The end of Fiscal Year 2017/18 numbers are in and they remain disappointing.Golf Memberships
Golf membership is down to 226. The fiscal year began with 240 members in July 2017 and reached a high of 249 in January 2018. As a reminder, Troon was hoping for 318 members by December of 2015. They are still off by 92 memberships.
Also of note is that of the existing 226 members, only 216 of them are actually paying dues. This is because six members are over 90 and four members are on medical leave.
Rounds Played
How do non-member rounds at the town-owned golf courses compared to another public course within 5 miles of the town?
El Con Golf Rounds Public Golf Course Rounds
July 976 2782
August 1410 2669
Sept 1662 1970
October 2018 1837
Nov 1883 3751
Dec 1663 3471
January 1839 3963
Feb 3459 3949
March 4293 5305
April 3067 3908
May 1614 3201
June 1468 2588
TOTAL ROUNDS 25,352 39,394
(In order to obtain the public golf course stats, I agreed not to publish the name of the course.)
As you can see, during FY 2017/18, the public course within 5 miles of the town courses played 14,042 more rounds.
Admittedly, this isn’t comparing apples to apples since the town courses consist of 45 holes of golf for about 6 months, and 36 holes of golf for the remaining 6 months. The other public course used in the comparison is an 18-hole course. Nevertheless, the monthly rounds reveal that the other course is often seeing double (and in one case, triple) the number of rounds being played at the El Con courses.
If the average fee per round was $40.00, then the Town-owned (Troon-managed) courses would have generated $1,014,080 in revenue and the public course (not managed by Troon) would have generated $1,575,760. This means that the other course most likely generated approximately $561,680 MORE in revenue. So much for the belief that people flock to Troon-managed golf courses.
What is the Town’s plan?
According to a recent communication from the Town, they intend to re-open the Pusch Ridge course on November 1st. This will make another 9 losing holes of golf available while increasing our expenditures.
The Town also admits that they do not intend to fulfill the capital outlay proposed in the FY 2017/18 budget, AND they expect the Community Center Fund to start FY 2018/19 with a NEGATIVE BALANCE.
Had enough?
Due to their refusal to admit that they made a mistake in purchasing these golf courses and due to their desire to cater to the golf members, Town officials are refusing to acknowledge what is happening around them. However, you will have an opportunity to replace them in the August 28th Town Council election.
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Mike Zinkin has a Bachelor’s degree in history and government from the University of Arizona and a Master’s degree in Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education from California State University, Northridge. He was a commissioned ensign in the United States Navy Reserve. He was an Air Traffic Controller for 30 years. He and his wife moved to Oro Valley in 1998. Mike served on the Oro Valley Development Review Board from 2005-2009 and the Board of Adjustment from 2011-2012. He served on the Town Council from 2012-2016 during which time he was named a Fellow for the National League of Cities University, he was a member of the National League of Cities Steering Committee for Community and Economic Development, and a member of the Arizona League of Cities Budget and Economic Development Committee.
