After three decades, the Los Angeles-based company will no longer manage five of the city of Atlanta’s six courses, which will now be operated by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department while the possibility of finding a new management firm is kept open.
American Golf Corporation, the Los Angeles-based company that has been managing five of the city of Atlanta’s six golf courses for three decades had its lease expire on October 31st, Neighbor News of Marietta, Ga., reported.
In a letter e-mailed to residents, Neighbor News reported, American Golf stated its lease would end at the end of October for North Fulton Golf Course, Bobby Jones Golf Course, and the Browns Mill, Alfred “Tup” Holmes” and Candler Park courses in the city. A sixth course in the Atlanta, the John A. White Golf Course, is operated by The Atlanta-Fulton County Recreation Authority.
“It has been our sincere hope to come to an arrangement with the city which would permit American Golf to continue operating these courses, as we have done for the past 30 years,” the letter stated in part. “Unfortunately, despite the efforts of everyone involved, we were not able to reach such an agreement.”
The letter also stated American Golf will “provide additional details regarding your Player’s Club memberships, Atlanta golf passes, redemption of American Golf gift cards, our remaining American Golf clubs in this area and other details related to this transition,” Neighbor News reported.
Jewanna Gaither, a spokeswoman for Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed’s office, told Neighbor News that the city “sought out a competitive bidding process to find the best vendor to operate our golf facilities. In the city’s recent solicitation for golf management, our current vendor, American Golf, did not compete for the opportunity.”
Gaither said each golf course managed by American Golf will be managed by the city’s parks and recreation department starting November 1 and “operations will continue” without disruption. It is possible the city could hire another company to manage the courses in the near future, Neighbor News reported.
Atlanta City Councilwoman Yolanda Adrean, who represents the areas where two of the courses are located, said the city had extended the lease with American Golf on a month-to-month basis for six months before the company decided to end the lease, Neighbor News reported. A bid process for a new vendor to manage the courses yielded one bidder, Adrean said, but it did not meet the requirements of a new lease.
“As I understand it, the lease [agreement] the city put out had a lot of requirements, from capital investments to hiring policies, so it was very difficult in the golf world to find someone to foot the bill,” Adrean said. “So the city found itself with the transition without a new vendor.”
Adrean told Neighbor News that she hopes the city’s parks and recreation department will manage the courses for only a short period of time before a new vendor is selected.
“They’ve got to scramble to get the appropriate equipment, staff and so forth to provide [a] seamless transition for [golfers],” she said. “I think it will be a challenge. I am disappointed, of course, and I don’t think the city should run golf courses by [itself] and I hope we can find someone to partner with.”
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.