Current situation
The City Council of Universal City was provided with improvement options for its number one attraction—the Olympia Hills Golf & Event Center—on March 20, including ways to upgrade the course and run the space more efficiently.
Richard Singer, senior director of consulting services with the National Golf Foundation, gave an overview of the city-owned location that brought in roughly $2.61 million of revenue Fiscal Year 2024. The scope of Singer’s suggestions for improvements fell under the purview of bringing in a wider tourist audience.
“The ultimate goal behind all of it is, how do you widen the appeal of [the course], broaden the appeal so that people maybe who have never come on this property before would see a reason to want to come [here],” Singer said.
To make play more accessible to golfers, Singer said the city could consider enlarging tee areas, adding a new forward tee and widening narrow holes on the golf course.
“PGA Tour pros would struggle with something like this,” Singer said of the narrow holes. “This is really difficult for golfers, anything you can do to widen that out, make it a little bit easier, I think you’ll find that it’ll add appeal to the property and more revenue will come in.”
Outside of the course itself, Singer recommended making the entry point of the space more welcoming to highlight Olympia Hills’ status as a public course. He also said outdoor spaces like the patio area could use improvements, as outdoor areas at courses have become increasingly popular since the pandemic.
Final takeaways
Singer estimates that overall course improvements would cost the city between $3.3 and $4.2 million, with high priority investments taking up between $1.6 and $2 million. He added that while the course brings in enough revenue to cover day-to-day expenses, outside support is still needed for indirect expenses like depreciation, administrative services and stormwater management.
Those expenses have been covered by the city’s Venue Tax, initially approved by voters in 2002 to help pay off bond debt, but the tax can also be used for ongoing maintenance and operation. The tax brought in just over $1.31 million in FY 2024.
No action was taken by council aside from unanimously accepting the report. City Manager Kim Turner said the next step is for city staff to put together a work matrix and cost estimates for implementations of items in the report. Council will then consider the staff work to determine what, if any, actions will be taken.
