Muni' golf course gets new managers

Published: Sunday, July 22, 2012 at 7:33 p.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, July 22, 2012 at 7:33 p.m.

Ocala Golf Management LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Billy Casper Golf LLC, will assume management of the Ocala Golf Club beginning on Aug. 1.

Enlarge |

A golfer fixes his ball's mark on the par-3 Hole No. 14 at the Ocala Golf Club.

Doug Engle/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER/FILE

?They are not wanting to walk in and make major changes right away,? said Catherine Cameron, Ocala assistant city manager of public services.

Fees would not be increased initially. ?Our plan is not to run anybody off,? Cameron said. ?Our plan is to bring additional people in.?

The Ocala Golf Club, the city-owned golf course commonly known as ?Muni,? has been running in the red for years and is projected to lose $391,553 for the fiscal year ending on Sept. 30.

?We really don't have the resources to run it as efficiently as we would like,? Cameron said.

The Ocala City Council last week awarded the Vienna, Va.,-based golf course management firm a five-year contract, ending on July 31, 2017, with two five-year options to renew to make the course self-sustaining.

During a two-month transition period, from Aug. 1 to Sept. 30, the company will be paid $5,000 a month while it assesses the business and hires and trains employees. Valley Crest will continue to maintain the course during the transition period. After that, OGM will be paid $7,000 a month to manage the course.

?All the expenses are still the city's but so are all the revenues,? Cameron said.

Although the city will pay all the expenses, the staff will be Billy Casper employees, she said.

The city's current budget for the golf course is $1,554,004. The expenses from Oct. 1, 2011, the beginning of the current fiscal year, to July 20, 2012, are $1,492,953. Revenues during that period are $1,182,678, leaving the city with a negative balance of $310,275.

Cameron said the city expects OGM to close the budget gap, including its management fee, within three years. For fiscal year 2013, and every year thereafter, the company also will receive an incentive management fee of 15 percent of the profits above $200,000.

The city, along with OGM, is in the process of developing the 2013 budget. The City Council has the final budget approval. Any fee increases would be brought to the council for approval, Cameron said.

Cameron said it is expected that the company will increase revenues through advertising, increased play, food and beverage offerings, increasing banquet hall usage and its larger purchasing power.

Members of the city Golf Board seem pleased.

?I think it's the only alternative they had left if the course was going to continue to lose money as it had,? said James Cullop, vice chairman of the board. ?I think the council was very diligent in how they set up the contract, and the fact that it has come with guarantees as to maintaining the quality of the golf course, which I think is very important, too.?

Cullop said that Billy Casper has a good reputation and its only business is managing golf courses.

?I am very positive about them coming in,? he said. ?I think it's a good organization, and I am anxious to work with them.?

So was Golf Board Chairman George Vitale.

?I think it's a fantastic, fantastic idea, and I think it was a long time coming,? Vitale said. ?There are no negatives at all.?

Contact Susan Latham Carr at 867-4156 or susan.carr@starbanner.com.

Source: http://www.ocala.com/article/20120722/articles/120729918

october baby sugarland 16 and pregnant ludwig mies van der rohe jamie lynn sigler mega millions jackpot black panther party