Council to vote on municipal golf course plan tonight

City's Wildhorse in great need of better greens, more players

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By BEN STEPHENS

VIEW STAFF WRITER

The Henderson City Council is expected to vote tonight on the annual plan for its municipal golf course, which outlines a capital project to restore the course's deteriorated greens and resuscitate the annual number of rounds played there.

The city opened Wildhorse Golf Course on Warm Springs Road, east of Green Valley Parkway in late 2004. It was well received by residents at its onset, but as turf conditions have declined since last summer, the course that turned a small profit its first year is now projected to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

Andy Wright of Wright Golf Management, the company the city pays to operate the course, said from November 2004 to June 2005, the course generated about $36,000 in profit. But from July 2005 to June 2006 -- the most recent fiscal year -- the budget projected a loss of $326,000, the annual report said.

In its first partial fiscal year, the 18-hole course saw almost 61,000 rounds played, but in a monthly comparison between May 2005 and May 2006, average daily rounds were cut by more than half, the annual plan said. The facility averaged 223 rounds per day in May 2005, whereas a year later the course averaged only 98 rounds daily.

Wright said there is a direct correlation between the declining number of rounds played and the poor course conditions, which have been caused by high-salt content ground water contaminating the course's irrigation system and killing turf.

The course, which uses a mix of treated wastewater and small quantities of deep well water, is irrigated through a system of lakes located throughout the course, Wright said. Water is pumped from them to irrigate the course, but the liners that protect the lake water from higher-salinity groundwater seeping in have failed, he said.

"They failed some time ago. Water's great, but it's a very poor quality," he said, estimating that the problem started last summer. "And we've suffered turf loss as a result."

The $750,000 project to revamp the lakes and their liners has already begun and three ponds still need to be done.

The rest of the work on the lakes, along with other capital improvements, will be completed during a 90-day period that started July 5, Wright said.

It will cost another $250,000 to take out the greens and replant them with a grass that is more resilient to water with higher salt content, a precautionary measure, Wright said. The new grass will be the same type currently used at the Legacy Golf Course located on Green Valley Parkway and Wigwam Parkway, he said.

The total cost of the proposed capital improvements is about $1.5 million, according to the annual plan.

John Rinaldi Jr., manager of the City Property Management and Redevelopment Office, said the previous owners of the course have agreed to pay to replant the greens and rebuild the lake system. The course was owned by Wildhorse Enterprises, a partnership between American Nevada Corp. and Walters Golf, Rinaldi said.

"They have taken it upon themselves to rectify that," he said.

The city acquired the course from Wildhorse Enterprises through a land trade in late 2004. Besides trading the golf course for two large city-owned parcels, Wildhorse Enterprises paid the city almost $6 million in the deal, Rinaldi said.

"We're extremely pleased to have this on our menu of recreational activities," he said. He added that the course did well in its first year and last year's poor performance was understandable.

The golf course will reopen to full capacity on Oct. 2, Wright said, and it will operate on a month-to-month basis at a profit from then on.

But a $350,000 loss is still projected for the 2006-2007 fiscal year because of the course's partial closure, he said.

"It's better than it could be," he said.

The fiscal year lasts from July 1, 2006 to June 31, 2007.

"As an operator, I'm confident the property can be a positive cash flow," Wright said.

The property is not projected to be in the black again until the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

Wright's goal is for the course to have 65,000 rounds played there annually.

Per his contract with the city, Wright is paid $100,000 annually plus a percentage of the profits once they meet a percentage of budget projections, Rinaldi said.

Overall, Rinaldi said the city has maintained its original goal of providing affordable golf to Henderson residents.

According to a rate schedule that was made effective July 5, Henderson residents, who get the cheapest rates and preference for tee times, will pay $22 to play the course during peak weekday times, which includes a cart fee. Rates are less for senior residents and for junior residents.

The plan states more than 50 percent of rounds have been played by Henderson residents.

"So the residents are seeing the benefits of us having the course under our name," Rinaldi said.