GOLF COURSE RENOVATION 101.

Course renovation brings convergence of industry trends

In late 1998, when Lohmann Golf Designs signed a long-term agreement with the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to renovate and potentially expand its four municipally owned course facilities, one trend was born and two more gathered momentum.

While it's not at all uncommon for golf course operators to secure long-term, multicourse management contracts with specific municipalities, LGD's design partnership with Cedar Rapids is the first of its kind. Over the course of a 10-year masterplan agreement, Marengo, Ill.-based LGD will fully and methodically refurbish the city's three 18-hole golf courses -- Ellis Park, Twin Pines, and Squaw Creek -- in addition to its nine-hole track, Jones Park Golf Course. Design planning is underway and should be completed this winter; actual construction will commence in the fall, according to LGD founder and president Bob Lohmann.

Depending on the rate of golf's near-term growth in Cedar Rapids, LGD may add nine holes each to Jones Park and Squaw Creek, said Lohmann, whose term as president of the American Society of Golf Course Architects expired in March. Golf's growth in Cedar Rapids will also determine whether LGD will design a brand new 18-hole course on the city's north side.

"Demand is certainly growing out here," vouched Tom Lavrenz, director of golf for Cedar Rapids, a city of 120,000 located in east-central Iowa. "Our junior golf program has gone from 88 students to more than 400, and our junior golf passes have skyrocketed ... The golf courses we operate now do about 200,000 rounds a year. Two were built in the 1930s, while the others were built in the late '50s, early '60s. They need help."

While groundbreaking, entrusting this sort of wholesale renovation to a single design firm is illustrative of two established national trends that influenced the city's decision to renovate Ellis Park, Twin Pines, Squaw Creek, and Jones Park. First, while golf participation may not be growing at a rate desirable by the club manufacturers, it has grown enough to overburden older municipal layouts like those in Cedar Rapids. It follows that any course constructed before 1960 will require modernization in order to withstand significant play increases.

Second, as the golf industry continues to churn out the equivalent of 300 new 18-hole courses each year -- 85 percent of which are upscale daily-fees -- market pressures have obliged some municipalities to upgrade their golf facilities to effectively compete for rounds.

"We see this all over the Midwest. And my term as president of ASGCA has shown me this phenomenon isn't limited to a single region," said Lohmann, who cited proposed municipal renovations and expansions in Noblesville, Ind. (Fox Prairie); Dallas (Tenison Park); Los Angeles (Rancho Park); Naco, Ariz. (Turquoise Valley); and Berlin, Conn. (Timberlin Park). "It's happening all across the nation, especially in densely populated markets where new daily-fees are coming on line hand over fist.

"Golfers have never enjoyed more play options than they enjoy today," he continued. "Obviously, this is good news for golfers, but sophisticated cities and towns have seen the handwriting on the wall. They recognize that municipal courses are significant revenue-producers. They also recognize they can't afford to stand idly by and watch their rounds and revenues go elsewhere -- mainly to these new daily-fees down the street. Municipal courses have a sort of built-in clientele, and renovation is a cost-effective way to keep those clients coming back."

"We have a couple different options when it comes to how our renovation master plan will unfold," Lavrenz explained. "We're not yet sure whether we'll spread the work over 10 years, or do it over a shorter period of time. Those decisions will hinge on the dependent cost of our plans. One thing is certain though: Golf is growing here, and we have to bring these courses to the next level. Lohmann has an excellent track record in that area, and Bob has been a pretty strong presence around here."

Lohmann is responsible for more than 30 Original course designs nationwide, including The Merit Club in Libertyville, Ill., site of the 2000 United States Golf Association Women's Open Championship and, according to Golfweek, one of America's top 100 courses built after 1960. In winning the Cedar Rapids contract, Lohmann Golf Designs beat out several of the Midwest's leading course-architecture firms.

LGD didn't hurt its candidacy with Cedar Rapids by designing two of the state's top new layouts--The Meadows in Dubuque (opened in 1996) and Hunter's Ridge (1997) in Marion. The firm has also conducted several well-received renovations at private facilities in Iowa including Davenport Country Club, Hyperion Field Club, and Cedar Rapids Country Club. LGD is currently at work in Waterloo restoring Sunnyside Country Club.

Yet, municipal-course restoration remains something of an LGD specialty. Lohmann's portfolio includes the refurbishment of Sunset Valley Golf Course for Highland Park, Ill.; Bonnie Dundee Golf Course and Randall Oaks Golf Course for Dundee Township, Ill.; Hawthorne Hills Golf Course and Mee-Kwon Golf Course for Ozaukee County, Wis.; and Poplar Creek Country Club for Hoffman Estates, Ill. The best example may be the firm's 1995 renovation of municipally owned Schaumburg (Ill.) Golf Course, a tired, somewhat ramshackle layout LGD transformed into a U.S. Open qualifying site -- and a cash cow for the Schaumburg Park District.

"The work in Cedar Rapids will be very similar to the work we did at Schaumburg," said Mike Benkusky, a senior architect with LGD and a native of Marion, Iowa. "The four Cedar Rapids courses do about 200,000 rounds each year -- all in a seven-month golf season. That's a lot of play, and they need a lot of work.

"Basically, we're going to improve these layouts by making them better able to accommodate that sort of traffic, in addition to adding aesthetics," Benkusky continued. "That means fixing the many drainage problems at all four courses. We'll be adding quite a few sand bunkers, too. At Twin Pines, for example, there isn't a single bunker. We'll rebuild most of the tees and greens on all 63 holes, and we'll be adding more hazards -- be they sand or water."

As was the case during the 60 renovation projects it has conducted since 1984, the Lohmann team will work closely with the presiding golf course superintendents in Cedar Rapids. All four -- K. Chauncey Barry at Ellis Park, Jeff Schmidt at Twin Pines, David Roe at Squaw Creek, and Victor Kies at Jones Park -- are members of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, a prerequisite for employment in the Cedar Rapids course system, said Lavrenz.

While he sees the trend toward increased play in Cedar Rapids, Lavrenz doesn't feel the city's decision to renovate has been prompted by any increased competition from new daily-fees -- at least not directly. "Although competition remains an underlying factor here, when you're doing 200,000 rounds annually, it's not our main concern," he explained. "I was more concerned that it was costing us more and more to maintain our courses. When we do that many rounds, our tee spaces just aren't adequate. We normally keep our greens at 5/32 inches or above just to withstand the amount of rounds we do.

"And golfers' demands are higher these days. They want smooth greens and better playing conditions." This, Lavrenz admits, is a function of the new courses being developed in and around Cedar Rapids. Indeed, the city saw fit to build new development options into its contract with Lohmann Golf Designs. As Cedar Rapids has already secured land adjacent to the nine-hole Jones Park facility, a new LGD-designed loop is likely there. As for the new 18-hole project, the city has already earmarked 126 acres of gently rolling farmland on the north side, and is looking to purchase an additional 25 acres.

"The new 18 is something that would be done several years down the road," Lohmann cautioned. "After we've revamped the other four courses, we'll assess the city's needs and determine what sort of facility might go in there."

"We're hoping the redesigns will better allocate demand so that perhaps we won't need a fifth golf course," said Lavrenz. "But if demand continues to grow at the current pace, we'll definitely need the fifth layout."

RELATED ARTICLE: Show Me the Green Fees

There is a third important dynamic associated with municipal renovation, one that has not yet taken hold in Cedar Rapids, as the first spade of dirt won't be turned until later this year. But when the first city layout has been renovated and reopened for play, Lavrenz and his staff will face a delicate decision that a growing number of city administrators are already facing nationwide: green fees.

Traditionally, city or town courses have charged below-market rates in this area for three reasons:

* The quality of municipal courses often encourages lower green fees.

* Turning a profit isn't the overriding motive for cities or towns operating golf courses.

* Municipalities have a mission to provide low-cost recreation options that appeal to the broadest possible spectrum of citizens.

While advantageous to local golfers, these realities have never rested well with daily-fee golf course owners, many of whom view these modest green fees as "subsidized" and thus artificially low. This phenomenon isn't new, but it takes on new resonance when a municipal course upgrades its golf product to better compete with neighboring daily-fee facilities.

"One place [out of several] where we've recently seen this sort of controversy is Lexington, Kentucky," explained Larry Hirsh, a golf course valuation expert, course broker, and president of Harrisburg, Pa.-based Golf Property Analysts. "The daily-fee course owners there feel municipal courses set their green fees too low, giving them an unfair advantage when competing for rounds. That's just one example. We see this occurring across the country."

Hirsh believes there are two important fiscal situations that cities and towns must reconcile when setting green fees, especially after they've invested public funds to renovate their existing municipal course or develop a new one. "First, how do the city fathers best protect and enhance the taxpayers' investment, in other words, the golf course?" Hirsh posed. "And second, how does one maximize that investment in a time when cities and towns are looking for more revenue? On the other side of the coin is the perceived responsibility of the municipality to provide recreational opportunities for its residents. Which is primary?

"In my opinion, setting a green fee below market rate isn't the best answer to any of these questions, and it isn't acting in the best interest of the taxpayer or the town. It's great for golfers, but they only make up about 12 percent of the population. You can see the daily-fee course owner's point: The other 88 percent are, in fact, subsidizing golf for the remaining 12 percent."

Low municipal green fees do more than aggravate daily-fee course owners, according to Hirsh. They encourage impractical amounts of play, which can depreciate course value while increasing maintenance costs.

"Suppose your municipal course handles 50,000 rounds per year at a green fee of $20, some $15 below what they might charge at nearby daily-fee courses," Hirsh explained, "That means the course is generating $1 million in revenues for the city, and that's great. However, odds are those 50,000 rounds are beating up the course pretty badly. Municipalities in this situation might consider setting the green fee closer to the market rate, say $30. Golfers are as price-sensitive as anyone else, so rounds will go down -- but so will your maintenance costs. And if the town does some 35,000 rounds at $30 a head, the course generates slightly more revenue but probably with less course wear and a better golf experience."

Raising green fees is never an easy task. But it's easier after a renovation, when golfers are more likely to make the connection between a better golf experience and the higher green fee.

As the golf industry continues to produce the equivalent of 300 new 18-hole courses each year, some municipalities have been pressured to upgrade their golf facilities to effectively compete for rounds. Hal Phillips, a journalist and media consultant living in New Gloucester, Maine, reports that most any course constructed before 1960 will require modernization in order to physically withstand significant play increases. So goes the story in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where four municipally owned courses -- Ellis Park, Twin Pines, Squaw Creek, and Jones Park -- have signed long-term agreements with a Marengo, Ill.-based golf design firm to undergo potential expansion and renovation. This sort of wholesale renovation, says Phillips, is illustrative of a trend sweeping the municipal golf game (p.80).