sell the club, which has about 90 members and 30 shareholders, comes as it has had difficulty maintaining the course because of its growing debt load, the Times reported.
Butler said a group of the club’s shareholders met with city officials about a month ago to discuss the club’s financial situation. Mayor Jeffrey E. Graham declined Wednesday to comment.
The club’s membership, meanwhile, has sharply fallen in recent years. It lost 43 members this year from 2014, according to a July 22 letter Butler sent to members. “That loss of revenue was totally unexpected and will probably result in additional debt,” despite efforts to cut costs, the letter said.
Open from April through October, the club had about 215 members in 2013—more than double the size of its current membership. The club, which will remain open in 2016, has been compelled to cut costs, Butler said. It will postpone a $5,000 project originally planned for late September to aerate and topdress greens on the course, the Times reported.
“We normally have to close for about a week to do that, but it will be postponed until next spring,” Butler said, adding that keeping the course open during the period will help draw revenue from golfers that is normally lost.
Butler added that the club suffered a “crucial blow” from the ice storm in January 2014, which damaged greens and trees. “We lost our greens because of the freezing and thawing that took place,” he said. “We had to restore 18 holes of greens, and that cost us more because people didn’t want to play. Altogether, we took maybe a $40,000 hit.”
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