Antioch public golf course in the rough

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jun 19, 2009 | by Hilary Costa

Antioch leaders and many golf aficionados habitually refer to Lone Tree Golf and Event Center as the "jewel of Antioch."

But the jewel's brilliance may be starting to fade.

The 27-year-old public golf course, nestled at the base of the Mt. Diablo foothills, is among the local links that have fallen victim to the recession. Now, with aging equipment, empty fairways and a lackluster banquet schedule, Lone Tree is on the verge of hard times and looking to the city for financial help.

At the heart of the problem is the course's obligation to pay down a $5.75 million loan used to expand its clubhouse five years ago. But with revenues down significantly, the course has no money left after its loan payments for the routine capital expenditures that keep a golf course drawing players.

"We're at an impasse," general manager Dave Van Fossen said.

It's a situation Antioch Mayor Jim Davis called "very concerning."

"I would hate to have to close up the shop, so to speak," Davis said, pointing out that in May the neighboring city of Pittsburg turned over the management of its public golf course, Delta View, to a for-profit corporation after it became a drain on city coffers. Lone Tree is owned by the city and operated by the nonprofit Antioch Public Golf Inc. under a contract that runs through 2017.

In the face of a worsening economy, the course, which two years ago averaged 66,000 rounds of golf annually, has seen the amount of play decrease by 11 percent -- and revenue from golf rounds is down 15 percent after the course lowered some prices.

Its banquet business also has fallen 17 percent since the recession first rippled through East Contra Costa in 2007, Van Fossen said, though restaurant, bar and snack sale revenues are even.

The arrival of three new golf courses within a few miles of Lone Tree in the past decade hasn't helped either.

"It dilutes demand (and) causes courses to discount," said Van Fossen, who has been at Lone Tree for a year. So far, he has had to lay off 17 workers, reduce employee medical benefits and cut holiday pay.

The City Council has largely stayed out of the golf course's business. But on June 9, Van Fossen asked it to restructure the loan and consider forgiving the golf course its water bill. The loan terms are immutable, but the city agreed to waive the $110,000 it was charging the course annually for irrigation water.

In conversations this week, Van Fossen indicated Lone Tree will make its next loan payment of $360,000 in July but will likely need help from the city in the near future to replace 1,750 aging sprinkler heads, fraying nets and other equipment to keep the course in compliance with its mission statement and charter.

"My job is to keep the course up to its best playing ability," he said.

The next step will be for Lone Tree to finish a budget analysis and return to the council to see whether the cash-strapped city can help the course make it through the recession.

"Everything will have to be looked at," Davis said.

Reach Hilary Costa at 925-779-7166 or hcosta@bayareanewsgroup.com.