LITTLE ROCK — Instead of yelling “fore,” don’t be surprised to hear Sherwood Mayor Virginia Hillman shouting “we broke par.”
The Greens at North Hills golf course surpassed its projected 2010 revenue by $80,745 as of Nov. 23, City Clerk/Treasurer Angela Nicholson said. Annual revenue was budgeted at $500,000.
“I’m very pleased with it. We didn’t want to over budget the revenues and have them not come in,” said Hillman, who was re-elected in a Tuesday runoff. “It was the first year; we didn’t know what to expect.”
The golf course is at 7400 Arkansas 107, just north of where JFK Boulevard meets North Hills Boulevard at the North Little Rock-Sherwood boundary. The course opened in May.
Sherwood purchased the 105-acre North Hills property in July 2008. The private golf course had been closed since May 2007 after declining memberships and falling into disrepair. A $5.5 million loan paid for the property, and the Sherwood City Council approved $7 million in bonds to pay off the loan. Bond payments are $37,205 per month from the general fund to payoff the 30-year bonds.
In May 2009, the council appropriated $300,000 to restore the course and $105,688 for staff salaries. Another $147,948 was appropriated in December for staff salaries, Nicholson said.
Sherwood Parks and Recreation Director Sonny Janssen said the course has seven employees, two of whom are full-time. Golf instructor Dawn Darter is a full-time employee, giving lessons and running Darter Golf Shop. Darter purchases and sells all products. The golf course doesn’t receive any revenue from equipment sales. “Anything that might not sell is her loss. That’s why we didn’t want to get into it,” Janssen said. “It’s either make or break for her.”
The golf course has a restaurant run by a private contractor, because the city “does not want to be in the food business” either, Janssen said. The restaurant pays the city $1,000a month in rent.
Volunteers, from 11 to 20, also help with golf course operations, Janssen said.
The council budgeted $1.315 million for all course expenses in 2010, including “salaries, advertising, supplies, utilities,” Nicholson said. The $500,000 earned will go toward offsetting the budgeted expenses, Nicholson said. The extra $80,000 earned will also go toward those expenses.
Janssen said a crew of seven handle golf course maintenance. So far this year, about $900,000 has been spent on course upkeep, he said.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into the manicuring and weed-eating of the greens to make it presentable to the public,” Janssen said.
Golf course revenue is generated from memberships, greens fees, driving range fees and renting the clubhouse for events.
The city began selling memberships in December 2009 at a 10 percent discount. Depending on age and membership level - family or individual - the price ranges from $1,260 to $2,400 yearly, excluding corporate memberships.
Darter said memberships are for people who play often.
“If you play more than 60times a year, it would benefit you to become an annual fee member,” Darter said. “The only benefit to paying upfront is knowing you’re going to play a lot of golf.”
Darter said a round of golf Monday-Thursday is $29, and the Friday-Sunday greens fee is $35. Both fees include $10 for a cart.
Though the clubhouse was available to be rented in January, it earned the most money, $4,788, when the course opened in May, Nicholson said. Janssen said they’ve already seen a good response from renting the clubhouse for events, including wedding receptions, and he anticipates it being used even more in the future.
The course’s best month was June, when it generated $109,969 from memberships, driving range and greens fees.
Total clubhouse rentals are $35,515, and other revenue from memberships, greens fees and driving range fees total $545,230.43 as of Nov. 23.
From its opening to Nov. 21, Darter said, 17,269 rounds of golf have been played. About 100 golfers played daily in the summer and sometimes as many as 200 would tee off in one day, Janssen said. During daylight saving time, the course would be open from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. However, because it gets darker earlier now, the course is now open from about 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Janssen said hunting season and fewer daylight hours will always cut into revenue at this time of year.
“Golfers will play when it’s 112 degrees or 4 below zero almost, but it will taper off because kids are back in school, there’s football games and deer and duck hunting,” Janssen said.
Janssen said that since the golf course had been private for several years, the city is still trying to advertise that it’s open to the public.
“We’re struggling to try to find out how to better market our self as a municipal golf course. It’s been private so long, people still think that it is,” Janssen said. “We’re struggling still to get the word out, and I think we’re still behind about educating the public.”
Darter said the golf course has had about eight tournaments this year, defining a tournament as “play that consists of more than 36 players.” Janssen said it will hold more to generate revenue.
Nicholson said the goal of the golf course is to provide another city service to Sherwood residents.
Hillman said some people are still voicing concerns about golf course expenses, but she believes it has been a positive addition to Sherwood.
“There’s a few that are still not happy with the golf course, but the positive comments have far outweighed the negative,” Hillman said. “I’ve had a lot of people say it was a great decision from the city.”
Arkansas, Pages 13 on 11/26/2010