Golf Board of Governors

Golf Committee Meeting March 27, 2018 at 4pm City Hall, 11th floor Park Department Conference Room 455 N. Main Wichita, KS 67202 Present: Dr. Michael Williams, District 1, Thomas West, District II, Cindy Renard, District III, Cory Rainwater, District IV, Debbie Burch, District VI, Michelle Haun, Troy Hendricks, Keith Gunter, Absent: Hoyt Hillman, President, Chair, Greg Ferris, At-Large, Richard Schodorf, District V Hendricks called the meeting to order at 4:06pm. Public Agenda Regular Agenda Items Approval of Minutes from 2/6/2018 Hendricks asked if there were any changes needed to previous minutes. Approved as is. Rounds/Expenditures Hendricks stated that there were seven days with no players in February. Year to date rounds are down 20% from last year. Revenue is down 40%. Expenditures and encumbrances were down 13%. We started changing the way superintendents were buying chemicals so we could control our expenses better. We also started cutting labor expenses by limiting staffing at the courses. February net income was down 36% from last year. February rounds were down 56% and revenue was down 52%. So far March is close to last year. Schodorf asked if Sand Creek Station’s winter rate may have hurt us. Hendricks stated that it didn’t really have an impact on our rounds. The weather hurt us more. First Tee Hendricks showed the committee the design plans for the First Tee Learning Center that is going to be built at MacDonald and asked Mr. West to discuss it. He stated that the contract is now signed. West described the details of the plans and stated that there will be security cameras throughout the campus and thorough child safety procedures are being laid out as well. Hendricks stated that they are planning on breaking ground at the end of April and should be grassing in mid-June so that First Tee can start programming in the fall. The range should be open to the public in 2019. West stated that the goal is to make this facility available to all youth in the City. First Tee is receiving a lot of generous support for this project. The total cost is $1.2 million. The groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for the end of April. There is an informational ladies’ luncheon scheduled for late April. Construction on the building won’t actually begin until all the fundraising is completed, hopefully by September or October. Hendricks stated that he has submitted a memo to the City Manager asking to reduce water rates for MacDonald, for 2018, to help with the seeding/growing process. Annual Pass – Monthly Payment Plan Hendricks stated that Debbie had provided information about a discount pass plan being used in the Kansas City area. On average, the golfers are paying approximately $800 annually. Hendricks then reviewed data on the season passes that we have sold. He is proposing $10 per month for the student pass, $65 for the senior pass, $75 for the retired military and young adult passes, $90 for the adult pass and $110 for the family pass. This could generate up to $350k more in revenue. We would prefer not add carts. Schodorf stated that he has been talking to golfers on the courses and they would be interested in being able to pay one price and just be able to walk in and play. He asked if there were restrictions on the passes. Hendricks stated that the only issue would be the possibility of running out of carts by making them inclusive. Pass holders will be more likely to use carts if they are included with the pass price. We would then lose revenue when a full price player comes in and is unable to rent a cart. The only restriction is for seniors on weekends, they can only play weekends and holidays after noon. Schodorf stated that people will be most likely to buy the pass and not use it nearly as much as they really want to, like YMCA members. Hendricks stated that grass erosion and wear and tear will become a huge issue as well with the increased cart usage. West stated that he didn’t think we could add carts to the pass. He asked if carts can be reserved when booking a tee time. Hendricks stated that we can. Burch suggested offering two separate passes, with a cart and without. Gunter stated the problem would be the same with the increased wear and tear and possibility of running out of carts. Hendricks stated that we will need to know what the pros and cons of this pass would be and how we will need to sell it to council. He stated that last week we had our Hook a Kid on Golf program. It was dropped from recreation programming in 2015. The golf division took it over then. This year was the first time we did it over spring break and had 78 kids. We will need to look at increasing fundraising for the program so that next year we can try to have two sessions and double the number of kids. We also provided information to assist kids in determining what to do next. Hendricks provided data showing types of golfers nationwide. Based on demographics, there are almost as many junior golfers as there are senior golfers. We need to engage more beginning golfers. Our mission is to start helping new golfers learn the game step by step. West stated that beginning women golfers mostly seem to say golf is intimidating. Hendricks stated that the golf pros are making changes to some of their beginner lessons to encourage more women and help get them out on the course as part of the lessons. Hendricks also informed the committee about the project charter that is being worked on with the City Manager’s Office. Houtman explained that the purpose of the internal committee is to look at the sustainability of the golf division. The project charter lays out the goals and timeline. The committee is compiling and reviewing a lot of financial data. We need to look into ways to prevent the collapse of the golf system while we still have options available. We are seeing that we have more golf available than we have golfers. Dr Williams stated that his grandkids are spending too much time playing at places like Game Stop. We need to find a way to compete with these places. Bring in video game systems just to attract people and they will eventually start wanting to play golf too. Next Meeting May 1, 2018