OB Sports and Billy Casper Golf will have a second round of interviews during the week of January 13 to vie for the business at the municipal course in Prescott, Ariz. The city is seeking a “hybrid” arrangement that would separate public course maintenance from private management of business operations, and also looking for a revenue guarantee for a course that has amassed $4 million in debt.

Two golf course management firms remain in the running for take over operations at Antelope Hills Golf Course in Prescott, Ariz., the Prescott Daily Courier reported.

Joe Baynes, Recreation Services Director for the city of Prescott, reported that a first round of interviews with private companies seeking to manage the municipal course occurred in mid-December, and another round will now take place in mid-January, the Daily Courier reported.

In the fall of 2013, the city put out a request for proposals (RFP) for firms interested in operating the course and in November, the city opened proposals from eight firms.

Since then, an ad hoc group of industry professionals and city officials has met four times to review the proposals, the Daily Courier reported, and on December 18, the group interviewed three firms: OB Sports; Billy Casper Golf; and Landscapes Golf Group.

The ad hoc group then decided to move on to another round of interviews with OB Sports and Billy Casper Golf, Baynes reported, and he expects those interviews to take place during the week of January 13.

The city’s RFP was the result of City Council direction during budget deliberations this past summer, the Daily Courier reported. Council members appeared to support a “hybrid” arrangement that would combine city maintenance of the course with private operation of the business components.

Baynes confirmed at the end of the year that both OB Sports and Billy Casper Golf proposed a “management contract” that would involve the city paying the company a monthly fee to handle the golf course operations, the Daily Courier reported.

The January interviews will seek a best and final offer, Baynes said, with the decision pending on one crucial detail: What, if anything, the firms could guarantee to the city in revenues.

The best and final offer also will refine the term of the contract, the Daily Courier reported. While the city had originally contemplated a 10-year term, Baynes said the interviews could result in a five-year term instead.

Both of the remaining firms have extensive experience managing golf courses, Baynes said. “They both have a huge track record of success,” he reported. “[The interviewers] were impressed with the professionalism.”

Billy Casper Golf currently operates two daily-fee courses in Arizona as part of its portfolio of more than 140 courses in 28 states, it was noted, while OB Sports operates about a dozen Arizona courses, including the Sedona Golf Resort.

While the city’s original plan was to take a recommendation to the Prescott Council in January, Baynes said a February presentation to the council is now more likely, the Daily Courier reported. That still would satisfy the goal of having a management firm on board before the start of the golf season in the spring, he added.

For years, the city has debated about what to do with the municipal course, which has lost money for years, and currently has a debt of more than $4 million with the city’s general fund, the Daily Courier noted.