Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutGolf Board - Minutes - 12/08/2021 Golf Board TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR) December 8, 2021, 6:00 PM Zoom Meeting 12/8/21 MINUTES Page 1 1. CALL TO ORDER • Kathy Meyer called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM 2. ROLL CALL • Board Members Present o James Penland o Jon Schmunk o John Litel o Kathy Meyer o Michael Hardisty o Patrick Dawson o Ross Liggett • Staff Present o Dawn Worth o Scott Phelps 3. AGENDA REVIEW Due to technical issues, the Zoom link provided on the posted December Agenda was inactive and unavailable to the public for participation online, however the public was still able to participate in person. An alternate link was provided to the Board immediately after the issue was discovered, to still hold the meeting. A copy of the recording is available by emailing Dawn Worth at dworth@fcgov.com. The 2021 Golf Marketing review will be the first item of discussion. 4. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Rory Heath, Player Assistant at Collindale Golf Couse, expressed his concerns regarding the amendments to the Player Assistant program. He mentioned that he has enjoyed participating in this very rewarding program. Rory reviewed a Power Point presentation that he prepared for the Board. He stated that the program contributes to the beauty and value of the golf courses. Rory is concerned that some of the current Player Assistants will no longer be able to participate in the program, due to their disability benefits. He understands the concern with individuals abusing the benefits, but he personally finds it difficult to use all the rounds available. Rory mentioned that the new Point of Sale system that will be implement next month might make it easier to monitor to the program. Scott stated that he has thoroughly discuss this with the Golf Professionals City Attorney’s office. He informed BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR) 12/08/21 – MINUTES Page 2 the Board that the Player Assistants will be employees of the Golf Professionals, so there is a need to finalize the program in order to finalize their contracts and determine their 2022 payments. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES On a motion by Kathy Meyer, seconded by Ross Liggett, the Board voted (7:0) to approve the October 13, 2021 Minutes. 6. 2021 MARKETING Valerie Van Ryn and Kathryn Gehrke presented the 2021 Golf Marketing review presentation. They reviewed the 2021 marketing projects and discussed 2022 goals and ideas. • 2021 Marketing/Communication o Internal Digital  Social Media  E-newsletter, Recreation facility monitors o External Digital  Coloradoan (Digital IQ)  BizWest  CSU athletics monitors o Print  Recreator  CSU game program  Cart displays  Hotel key cards o Events  Collindale 50th event  Kids in the Park  CSU football games • Photography o Updated photography o Refreshed image bank  Diversity of ages  Tournaments, family play, and lesson  Updated course photos BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR) 12/08/21 – MINUTES Page 3 o Updated web images o Utilize photography for all marketing platforms • Internal Digital: Social Media o Valerie reviewed the number of followers through all social media platforms that the Golf Division utilizes and compared the numbers with other courses in the area. She mentioned that overall we have more followers. o Facebook  Bogey Burt golfing in snow  Holiday Gift Pass promotion o Twitter  October Sunday Promotions • Internal Digital: E-Newsletter o Monthly newsletter directly to customers  Promotion of events, closures and promotions o 37% increase in subscribers from 2020 (currently sending to over 1,780  Tactics: Putter contest, BizWest Ad, Self-standing webpage • Internal Digital: Facility Monitors o Quick and free digital marketing to recreation patrons o Monitors located at  EPIC, Foothills, Northside and Senior Center • External Digital o Digital IQ/Coloradoan  Winter pass promotion and summer youth golf ads  Over 105K impressions with each 3 month campaign o BizWest Newsletter o CSU Athletic Monitors o Digital Surveys: more than 385 filled out in 2021 • Print o Recreator o Cart plaquard displays o Fliers o Hotel key cards o CSU game program BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR) 12/08/21 – MINUTES Page 4 o Coloradoan paper ad o Utility bills o Green Saver promo • Events o CSU football games o Collindale fireworks o Kids in the Park • New: Youth Scholarship Fund o Awareness campaign launched in 2021 o Tactics: donation boxes at courses, digital newsletter inclusion, website presence, handouts o Look for increased promotion and material items in 2022 • Looking Ahead o Discussion: Goals and ideas for 2022  Overall golf brand  Target audiences  Preferred tactics/strategies  Hits or misses? Valerie mentioned that they will continue to look into new ideas and asked the Board to reach out to them if they have any suggestions. She and Kathryn are eager to utilize the new Point of Sale Marketing tools. Valerie also mentioned that we received several responses through the golf survey. They are hoping to send and track surveys through the new system next season. Scott stated that he likes the surveys going out weekly so he can address issues sooner. Kathy mentioned that they are doing a good job showing diversity. James appreciates this as well and said it’s been a big improvement. John Litel said he understands the challenges and said they are doing a great job. He mentioned that he has noticed the old logos still being used at the courses. Scott said he would discuss this with the Golf Professionals. Jon asked if there was a policy that leagues need to follow when they are posting information. Ross suggested creating a template for each course to follow. Kathy said this would be beneficial for consistence. Ross mentioned that Colorado will be implementing some new privacy laws that marketing should be following. Jon asked if these laws will be part of the city policy. Valerie said that will likely be the case and she will follow up with the CPIO department. Jon asked if they will be sending information out regarding the new system through the Newsletter. Valerie said they will be utilizing the Newsletter as well as the website, emails and other Social Media platforms. Scott mentioned that we will keep GolfTrac as well as we transition to the new system. Jon asked if marketing had any other ideas for reaching BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR) 12/08/21 – MINUTES Page 5 out to youth. Valerie said it would be nice if they could market more directly to PSD, but that’s difficult. They are approached by so many organizations that parents would be overwhelmed with all of the information coming in. Scott mentioned that we are hoping to get more information out through the Athletic Director, like our Youth Golf Scholarship fund. The Board thanked Valerie and Kathryn and they are looking forward to seeing what they are planning for 2022. • BFO Update Scott reviewed the BFO offers for Golf. He mentioned that we will be going back to the biannual budget after this year. • Concessionaire/Golf Pro Contract Extension Scott stated that he is currently working with the Purchasing Department and Victoria Shaw to finalize the contracts. He explained that Vince’s contract is up for renewal because he assumed Dale Smigelsky’s contract. Scott will further update the Board in January. • POS/Tee Sheet Scott mentioned that we have continued our training sessions with Lightspeed. We are anticipating going live on January 2, since the courses are closed on January 1. Scott said the Pro Shops have been working on setting up tee sheets and adding their merchandise in the new system, which seems to be going well. He said we are still trying to determine the best way to handle Premier Cards through the new system, but Lightspeed assures us that we’ll still be able to use them. Scott informed the Board that we will be shutting down the online system 9 days prior to going live so golfers will need to contact the Pro Shops to set up tee times. He mentioned that we will be reaching out to golfers prior to let them know how to log into the new system. Scott said we are excited for the new system and he will update the Board at their January meeting. • Irrigation RFP Update Scott informed the Board that we held interviews last week and Heritage Links was awarded the bid. He mentioned that Estes Park wanted to use this company but they were not the low bidder. Victoria is working with Finance to finalize the bond. He explained that we are looking at bonding along with the Hughes Stadium purchase to get a better rate. BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR) 12/08/21 – MINUTES Page 6 7. NEW BUSINESS • Player Assistants Scott stated that the City Attorney’s office had concerns with the current program. They are requiring the Golf division to go to a paid model or compensate the player assistants as true volunteers. Meaning we could not offer golf benefits exceeding 20% of the value they would have received if working for minimum wage. He mentioned that he has been working closely with them, as well as the Golf Professionals throughout this process. Scott reviewed the updated program. He stated that to make sure the courses didn’t have challenges with recruiting Player Assistants the paid version was the only option. He stated that they have surveyed other courses and we feel this model fits with what others are doing. Scott mentioned that the first year might be a challenge, but we will work through things and hopefully the new system will be beneficial throughout this process. James said this may be an issue for the current Player Assistants that are on Social Security. Scott informed the Board that we understand this will have an impact the Player Assistants and on the Golf Professional and we are taking everything into consideration when determining their contract payments and how to compensate the Player Assistants fairly. • 2022 Golf Fees and Charges Scott informed the Board that after meeting with Victoria Shaw, FP&D Manager, they felt it was in the best interest of the Golf fund to amend the proposed 2022 rates. He explained that this required Victoria to submit a memo to the Interim City Manager for approval. The Board reviewed and briefly discussed the updated rates. Scott said he hated to increase the Junior and the 90+ pass, however those were last increased in 2013. He mentioned that we will no longer be offering 18-hole Twilight. Ross asked if Dynamic Pricing is going to be an option. Scott said that once we have the new system in place and we are feeling comfortable with things we will look into a beta test on one of the courses. • Draft 2021 Annual Report The Board reviewed the draft report. Scott reminded them that we won’t have our final numbers until after December financials closed. We will update the information if it’s available prior to the January meeting for the Board to approve. If we don’t have the final financials we will enter then as soon as they are available. He asked the Board to please review the report again and submit any additional information to Dawn prior to the next meeting. BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR) 12/08/21 – MINUTES Page 7 8. FINANCIAL UPDATE/ROUNDS REPORT Scott mentioned that it’s difficult for Victoria to provide financials due to the timing of when Finance closes for the month. Scott reviewed the October report. He mentioned that we are ahead $348,000 from this time last year. Scott reviewed the 2021 pass sales. He said we sold 39 Super Pass this year and we have already sold 25 for 2022. He informed the Board that we are selling the 2022 Annual Passes at the 2021 rate until December 31, 2021. Scott reviewed the rounds report and said we are very pleased to have surpassed our goal of 80,000. Through November, we have had 91,312 18-hole equivalent rounds. He said this is a great accomplishment and we are eager to see how we end the year. • BOARD MEMBER REPORTS None • OTHER BUSINESS Scott and the Board thanked James Penland and Michael Hardisty for their service to the Golf Board. He stated that it has been a pleasure having both of them serve on the board. Scott mentioned that the two new members and probably the two existing members who applied should be appointed prior to our January meeting. 9. ADJOURNMENT On a motion by Kathy Meyer, seconded by James Penland, the Board adjourned at 8:45. Respectfully submitted, Dawn Worth Dawn Worth BOARD NAME TYPE OF MEETING – (REGULAR) 12/08/21 – MINUTES Page 8