GMI expands golf operations division

Golf Course News, Jan 2002 by Overbeck, Andrew

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Golf course design and construction management specialist, Golf Management Inc., has expanded its list of services to include golf course operations.

GMI was founded in 1999 by president Chris Wilkerson who spent 10 years as a vice president and director of construction for the PGA Tour. Wilkerson has steadily added to his team that consists of golf course architect Tim Freeland, ASGCA, and operations manager Rich Hohman. The firm cleared $47 million in revenue last year and now has 26 employees.

"We hired Hohman last year to go after third party management contracts," said Wilkerson. "We see an opportunity to pick up after some management companies that are dropping projects. If we can get them for a reasonable sum, step up the operations and maintenance, then we can bring good projects back to profitability."

MANY POTS IN THE FIRE

Wilkerson hopes that its design and construction management divisions will also turn into management deals. The company currently has several construction projects underway including: Pete Dye's Wintonbury Hills Golf Club in Bloomfield, Conn.; Tim Freeland's Old Hickory Golf Club in Prince William County, Va.; and Lighthouse Links in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island. The company also recently opened Joe Lee's Musket Ridge Golf Club in Myersville, Md.

Hohman said the pooling of resources has already proved to be helpful. "I run into people that are building a new course and feed the design work to Tim and the construction management to Chris," he said. "We are always feeding each other leads."

Hohman spent 2001 "working on 200 different deals" and putting together several consulting agreements.

As far as third party management is concerned, Hohman said that the company is involved with a group that is buying Kiskiack Golf Club in Virginia from the National Golf Properties portfolio and is currently managing Maryland National in Fredrick, Md. He said the company is close to a couple other deals in Florida.

"We have seven or eight deals that we will close in the next couple months," he said. "We are also doing consulting jobs for new developments to help them develop due diligence and operational analysis. We are hoping those will develop into ongoing third party management contracts."

At the Art Hills-designed Maryland National that will open this summer, Hohman has been able to put together a management team from scratch. Mike McGillicuddy, a former American Golf employee and the former manager of the TPC at Heron Bay, will be the general manager, and Brian Zigafoos will be the superintendent.

"We are creating a staff from the ground up," Hohman said. "Being able to establish all the systems, policies and procedures from day one makes a big difference."

According to Hohman, there are many turnaround opportunities out there, even in overbuilt markets.

"There is no shortage of opportunities," he said. "Every course has a niche in its market."