Two municipalities, one in North Carolina and the other in New Jersey, are looking for third-party managers to take over their golf courses.
Elected officials in Sanford, North Carolina may be ready to throw in the towel on their golf operation.
The city has solicited proposals from private-sector parties that might be interested in operating or leasing the municipal golf course, an 18-hole track whose original nine was designed by Donald Ross and opened in 1934. “We need to know how we can do things better, and we may learn something from this,” a councilmember told the Sanford Herald. “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.”
Specifically, the city is looking for an individual or group that can boost the course’s revenues, reduce its expenses, and invest in capital improvements.
The deadline for responses to the city’s request for information is September 3, 2013.
• It appears that the city of Brigantine, New Jersey will soon seek an operator for its 18-hole golf course. The Links at Brigantine Beach, a course co-designed by Wayne Stiles and John Van Kleek, needs an estimated $2.5 million in upgrades and may not attract even 16,000 rounds this season, according to the Press of Atlantic City. What’s more, Brigantine is on the hook for more than $2 million in mortgage payments on the property.
To free itself of these financial headaches, the island city is expected to seek counsel from a golf course architect and then, based on his recommendations, look for a management company with deep pockets. The firm that wins the contract can expect to remain in place for at least 20 years.