In a 4-2 vote on Aug. 5, council approved a contract not to exceed $105,000 with golf architect Nathan Crace for design and bid process work, leading to construction bids for council to discuss. Council members Phil Vaughan and Bernard Rubal were the dissenting votes.
What you need to know
Crace brought a master plan assessment to council Aug. 5, proposing the scope of course improvements from a wide range of estimates provided by Richard Singer, senior director of consulting services with National Golf Foundation.
Council originally heard golf course improvement suggestions from Singer in March.
According to agenda documents, the three priority items for the course are bunkers, irrigation and tees, which Crace estimates would cost between $1.36 million and $1.89 million.
The contract to assists the city in the bidding process is being funded through either fund balance or venue tax, according to agenda documents. City Manager Kim Turner said unused venue tax funds from the 2024-25 Fiscal Year can be used with no impact on the FY 2025-26 budget.
Breaking it down
Crace said there were four key findings in the master plan report, the three top priority items along with tree management. Cart path repair and replacement along with front entrance rehabilitation were paired with tree management under "secondary" priorities in the master plan.
Improving course bunkers and sand traps are a priority because of their large size, making regular renovations difficult, Crace said. He said that renovations to minimize the total square footage of bunkers would help the long term success of Olympia Hills.
“The bunkers have gotten to a point where they’re very labor intensive, especially after a rain event. The bunkers are oversized by today’s standards,” Crace said.
Some irrigation system heads have been failing, Crace said, necessitating an upgrade.
Tee boxes, he said, are a “reflection of the success of the golf course” with wear and tear on the tees a sign of “a lot of golf.” Crace said the recommendation is to strip turf off of the tees and expand them.
Offering input
Mayor Tom Maxwell said that from his experience in the Air Force, if there is an opportunity to make replacements to items, it should be done all at once because if done “piecemeal” things will break down easier.
“It’s kind of like in our lodging operations in the Air Force, we didn’t just do three or four rooms in a building, we did the entire dormitories,” Maxwell said.
Council member Lori Putt voted for the contract and said that recent improvements done on the Olympia Hills greens have brought more people to the course.
“We [want to] invite more people. We want more professional golfers, so I’m sorry, shiny and new is enticing. That’s what’s [going to] bring them in,” Putt said.
Vaughan asked how much the proposed improvements are actually needed for the course, specifically bunker improvements.
“Is this a need or a little bit more of a desire? If we’re already hitting a really high level of rounds, this sounds like it might be more of a desire,” Vaughan said.
Crace said the item goes beyond desire because of constant erosion, saying the bunkers have “well exceeded” their usable life cycle.
“[The] recommendation is to take advantage of the opportunity to renovate them and also reduce the number of square feet and change the style at the same time, so that you’re not turning around 10 years from now and having to redo them. You’re actually getting extended life out of it,” Crace said.
Next steps
Crace said the design work and bidding process will take between 3 and 4 months, or by November or December.
According to agenda documents, bunkers would take 2 to 3 months to complete, tees would take 2 months to complete and irrigation is undetermined as of Aug. 5.
