SOUTH BEND – Winter weather makes it tough to think about spring and golf, but right now the City of South Bend has no choice. Nearly 20 years after it opened, one of the four golf courses owned by the city says it will lose business without nearly $700,000 in capital improvements funded by taxpayer money over the next five years.
Blackthorn Golf Course’s profit in 2012 was $5,000, which is an improvement from past years when it was losing money. At Thursday’s Redevelopment Commission meeting, the Blackthorn Committee will ask commissioners to approve roughly $90,000 for upgrades this year and present a forecast of improvements and their cost through 2017.
Blackthorn’s general manager, Tim Firestone, compares the request to any home or business needing improvements after 20 years.
“These are both not working at all,” he said Tuesday, pointing out two HVAC units that haven’t worked in the last three years. “So in the summer we have no AC in those units and in the winter, no heat.”
He also added the golf course is spending thousands of dollars each year on electricity and gas to try and heat the clubhouse without the proper equipment.
Blackthorn is also requesting $10,000 for new carpeting to replace the worn, stained carpets installed when the course opened in 1994 and $5,000 on a new irrigation system that’s expected to cost a total of $45,000 through 2017. It’s also asking for a new $7,000 utility vehicle, a $27,500 tractor and a $22,000 aerifier.
The course hasn’t asked for any capital improvement money in at least 4 years, Firestone said.
“Golfers aren’t going to pay a premium rate to play a golf course that’s burnt out and not aesthetically pleasing to the eye,” he added.
Out in the course’s garage, some of the utility vehicles and tractors are just as old as the course.
“Obviously the older the equipment the more breakdowns you have,” said Blackthorn superintendent John Quickstad.
It’s his job to make sure the course is playable and in the best shape it can be – especially for large national events such as the LPGA tour the city began hosting last summer.
Firestone and Don Inks, South Bend’s Economic Resources director, agree – Blackthorn should be turning a profit of at least $50,000 or $100,000 a year to be able to pay for its own capital improvements as an upscale, public course. But the course is a far cry from that this year and has been in the red in years past.
“When the golf course was built in 1994, golf was at its peak. Tiger Woods was coming out, it was a huge boom. Golf courses were being built all over the country so the expectations were a little inflated, I think,” Firestone said.
Even so, asking the city for money to improve the course is reasonable, Inks said.
“Our fees are a little bit higher, people expect more at Blackthorn and if we want to continue to bring those folks here we need to maintain those facilities,” he added.
Redevelopment Commission member and Common Councilman Dave Varner told WSBT he’s worried Blackthorn is becoming another College Football Hall of Fame – not making the city any money yet continuing to ask for help.
He said he plans to ask several questions at Thursday’s meeting.
Blackthorn’s bond payment will be paid off at the end of this year, freeing up some $650,000 a year from the Airport TIF fund, Inks said.
According to South Bend Parks & Recreation records, Blackthorn was the only course to turn a profit in 2012. Elbel lost $76,700, Erskine Golf Course lost $44,200 and Studebaker lost $11,100.
The city says it’s simply not a good time for private or public golf courses anywhere because of the economy. Specifically in Northern Indiana, there’s an oversaturation of courses, Inks said.
