Reduced Fall Hours, More Events Planned to Balance Books of Mendota Heights Par 3

The Mendota Heights Par 3 golf course will likely have reduced fall hours after Labor Day and a shorter season, just one lesson learned from an unpredictable 2010 that resulted in a $5,963 loss.

“This time last year we were open,” said Clubhouse Manager Tom Perkins. But after a strong March, what followed was an unseasonably cool and rainy summer that hurt business.

When the course extended hours on sunny days in the fall, they found that there was little increase in rounds played.

The golf course is run as an enterprise fund, and while the city’s tax revenue is used to pay off the bond OK’d by taxpayers in 2007, the course’s operating expenses are expected to be self-sustaining.

The city council has set a floor of $40,000 for the course’s operating fund, which sits at about $42,000.

According to Jake Sedlacek, who officially presented the course’s finance report to the council this month, the goal this year is to bring that back up to $45,000.

A drop in rounds played, consistent with industry trends, as well as the weather factored into the loss, said Sedlacek. “It was really great for growing grass, but hard to know when a good round could be had.”

Management also invested extra dollars in improving the course’s quality, which had declined in the years before the city purchased the facility.

Perkins said extra money went into improvements to the greens, the landscaping, the patio, as well as fertilization and irrigation.

All of the course’s maintenance equipment has been brought “into this decade,” said Sedlacek, a cost of $10,000.

Now, Sedlacek said the greens went to bed last fall in the “best shape in memorable history.”

In addition to the drop-off of those maintenance costs, the course’s management is actively pursuing more charitable tournaments and private night golf events to bring in more revenue. Sedlacek said they are also reaching out to the business community and organizations to put the Par 3 into consideration for more private events.

In a pinch, a planned $7,000 roof replacement could be put off if another rainy season makes an appearance, and $5,000 in soil aeration in the fall could be eliminated for the year.

As far as fall hours go, the plan is to cut back, but also stay flexible, said Sedlacek. Once the course officially closes for the season, management will continue to evaluate demand.