2011 ‘Most Challenging Year’ for Village Greens Golf Course

managed to turn a profit during the 2011 season while other local courses were in the red, Director of Golf Brandon Evans told the village board last week.

2011 was the 15^th year for Village Greens and also “perhaps the most challenging year,” Evans said.

The course saw a profit of $10,000 in a year where early and mid-season rains “played havoc with rounds played and with revenues,” he said.

Naperbrook and Springbrook Golf Courses in Naperville were projecting a net loss of $75,000, he said, while Fox Bend in Oswego reported in November a net loss of $125,000.

"In 15 years of Park District controll we still haven't lost any money," Evans said. "We're very proud of that."

Golf rounds at Village Greens were down 7.8 percent from the 2010 season and down 8 percent from the course’s historical average. The course had more than 40,000 rounds played in 2011, compared with 35,000 at Springbrook, 38,000 at Naperbrook and 31,000 at Fox Bend.

“Village Greens continues to be one of the more popular golf courses in Chicagoland,” Evans said.

April rounds were down more than 50 percent. May rounds were down 11 percent. July rounds were “significantly affected” by seven to eight inches of rainfall followed by near 100-degree heat and humidity. 

The heat and humidity caused another problem.

“The heat and humidity also forced us to throw every available resource at our disposal to try to keep the golf course alive,” Evans said. “The turf was under supreme pressure.”

The golf course normally budgets about $50,000 for pesticides and fungicides in a season. That number nearly doubled to $95,000 for the 2011 season. 

Evans said the budget for the course for 2012 was very similar to its 2011 budget. Due to financial concerns, the course pushed back a $20,000 sub-surface draining project from 2011 to 2012. If revenue is strong, the course will push for another $20,000 draining project in 2012. The course has $400,000 in capital replacement funds.

There are two big unknowns in the budget, Evans said.

The first is the absence of the course’s grounds superintendent, who has been gone three months on family medical leave.

Without his services, Evans said, the course doesn’t have a back-up to provide his expertise. The course may need to accommodate some services in the budget to provide that expertise when the season starts.

The second is the impact construction along 75^th Street and the perception of increased traffic will have on rounds of golf played. The road along the course’s entrance has been torn up for months and work will continue through much of the golf season.

The course also received recognition in 2011. Glancer Magazine named Village Greens its favorite course in the area, and the course will named one of the top 100 facilities for player development programs.

So far, good weather has meant rounds are strong with 700 in January and just under 2,000 as of last week, Evans said. The most rounds ever played in March was 2,600. It’s too early to tell how the 2012 season will go, though, since the bulk of activity will take place between April 15 and October 15, Evans said.