SDMGA: Recommended measures for the Golf Ad-Hoc Advisory Committee
How should the level of fees at Torrey Pines and Balboa be adjusted to create additional play, particularly for residents. Additional play would be a win-win:
added recreational activity for residents
added revenue for the Enterprise Fund
_______________________________________________________________________
SDMGA recommends that the following measures be considered:
1. Torrey Pines
General reduction in fees on the both courses, but particularly the South Course. (Fee structure should be examined in light of fact that most courses include carts in fee whereas Torrey charges separately)
Restoring Friday to its status as a weekday on both courses.
Restoring a county rate to attract county residents who now pay full non-resident rates.
he creation of an additional non-peak rate (prior to twilight) to attract golfers to times right before twilight which are often unused because golfers wait for lower twilight rates.
Use of internet specials for unbooked tee times with strict guidelines on their use.
2. Balboa
Elimination of the higher rate for non-residents.
Lower the fees on the 18-hole course to competitive rates
Lower the 9-hole fees drastically back to or near the levels that existed before the 2006 Business Plan was implemented.
Background:
Drastic Raises in Fees Reduced Rounds Played; Most Drastically on Balboa, but also on Torrey Pines. The fee structure of the 2006 Five Year Business Plan raised rates for both resident golfers and non-resident golfers. The fees were raised so much that when Golf Digest Magazine rated the cost of municipal golf for local residents, San Diego was the near the least affordable – 47th affordable. (Or to put it the other way around 3rd most expensive). See Golf Digest, October 2011, p. 62). The result of the rise in prices has been lost play on all San Diego Municipal Golf Courses: Annual rounds are down on all golf courses since the implementation of the 2006 Business plan: Torrey Pines is down 33, 869 rounds (20.6%) from 164,535, in FY 2006 to 130,666 rounds in FY 2011; Balboa is down 59,959 rounds (42.7%) from 140,320 in FY 2006 to 80,361 in FY 2010. Mission Bay is down 26, 972 rounds (37.8%) from 71,297 in FY 2006 to 44,325 in FY 2011.
Existing Fee Structure at Torrey Pines was Created in Part to Pay for New Clubhouse That was Never Built: In 2006, the City had plans to build a new clubhouse at Torrey Pines and hired a consultant to construct a fee schedule designed to support the debt service for a $13 million clubhouse. The fee schedule also purported to require that resident fees be based on “cost recovery” at all courses including Balboa and Mission Bay. A public outcry arose against the clubhouse and the plans for the clubhouse were eventually postponed indefinitely, but the fee structure calculated to pay for the clubhouse remained. The Ad Hoc committee should feel free to re-examine and change the fee structure because it was based on an assumption that we would have to pay for the unneeded Torrey clubhouse; minus the parking lot construction which was done; this is almost $10 million plus interest which no longer needs to be budgeted for.
Should the Enterprise Fund be protected from being drawn upon to subsidize other entities?
SDMGA Recommendation: There should be explicit restrictions placed on expenditures from the Enterprise Fund which subsidize groups like the PGA tour, the Century Club, the USGA and the City General Fund and the Business Plan explicitly ban any “in kind” payments.
Exploitation of the Enterprise Fund by the USGA, PGA and Century Club. The Farmers Insurance Tournament and the U.S. Open have been the occasion for substantial raids on the Enterprise Fund. None of these tournaments have been charged the published market rates for the rental of the golf course by outside groups - $160,000 for the South per day and $100,000 per day for the North. They have not even been on a cost recovery basis:
Farmers: Until 2011, the Farmers (Buick) tournament has given the golf tournament a subsidized rate of about 50% of cost recovery or $200,000 in subsidy. See San Diego Union Tribune, “San Diego Will pay price to host PGA play” by Brent Schroetenboer and Eleanor Yang Su, Jan. 27, 2010. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/jan/27/city-pays-a-price-to-host-pga-play/ When a public outcry arose, the 2011 tournament was to suppose to be at full cost recovery, but instead of receiving cash for the lost revenues for the Farmers, the Century Club charged the City 330,000 for “in kind” publicity which was of little value to the Enterprise Fund and poor fiscal management by the city.
U.S. Open: The U.S. Open cost the Golf Enterprise Fund up to 9 million dollars to stage. See SDMGA analysis. http://sdmga.com/EstLossToEntFund.htm. The City as a whole lost over 1.7 million. See Eleanor Yang Su and Brent Schroetenboer, “Watchdog Report: Counting the cost of staging U.S. Open” Union Tribune, Nov. 24, 2008. http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/golf/20081124-9999-lz1n24usopen.html . The difference between the two figures lies in the fact that U-T figure includes revenues that went to the City general fund from the Open. This is a general problem – almost all of the costs of these events are paid by the Enterprise Fund, but almost all increased revenues go to the City General Fund.
General Fund withdrawals from Golf Enterprise Fund. The General Fund takes $2.4 million in “rent” per year from the Golf Enterpise Fund. Park & Recreation takes $1.1. Are these withdrawals justified?
Should there be greater citizen involvement and greater transparency in City Golf Operations?
SDMGA: A definite yes to both propositions. Re-establish a permanent Golf Advisory Council with official representation for the golfing public. Allow full access to golf course statistics, budgets, etc.
The Golf Advisory Council which was established to provide citizen input into golf operations was abolished in 2006 after it had voted 8-3 against the 2006 Five Year Business Plan. In 2009, the Grand Jury recommended reestablishment of the GAC. The Mayor’s Office and Park and Recreation Department has consistently objected to the reestablishment of the GAC and this committee was made Ad Hoc which limits its role in providing citizen input and transparency. SDMGA has been denied representation on this current Ad Hoc committee, despite a formal request from Councilperson Sherri Lightner and agreement from the Mayor’s office. This does not speak well for transparency. Although there has been definite improvement in the information flow and the formation of this committee is a welcome sign, as Joe Campbell has pointed out, it is still very difficult to get up-to-date information from the City concerning the specifics of golf operations. Transparency would be greatly enhanced by a permanent GAC with full access to golf course statistics, budgets, etc.
Respectfully submitted,
San Diego Municipal Golfers Alliance*
Paul J. Spiegelman, John Beaver and Joe Burwell, Co-founders
*The San Diego Municipal Golfers Alliance formed in 2006 to keep resident golf affordable, make sure that residents had access to courses, stop expensive clubhouse construction projects, and make golf operations more transparent. SDMGA, along with many other community golfing organizations, appeared at numerous meetings of the Golf Advisory Council, the City Attorney’s Golf Meeting, the City Council Natural Resources & Culture Committee, and the City Council. Record crowds came out to oppose radical raises in greens fees, the construction of an opulent Clubhouse at Torrey Pines, and protect junior golf and to promote more transparency in golf operations. SDMGA alone produced 1368 signatures on a petition against the plan. The community was successful in blocking the clubhouse construction, but unsuccessful in stopping radical raises in greens fees at not only Torrey but at other courses or gaining more transparency in golf operations. For history of issues in 2006, see http:/sdmga.com/news.htm (scroll down to 2006 entries). Since then, SDMGA has continued to provide constructive input from the public golfer’s perspective on golf issues to the City Council, Parks and Recreation, and Golf Operations.