The Palo Alto City Council approved a three-year, $9 million agreement with the management firm for full operation of the course, which has been reconstructed to create 55 acres of new wetlands, through a makeover that began because a levee had to be relocated to improve flood control.
The City Council of Palo Alto, Calif. voted 8-0 (with one member absent) to approve a three-year, $9-million agreement with OB Sports as the management firm that will manage the city’s new Baylands Golf Links when it reopens on Memorial Day weekend, the Palo Alto Weekly reported.
The course, formerly known as Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, has been transformed through a reconstruction project that began as an effort to accommodate a levee that had to be relocated to improve flood control, the Weekly reported, and then quickly morphed into a complete redesign, with all 18 holes relocated. The end result, the Weekly reported, was a full transformation of what had been a largely conventional 1956 golf course, mostly flat and covered in turf, into a links-style course with 40 percent less turf, more slopes and 55 acres of new wetlands.
The reconfiguration project will be financed through bonds, which will be repaid through golfing fees, the Weekly reported. The city will have to dip into its coffers to pay for water, staff time and utilities, though the staff believes that within two years these costs will be more than offset by revenues from the green fees, the restaurant, the driving range and the pro shop of the new Baylands Golf Links.
Despite reservations expressed by several council members about the inherent risks and costs of launching the new course, the Weekly reported, the council moved to approve the agreement, which will allow OB Sports to handle everything from management of the course and the driving range to operations of the pro shop and restaurant.
Mayor Liz Kniss acknowledged the inherent risks of running a golf course, even as she lauded the photos of the new property, the Weekly reported. “I’m just hoping it plays beautifully and people will want to go back again and again,” Kniss said.
Others shared her excitement about the course, even if some were less enthusiastic about the new contract with OB Sports, the Weekly reported. Councilman Greg Tanaka suggested that the three-year contract forces the city to assume too much risk.
Tanaka also questioned the city staff’s proposal to reimburse the vendors who operated at the golf course during the construction period and who, consequently, suffered considerable economic losses, the Weekly reported.This included a $40,000 agreement with Brad Lozares, who in April concluded his career with the Palo Alto facility, after 36 years of course management and golf instruction.
The new course will also come with a new fee schedule, which includes discounts for residents and a “dynamic pricing” model, through which fees will fluctuate based on demand, the Weekly reported. For Palo Alto residents, the fees will fluctuate between $40 and $60 on the weekdays ($54 to $85 with carts) and between $52 and $80 on the weekends.
Councilman Greg Scharff said he was pleased with the OB Sports contract and happy to see the completion of the golf course project, the Weekly reported.
“I’m really glad we did it,” Scharff said. “I think it’s going to be a huge success.”
Others agreed. Councilwoman Karen Holman, the council’s most avid golfer, lauded Lozares for his many years of service and said the project has been a “long time coming.” Councilman Adrian Fine congratulated staff and suggested, half-jokingly, that the pricing model that will be employed for the Baylands golf course could also be used to deal with other local challenges.
“If we’re going to use dynamic pricing for a scarce resource [such as] tee times at the golf course, maybe we should be considering that for parking in some of the commercial areas in Palo Alto,” Fine said.
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