SOGAGG Colleagues,
I thought you might find this article of interest.
Best,
/Ace
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SAN DIEGO
$15 million approved for golf course renovations
San Diego approved a $15 million contract Monday for upgrades and
renovations to the city's three municipal golf courses, including
preparations at Torrey Pines to host next year's U.S. Open.
The City Council unanimously approved the joint contract with four separate
companies that will each perform parts of the work.
Individual projects are expected to cost between $250,000 and $2.5 million
each.
The city's municipal courses include the north and south courses at Torrey
Pines, 18-hole and nine-hole courses at Balboa Municipal, and the lighted
Mission Bay executive golf course.
City officials said most of the tasks proposed under the new contract will
require minimal impact to play, and all the golf courses will remain open
during renovations.
The work will include new irrigation systems and drainage improvements,
including re-contouring of slopes for surface flow and installation of
drainage sumps with underground piping.
Other projects will include renovating existing bunkers, adding new bunkers,
replacing some cart paths, creating new cart paths, planting new trees and
removing some existing trees.
In typical years, Balboa and Mission Bay have lost a combined $2 million per
year, while Torrey Pines has turned an annual profit of about $6 million
because of its popularity with tourists.
But increasing costs for water and personnel have increased the losses at
Balboa and Mission Bay and shrunk the profits at Torrey. The revenue numbers
from the city courses don't include lease payments the city gets. The city
gets about $800,000 in total lease revenue from Mission Bay and Balboa Park,
and about $1.6 million from Torrey Pines, which hosted the 2008 U.S. Open.
On top of that $2.4 million, the city receives $2 million lease payments
each year from seven other courses it owns but doesn't operate: Carlton
Oaks, Fairbanks Ranch Country Club, Tecolote Canyon, Mission Trails,
Presidio Hills, The Vineyard and the Pro Kids Golf Academy.
david.garrick@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
