2015-10-06_PR Comm Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Friends Beverly Collova and Laura Bakk, teeing off together Friday morning, reported that they both joined Keller in the past year or so after, in Bakk’s words, “we kept hearing how nice it was.” Year-to-date revenue for golf alone at Keller has already eclipsed $1 million, compared to a full-year total of $830,000 five years earlier, according to a spreadsheet the county released. A banquet hall for 75 has been enlarged to 300, and a sign at the front door speaks of “two seasons” these days, “golf season and Winter Grille,” a revealing glimpse at how operators now seek to leverage their facilities. Similarly in Brooklyn Park, said parks director Jody Yungers, a $2 million renovation completed late last summer, which cut the number of bunkers from 81 to 63 and total sand by 25 percent, made a round a touch less exasperating for duffers while speeding up play. Now “the course is on pace for its best revenue season ever,” she said, up by more than $225,000 over 2013, its last open season. Still, the financials of golf continue to be challenging. City after city in recent years have been paying off golf course debt, giving up on the hope that golf can pay its own way. Brooklyn Park forgave $1.3 million in loans to golf in 2013. Ramsey commissioners are considering paying operational costs from the general fund for the Ponds at Battle Creek rather than counting on it to pay its way. Keller is in the black on an annual operating basis, Oyanagi said, but not when millions in renovations are penciled in. In the private sector, country clubs have seen much of the same turmoil. Their data are private and reports on how they are faring are mixed. Norby said the Waconia club he belongs to and another that a work colleague is in are both back to having waiting lists. Tom Ryan, executive director of the Minnesota Golf Association, was more muted on that point. “I don’t know that you can say as a blanket statement that private clubs have waiting lists,” he said. “Maybe a few smaller ones. But they are close to full, and most report that they are comfortable with their membership numbers and in the black and doing OK — that things are better for them. A lot better.” dapeterson@startribune.com952-746-3285