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Full Agenda GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING TH WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 2012 6:00 PM MUNICIPAL BUILDING 18 N. JACKSON STREET FIRST FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM (Enter Building on the Wall Street Entrance) REVISED A G E N D A 1. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL ST 2. APPROVAL OF MARCH 21, 2012 MEETING MINUTES 3. MANAGER’S REPORT 4. DISCUSSION OF PERMANENT TEE TIME POLICY 5. RECOGNITION OF JAN BRUSS, STEVE HISER AND CLYDE HOESER FOR THEIR SERVICE TO THE CITY OF JANESVILLE 6. MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA 7. ADJOURN NEXT MEETING DATE: TH WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2012 AT 6:00 PM MUNICIPAL BUILDING IF UNABLE TO ATTEND, PLEASE CONTACT KARLA KING AT 755-3030 OR kingk@ci.janesville.wi.us GOLF COURSE ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING ST MINUTES OF MARCH 21, 2012 MUNICIPAL BUILDING FIRST FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM 6:00 PM MEMBERS PRESENT: Rick Berry, Debi Doiel, and Clyde Hoeser KEMPERSPORTS: Steve Loomis, Joe Schneider and Jake Downing ADMINISTRATION: Rebecca Smith The meeting was called to order at 6:05 PM by Clyde Hoeser at the Municipal Building, First Floor Conference Room. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES th The minutes of the October 19, 2011 were approved on a motion by Rick Berry and seconded by Debi Doiel. This motion passed unanimously. UPDATE ON GOLF CAPITAL PLAN Steve Loomis shared the status of several projects. The $65,000 Blackhawk bridge restoration will soon be underway. Remediating tile and installing new carpet will also take place at Blackhawk. We recently purchased new capital equipment, including a new rough unit, two fairway units, one used rough unit, one blower and possibly a used spreader. Other items that will be purchased are new radios at Blackhawk and new tables/chairs at both courses. MANAGER’S REPORT Steve reported that KemperSports had a good first year and are putting everything in place for a good team for 2012. Currently they are ahead of budget with 548 rounds played in January. Budget revenue projections for March were met in the second week of March. So far there are at least one dozen new pass holders for the year which is a great start. A new point of sale system has been installed at both courses. The First Tee Youth Golf program will be coming to Blackhawk this year. MATTERS NOT ON THE AGENDA Rick Berry asked if KemperSports will be expanding the number of weeks for permanent tee times. Steve Loomis stated that it will be the same number of weeks as last year. Rick Berry suggested we look into expanding the number of weeks for permanent tee times. Steve Loomis explained that if they expand the number of weeks, they may need to increase the price. The meeting adjourned at approximately 6:40PM on a motion by Rick Berry and seconded by Debi Doiel. This motion passed unanimously. th The next meeting will be held on April 18, 2012 at 6:00 PM. Submitted by: Rebecca Smith City Staff Representative CITY MANAGER’S OFFICE MEMORANDUM April 16, 2012 TO: Golf Advisory Committee FROM:Rebecca Smith, Management Assistant Steve Loomis, Golf Course Manager SUBJECT: Permanent tee time discussion Request At the March committee meeting, Rick Berry brought up the topic of permanent tee times (PTT) and questioned if the program could be expanded. In April, Rick Berry requested this item be placed on the April committee agenda. Staff requests the Committee discuss and review this topic and provide feedback to staff regarding the permanent tee time program. Management Assistant Recommendation Because Riverside Golf Course is a public course and we desire to offer golfing options to all community members, I am not in favor of simply expanding the program because I do not wish to further limit the tee times available to general public and further decrease our opportunities to obtain general public golf revenue. If the Committee sees value in expanding the program one or two weeks, I would like to see an option implemented where we keep one of every six tee times available to general public during the PTT hours of 6:30-8AM on Sunday mornings. The Riverside PTT fee is reasonable and I do not recommend lowering the fee to participate in the PTT program, particularly due to our ongoing need to close the annual general fund subsidy to the courses. For 2012, I recommend the fee stay at $120. Staff noticed this fee has not been included on the annual list of fees the Committee reviews each year; this fee will be added for review for the 2013 budget process. In addition, at a future meeting the Committee may wish to examine whether it would be prudent to provide an option for season pass holders to be able to make tee times earlier than the general public. Having this option in place may reduce the number of PTT participants, while also encouraging golfers to become season pass holders. KemperSports General Manager’s Recommendation As mentioned above I’m also concerned how this program affects our general public players. Expanding the current program would certainly add value to those golfers currently participating in PTT’s but it could also limit management’s ability for other future programming. Based on our analysis of other golf courses and existing PTT structures I’d recommend one of the following three options: 1. Keep all PTT programming as established for 2012. 2. Keep the PTT at 18 weeks, reduce the fee by $20 per foursome to a total of th $100 and add one public tee time every 6 time within the current PTT structure. nd 3. Expand the PTT weeks to 22 weeks (Mid April – 2 week of Sept), keep the th fee at $120 and add one public tee time every 6 time within the current PTT structure. Background Riverside Golf Course offers a PTT program on Sundays from 6:30AM – 8:00AM. Participants pay $120 per tee time (not per person) in addition to the course fee to participate in the program, which allows a team of four golfers to reserve the same tee th time for the majority of the summer. Riverside’s PTT is offered from May 6 – nd September 2 or 18 weeks. Five (5) of the summer Sundays are excluded from the program due to tournaments taking precedence. Historically, the majority of golfers (37 of 52 or 71% in 2011) who participate in the PTT are season pass holders, with the remaining fifteen being employees (3) or public players (12) in 2011. Looking to 2011 data, 13 tee times were available during the PTT time period of 6:30AM – 8:00AM; 100%, or all 13, of these times were used by PTT participants. There are 29 tee times available from 6:30AM – 10AM, a very popular time for golfing. Of those tee times, 49% were reserved by PTT participants for the summer months. Analysis To understand PTT details at other courses, staff completed a survey of regional courses and also included Madison and Milwaukee municipal courses. Rick Berry also provided information for three municipal courses in the Racine/Kenosha area. The results are in the attachment. Highlights of the survey include:  Of the 15 courses surveyed, 4 or 27%, offer PTT.  Of the 15 courses surveyed, 11 or 73% do not offer PTT.  Of the 4 courses with PTT, Riverside's cost is second lowest at $120.  Of the 4 courses with PTT, 2 or 50% provide an option for non-PTT participants to obtain a tee time during the PTT time period  The course that charges less than Riverside for the PTT program is one of the two courses where an option for non-PTT participants to obtain a tee time during the PTT time period is implemented  7 days in advance is the most common regulation concerning making tee times for the public.  4 of the 15 courses surveyed, or 27%, provide an incentive to allow season pass holders/members to make tee times in advance of the public, while the remaining 11 do not offer any incentives. Pros & Cons of a PTT Program Pros 1. Affords golfers the option not to have to schedule tee times each week 2. Affords golfers the security in knowing they have the same scheduled tee time each week 3. Affords golfers the ability to obtain the most desirable tee times because past PTT participants are able to reserve the same PTT from one season to the next 4. PTT fee provides a small revenue stream (approximately $1,560 per year) 5. PTT reduces some staff time in scheduling tee times in the pro shop Cons 1. Scheduling tee times is becoming easier with online tee time scheduling and 24- hour tee time scheduling coming soon, thus PTT may not be seen as beneficial or as needed in comparison to having to call the pro shop during business hours each week, as golfers had to do previously 2. Limits ability for new or less routine golfers to obtain most desirable tee times 3. Does not offer all community golfers the same opportunity to obtain the most desirable tee times 4. With most PTT participants being season pass holders, the course would likely obtain more revenue from general public golfers, in comparison to the PTT revenue because PTT takes place during a very popular golfing time period where we would be able to fill those tee times general public golfers 5. Staff time in scheduling tee times is likely to become negligible once the 24-hour tee time scheduling joins the existing online tee time option Attachments: Program description of PTT program Survey results CC: Jacob J. Winzenz, Assistant City Manager 2012 Permanent Tee Time Program Permanent Tee Time Participants will enjoy the following benefits: th  Guaranteed Sunday Tee Time beginning May 6 and continuing through September nd 2, with the exception of the current following dates** th Sunday May, 27 – RMGA Memorial Day Event o th Sunday June 24 – Ray Fischer o st Sunday, July 1 – RMGA July Event o th Sunday, August 12 – RMGA Club Championship o th Sunday, August 19 – SWANI Scramble o **Subject to Change Program Fees:  $120 initial payment per group. Full payment required to guarantee selected tee time. Additional Policies:  Tee times are held on a guaranteed foursome basis for the duration of the season; thnd beginning the weekend of May 6 and concluding the weekend of September 2.  Group Captain will be responsible for ensuring one of the original four group members will occupy the permanent tee time.  Group Captain will also be responsible for notifying the course of any group number changes as stated in our 48 hour cancellation policy.  There is no limit to the number of times a group may cancel a tee time, however groups will be subject to our 48 Hour Cancelation Policy. This policy requires cancelation or modification to a tee time to be completed a minimum of 48 hours in advance of the tee time. The original tee time holder will be responsible for unused tee times resulting from modifications made within 48 hours of the tee time.  Cancellations due to inclement weather are at the discretion of Janesville Riverside Golf Course  Pace Enjoyment Policy – for the enjoyment of all players, groups are expected to maintain original tee time interval throughout the round. Groups unable to maintain the original tee time interval may be asked to skip a hole or allow other groups to play through.  Permanent Tee Time fees are non-refundable  Permanent Tee Time participants are responsible for abiding by all of the rules and policies in place at Riverside Golf Course, including dress code, pace of play and daily cart rules.  Riverside Golf Course officials reserve the right to exclude or reject any and all objectionable persons from the premises, without liability. Any such actions may lead to the revocation of Permanent Tee Time privileges.