BOC Meeting 2-25

First-

Thank you all who came to the Board of Commissioners meeting last week. We definitely showed strength in numbers and many offered great information about the course, its history, and how if affects this community. GREAT JOB!!!

The opportunity to purchase the golf course for the city makes sense if we can get it at the right price-

Yes- they are going to have to make improvements to the course- to the course itself, the pro-shop, and the management-

All of the commissioners, included Mr. Nicholson, had very valid points regarding the purchase of the course- to get at the crux of Mr. Nicolson’s argument regarding the maintenance costs over time, we should absolutely be concerned, and our expectation should be that this will be figured in the overall operating costs of the golf course. The expectation is to raise the level of the experience out at the course, and that will mean maintaining the course will be higher than it is now- because the standard of play will be better- but so to will the revenues by higher in all profit centers (carts, green fees, pro shop, membership, rent out of the facility, and any other new and creative profit center).

Why?

Our expectation of the management should be that the customer is to be catered too- that this golf experience is like no other- if we can create this type of culture where the general manager knows the members by name, the chef knows how the members like their bratwurst- when the bathrooms are clean, the pro shop is sharp, the employees are driven to create that something extra- then the expectation should be that the course will make a profit-

As an example- walk in to a Chick Fil-A restaurant and take note of the cleanliness, the service, the culture, and the whole atmosphere- and buy a chicken biscuit- then compare this too the experience of any other fast food restaurant and compare the experience.

Stonebridge is just another golf course in a saturated market for golf courses- and the ownership is not interested in carving out a niche to where, over time- because of a strategic change in the culture of the organization- golfers seek to play here.

When Lakeland purchases the course- the expectation of the city should be that management create and cultivate this type of culture- and it can be done. This takes intention and hard work- but it can be done