by Tom Blakeman, October 13, 2019
It would appear that despite warnings against doing so, the Board of Directors has agreed that surcharges will be added to golf fees for 2020. This is based on commentary gleaned from the “Zoom” Conferencing broadcast of their third budget meeting this past Thursday. Of course, no property owners had access to any of the documents they were studying in the meeting so hard numbers are difficult to pin down.
It is not clear exactly how this surcharge will be done but $2.50 per round appears to be the new magic number.
For annual members, the increase will be $250 over the 2019 rate calculated on a 100 rounds basis. For daily-pay members, the methodology is less clear since there is no fixed base rate to start with. Based on the existing “flex pricing” model POA can change the daily rates at their whim. So, daily pay members will probably never know for sure when they are paying a surcharge or not. Nonetheless, everyone can expect to pay more in 2020.
Nine-hole players will likely feel a bigger bite. This is because POA has discovered that many former 18-hole-players, due to age or cost, have migrated to playing only nine holes. The number of nine-hole rounds has actually been increasing while total rounds of golf have declined. To capitalize on this trend POA has already been charging proportionally more for a nine-hole round than for eighteen. In other words, nine is charged at more than 1/2 of the eighteen-hole green fee. POA will continue to leverage this disparity. Whether or nor the surcharge for nine holes will be $1.25 or some other amount is not clear.
by Tom Blakeman, October 13, 2019
Sam
10/13/2019 — 2:52 pm
They really know how to kill golf and make a bigger deficit!
John Dethardt
10/13/2019 — 2:53 pm
Just a fact of life, the rate needs to go up to pay for future improvement. Hopefully this increase will be in separate account.
George
10/13/2019 — 4:26 pm
No doubt there needs to be a course renovation reserve, the issue is where it gets funded from. Unnecessary director positions, high dollar unsuccessful/unnecessary projects and other wasted money can be a source as well.
Hopefully $125 to $250 per year for the 50-100 round golfer will not keep them away.
We have to expect they will separate this surcharge amount into an escrow type fund that is reconciled against rounds played each month. There needs to be complete visibility of this money monthly.
Anything short of this type of transparency will drive people away as much as the surcharge.
Julie
10/13/2019 — 7:15 pm
It is not a fact that rates need to go up for improvements.
The rates don’t need to go up at all.
Guess what? Her is a fact. Less money will be collected for golf in 2020 than in 2019. Guaranteed.
Surcharges only serve to reduce the activity. They DO NOT result in a revenue increase.
Did any of you people ever run a business???
Logic should prevail
10/13/2019 — 11:37 pm
Julie … you are so right! As fees increase the number of rounds decline, and eventually players drop out. Check the record over the last 10 years …
The goal should be to increase utilization … develop golf outings, e.g. every Sunday reduce the fees on a course at each end of the village … offer food and a drink at a reduced price … send out beverage carts too.
Ernest Armentrout
10/14/2019 — 12:34 am
And those who live and enjoy the ALL of the amenities the Village has to offer, and have benefitted by the attraction the golf courses, are not going to be contributing or spreading out the liability equally?
My POA dues that support the Village amenities that I do not partake, is part of the total package of being a resident of this community.
The HSV, would not be the community it is today were it not for the golf courses.
Hopefully, a reasonable solution can be found, and not just put on the shoulders of those who participate playing golf.
CW Trimble
10/14/2019 — 8:42 am
Can the board explain where the millions of dollars went that Cooper put in for updates to Balboa several years ago? How do we the property owners hold the board accountable to do what they were elected to do.
I’ll be glad to buy them vitamins to assist them in growing a backbone so they can tell the paid staff that they really report to the board and that the board does not report to them. Surcharge will reduce play!
Anonymous
10/14/2019 — 9:56 am
What more of a trend do you need? Flex pricing is dumb and golf rates are too high. Not too high for the market you say?
The Market is HSV and we don’t support anything pricey. It is already proven time and time again.
That DATA is obviously being ignored and why?
Anonymous
10/14/2019 — 11:06 am
Does volume mean anything? Walmart made a fortune on it.
Linda Anderson
10/15/2019 — 9:17 am
Golf is our most important asset and must be addressed. Where is the complete plan? It does not take a rocket scientist to come up with one step at a time. Where is the money going to come from? # 1. Where is some of the $37 Mil that is available each year? Add that to any additional increased fee’s in a dedicated fund that may be used each year. Activate this plan immediately. #2. The building restoration should be the next decision. Why would we tear down a good building when it only needs to be restored? The BOD/CEO need to be resourceful and spend money wisely. A little spit and polish and it would look great again. We don’t have to rebuild everything. This is about not putting the Village in huge debt and still accomplishing what is needed.
Bob
10/29/2019 — 12:21 pm
I agree with all above comments. Leave all existing golf rates alone.
Go back to Annual Cart Grandfathered amount. Private cart owners should not allow anyone to ride with them if that person has paid for POA cart.
We can’t trust POA to keep the $2.50 surcharge in a separate account, they mis-placed the $600,000 from Cooper to upgrade Balboa!!!
Best answer: Cut salaries of POA management and eliminate several
unnecessary positions. (What does our Food/Beverage Manager do to
to earn outrageous salary? Since we are subsidizing restaurants +/- $300,000.00.
If you can’t make profit from restaurants (Tanners, Molly’s, Home Plate, etc,) get OUT of the business!!
Flip johnson
11/04/2020 — 1:32 pm
Well I just called poa about the 250.00 fee that I have always used since I live in Benton and was told it was 500. I sold my property a few years ago and relied on the 250. 00 to be able to play golf and fish so I guess I will do something else because it is not worth the money especially with the golf going up.