Decades of neglect at Sarasota’s Bobby Jones Golf Club

June 15--SARASOTA -- City officials blame the Great Recession for years of neglect to the financially floundering Bobby Jones Golf Club, but city records suggest the delinquency spanned three decades.

The recession, which caused the real estate market to collapse and halted new construction 10 years ago, forced city officials to divert money from the once-profitable club -- which could require a $650,000 subsidy next budget year -- to pay for vital city services, Sue Martin, the course's manager said Thursday.

The neglect, however, started well before the recession, city documents suggest. In the past 30 years, the city has invested roughly $3.2 million in major course investments, according to city documents. That's an average investment of about $106,600 annually during those three decades.

"It really had to do with the recession. Our city commissioners are faced with having to balance a budget, and notoriously, recreation is one of the things that kind of goes to a lower priority in any city, any state, any county," Martin said. "Because you have to pave your roads, you have to fix your water lines, you have to have sewers and police protection."

Tee boxes, which have a typical life expectancy of 15 to 20 years, have not been replaced in more than 30 years. Irrigation heads and pipes, which have a life expectancy of 10 to 30 years, are more than three decades old, city documents show. Bunker sand, which has a life expectancy of five to seven years, is more than 20 years old, documents show.

"There was some money put into it," Martin said of the years preceding the economic downturn. The life cycle of many of the club's components began to "age out" and needed replacement when the recession hit, Martin added.

The American course received $1.9 million in renovations in 1988 and British course greens were rebuilt in 1994 and 2008 at a cost of $320,959. American course greens were rebuilt in 2000, costing $247,911, city documents show.

The club, which opened in 1926, was last profitable in 2012 when it generated roughly $2.84 million. Minus expenses of about $2.82 million, the course had an income of $25,502, city records show.

Records also show the courses have seen a steady decline in play for the past three budget years, which run from October to September. Budget year 2015-16 saw a decrease of more than 7,800 players from 98,315 players the previous year. The city reported about 79,000 players in budget year 2016-17.

Golf architect and city consultant Richard Mandell last year identified $21.6 million of improvements needed for all 45 holes. The City Commission recently agreed to hold a series of public workshops to help it determine which of Mandell's recommendations to undertake.

Mandell and Martin were on hand Thursday during a workshop at City Hall where they heard suggestions from Sarasota residents. Those in attendance suggested upgrading all 45 holes, maintaining only 36 or 27 holes and using the rest of the space for other recreational activities, forming a foundation to sustain the course and implementing Florida resident rates.

Priority fixes Mandell and city staff have recommended: replace the antiquated irrigation system, renovate the deteriorating clubhouse, create a golf development center, rebuild all the greens by 2023 and expand the driving range. It's estimated to cost nearly $17 million to perform the specified renovations to all 45 holes, which would include a new development center and a clubhouse. Roughly $735,000 of the cost would be covered by an existing one-cent sales tax, and the city identified $3.5 million in possible grant funding.

"The infrastructure at Bobby Jones is pretty much shot, and that's why conditions are the way they are," Mandell said.

The findings from the public workshops will be presented to the City Commission at a future date.

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