Parks sales all about green – and not grass

[obie7661]

http://www.indeonline.com/index.php?ID=23149&r=0&Category=

[giant lugey]

They want to sell off part of the Legends and then use $250,000 of that money a year toward the debt for the next 10 years.
The Legends makes $900,000 a year with 27 holes.
So if they go from 27 to 18 holes, then their income could feasably go down by 1/3, and they could lose $300,000 a year in income.
So they gain $250,000 a year from the sale, then lose $300,000 a year as a result of the sale, they end up $50,000 further in the hole. BRILLIANT !!!

[Indiana95]

They want to sell off part of the Legends and then use $250,000 of that money a year toward the debt for the next 10 years.
The Legends makes $900,000 a year with 27 holes.
So if they go from 27 to 18 holes, then their income could feasably go down by 1/3, and they could lose $300,000 a year in income.
So they gain $250,000 a year from the sale, then lose $300,000 a year as a result of the sale, they end up $50,000 further in the hole. BRILLIANT !!!

Your mathematical theory is based on the golf course being at capacity for play. It is not, so your assumptions are incorrect. The Legends does not need to have 27 holes to generate 900K per year. It did that before the expansion.

[giant lugey]

Well I don't know what they made before the expansion, but I do know the course was a 5 Star course back then and they could charge top dollar. You had to book a tee time 2 weeks in advance.

It is not a 5 Star course now, and their green fees have dropped dramatically.
They didn't have ridiculously low priced memberships back then either, so they didn't have guys play free golf.
All I know is that on some evenings now, all three nines are booked with leagues. They won't be able to do that with just 18 holes.
On Sat and Sun mornings, they have players going off all 3 nines. They won't be able to do that either.
My point of this whole thing is that I really don't think they will lose 1/3 of their revenue, but they will lose some, and no one on council is asking how much.

[Indiana95]

Well I don't know what they made before the expansion, but I do know the course was a 5 Star course back then and they could charge top dollar. You had to book a tee time 2 weeks in advance.

It is not a 5 Star course now, and their green fees have dropped dramatically.
They didn't have ridiculously low priced memberships back then either, so they didn't have guys play free golf.
All I know is that on some evenings now, all three nines are booked with leagues. They won't be able to do that with just 18 holes.
On Sat and Sun mornings, they have players going off all 3 nines. They won't be able to do that either.
My point of this whole thing is that I really don't think they will lose 1/3 of their revenue, but they will lose some, and no one on council is asking how much.

During its prime the Legends was rated 4 1/2 not 5 stars. I believe it is currently a 3, which is still not too shabby.

Your point about the reduced fees and cheap memberships prove the point that they are not attracting enough play to sustain 27 holes of debt. I really dought that any reduced revenue will be that significant. The bottom line is that the golf course will not pay for its operating and debt expenses in this depressed golf market. They must sell off some property or Council must begin planning on an annual subsidy.

[giant lugey]

The problem started with councils poor planning. The way they structured the debt was that they paid nothing the first few years, then the payment would increase every year. The first few years was pure profit, and rather than putting the money into the course, or setting it aside for the future debt payments, they put the money into the general fund. Had they kept the money for the course they wouldn't be in this spot.
They did the same thing with the rec center. In a few years, their debt payments will be higher than the revenue. Should they sell of part of the rec center then?
I gauarntee you that 2.5 million will not last 10 years for the course debt payments. It will be shuffeled over to pay the rec centers balloning mortgage payments that will be coming due.