TOUCHSTONE GOLF COURSE LOCATIONS FOR FREE
In their early days at the golf course, they worked odd jobs for free range balls. His answer was, “Take them to the golf course.”
TOUCHSTONE GOLF COURSE LOCATIONS HOW TO
Doug and Steve grew up around municipal golf.Īfter losing their father at a young age, their mother turned to their uncle for ad-vice on how to keep them out of trouble and instill a healthy work ethic for the young boys. Touchstone is a relatively small golf course management company started by brothers Doug and Steve Harker. Over the following months, the city evaluated a number of golf course management companies and one quickly rose to the top - Touchstone Golf. The staff strongly recommended leasing the golf course and the council decided in a 4-1 vote to move forward with this recommendation. Through charts and graphs with the city’s golf course manager standing by my side, I illustrated the dismal financial performance of the golf course over the past decade and offered three options moving for-ward:Ģ) Lease the golf course to a management company In mid-2017, I made a presentation to the council regarding the historical financial performance of the golf course. In a short time, it became obvious to me the city’s management of the golf course was failing and major changes had to be made to turn it around. Fredericksburg citizens deserved to know how their tax dollars were being spent and more importantly, they deserved the responsible management and expenditure of these funds.īeginning in late 2016, in my new role as Assistant City Manager, I was given the responsibility of providing oversight to the golf course operation. The golf course deficit was a regular topic of discussion during public comment at regular city council meetings, which translated into negative publicity through our local newspaper, and rightfully so. This deficit steadily increased to approximately $700,000 in 2017. The city course suffered a $500,000 deficit in 2012. The reopening marked a new beginning for the course, and the beginning of a period where stellar performance was critical and would ultimately decide the fate of the course. When the course reopened in 2012, the excitement was met with dwindling financial performance. Upgrades made to the golf course fell flat at a time when a turnaround was critical to the future of the course. Though it came close over a decade ago, Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course never broke even when under the management and control of the City of Fredericksburg.
“Build it and they will come” was the hope and promise of new management. New fairways, new greens and new management.
In the 2011-2012 timeframe, the city made a roughly $2.5-million investment in golf course upgrades. This is music to the ears of the Fredericksburg City Council and citizens alike, especially our local golf community who, just three short years ago, were faced with the reality of the golf course being closed due to poor financial performance. These are words I never thought I would read much less have the privilege to write in the Fredericksburg Standard. Lady Bird Johnson Golf Course is breaking even.
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