(Pictured: Madden GC)
Rounds were up 8% and revenue up 11% at the city’s facilities, with the gains attributed to good weather, a stable economy and modest changes to off-season rates and fees for passes. But subsidies are still being allocated for needed course-improvement projects and capital equipment expenditures. “As we move forward, we need to look at ways to reduce our physical footprint to align with demand,” said the city’s Director of Recreation and Youth Services.
After years of declines, golf courses in the city of Dayton, Ohio saw solid growth in revenue and rounds played in 2019, the Dayton Daily News reported. But concern about the facilities’ future remains.
The improvement in 2019, the Daily News reported, could be attributed to good weather, a stable economy and modest changes to off-season rates and fees for passes, according to Robin Williams, Dayton’s Director of Recreation and Youth Services.
“We focus on making golf affordable and available to everyone,” Williams said. “With our six golf courses, we truly have something for everyone, and we continue to focus on offering great programs, leagues, outings and promotions for underutilized time.”
In 2019, the city’s golf division saw an 11% increase in revenue and an 8% increase in rounds played at its facilities, Kittyhawk Golf Center, Community Golf Club and Madden Golf Course, the Daily News reported. Golf revenue increased to about $3.06 million, from $2.74 million in 2018.
Customers played 148,543 rounds of golf, nearly 11,000 more than in 2018, the Daily News reported. It was the most rounds played since 2015, when golfers played 154,247 rounds.
Until 2019, golf rounds had decreased every year since at least 2013, the Daily News reported. And even with the improvement shown in 2019, Dayton’s golf division’s revenues have not kept up with expenditures in recent years. Golf had an approved budget subsidy of $446,400 in 2019, $372,700 in 2018, $567,500 in 2017 and $501,000 in 2016, city data show.
2015 was the last year when the operations had no budgeted subsidy, the Daily News reported.
The $446,000 budgeted subsidy in 2019 included $200,000 for operating costs, $86,400 for a capital equipment purchase of golf carts, $60,000 for tree-removal improvements and $100,000 for a capital equipment lease that has not been finalized, officials said.
The city has no planned operating subsidy for 2020, but at the end of last year, $100,000 was transferred to golf from the general fund to help fund a three-year lease for equipment, beginning this year, said Williams.
Golf ended 2019 with a small deficit of $47,614, which was covered by general fund dollars, she said.
Dayton’s courses have operated close to break-even, not counting capital and debt expenses, Williams noted, but golf is an enterprise fund that should operate and make investments with no general fund subsidy. And achieving that goal has been challenging.
“Operating in the black has become increasingly more and more difficult due to our aging infrastructure, [deferred] maintenance, increased operating costs and declining demand for golf in our region,” Williams said. “As we move forward, we need to look at ways to reduce our physical footprint to align with demand.”
The golf business’ bottom line is affected by many variables that are out of the city’s control, including weather, time, discretionary income and the economy, Williams added.
But some kind of realignment hopefully will help the city offer a better product for golfers and make the division sustainable for years to come, officials said. To begin that process, city officials are reviewing a recently completed 138-page report by the National Golf Foundation that examined the conditions and needs of city’s three golf facilities and laid out recommendations for investments, the Daily News reported.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said the golf division should be self-sustaining and not require a general fund subsidy, and the city likely has to do something different, because the courses need considerable investment, the Daily News reported.
“Golf courses across the region are struggling, and so these are trends that are problematic for us,” Whaley said.
Whatever the city does, it should do well, Mayor Whaley said, and that’s not been true of golf. The city recently transferred of ownership of the Dayton Convention Center, she noted, because it was not doing a good job of operating the facility on its own.
Dayton City Commissioner Jeffrey Mims Jr., an avid and accomplished golfer, said golf teaches young people important skills sets that are useful for professional development. Playing the sport can result in scholarships and successful progressive communities need diverse recreational opportunities to attract and retain talent and people, Mims added.
While the city faces tough decisions about its golf courses, Mims said, he believes the city can grow the game to improve its financial situation, and it may be worth continuing to subsidize golf in Dayton.
Mims, who was the citywide golf champion in 2012 and the Fairway Golf Club champion in six of the last 10 years, says Dayton has a responsibility to provide quality-of-life options to citizens. Recreation is on par with public safety and education for its importance to creating a high-quality community, and it’s crucial to provide a variety of options and opportunities, he said.
While golf is an enjoyable leisure-time activity, it, like other sports and extracurricular activities, also helps to build character and develop skills in young people such as discipline and team work, Mims said. He believes Dayton can increase participation in the game and develop more players, possibly by getting the schools more involved and engaged.
“Realistically, we are going to have to find a better way of doing what we’re doing in that area,” he said.
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