Golf advisory committee hears midseason report on Northwood

With the City of Rhinelander’s 2025 budget meetings scheduled to begin this week, the time for the common council to make decisions about next year’s allocation for Northwood Golf Club is drawing near.

On Aug. 26, representatives of Oliphant Golf Management, the firm that manages the city-owned course, presented a midseason report to the city’s golf advisory committee.

The ad hoc group was assembled a year ago after approximately 80 club members  sent a “letter of concern” to the city advising that the course had experienced a drop in membership and organizers of several regular outings had chosen to take their business elsewhere.

The panel, which includes Dan Lundberg, Erik Matson, James Sherman. Brian Tonnancour, John Zierden, Mike Tolvstad and city administrator Patrick Reagan, has been meeting regularly since late October 2023.

Its goal is to improve golfers’ experience and attract additional members and players to the course.

According to the midseason report offered by general manager/head professional Keith Staron and Justin Fox, regional manager for Oliphant Golf Management, the number of rounds and overall rounds played are up compared to last year, despite a number of rainouts. Food and beverage sales are also up.

Through August, member rounds were up by 822 and overall rounds were up by 199. Food and beverage sales were up by $33,000, according to the report.

“The restaurant has taken on a new identity this year with full menu and consistent fish fry,” the report states. “Keith has done a great job of building a great team in the kitchen and the front of the house.”

On the other side of the ledger, it was noted that food and beverage labor was up considerably because of the full-service nature of the restaurant.

As far as course maintenance, the report notes the mild winter allowed the maintenance team to make progress in addressing playability issues. However, the club did experience “many unplanned expenses” due to “aging equipment and lightning storms.” 

“We had a stretch of three storms that blew out 20 control boards on the irrigation system,” Fox told the group. “We’ve had rough mower repairs, skid-steer repairs, the bed cart frame and motor, and then plow truck repairs.”

According to the report, as of July, the course was projected to be approximately $17,000 over budget on the expense side.

The year-end projections included in the report showed a projected gross profit of $764,062 and projected total expenses at $794,509 which would result in a loss of $30,437. Last year. Northwood registered a loss of $33,684.

As far as “high priority needs” for 2025, the report lists a one-ton pickup truck and plow (estimated cost $50,000-$75,000), a rough mower ($35,000 to $53,000) and golf carts. 

While the city council has scheduled its first round of departmental budget presentations for Wednesday. Sept 18, the golf course budget is not scheduled to be discussed until the Oct. 2 budget presentation meeting. 

At that time, Fox and Staron will make their case to the alderpersons for their 2025 requests.

City administrator Reagan was asked to assess how the council might respond to the capital requests.

“I refuse to handicap the council,” he responded. “I don’t talk for them.”

Later, he noted that “there’s a lot of factors that go into a municipal budget” and Rhinelander’s is “rather complex.”

He stressed that the purpose of the ad hoc committee is to offer suggestions, and the members shouldn’t be afraid to do that, but there’s only so much money that has to be distributed among all of the city departments and the council has the final say as to how the pie is divvied up.

“It’s a fiscal reality that we don’t have a ton of money and we have a lot of departments, a lot of moving parts in the city,” he noted.

Parks director Jeremy Biolo, who was sitting in on the meeting, was quick to assure the ad hoc committee that all city departments go through the process of making their case and waiting to see what the council chooses to approve and/or reject.

“That’s not him saying (that) strictly (about) the golf course,” Biolo said. “He says that to parks and streets and water and everyone. That’s just how the city is run.”

The meeting ended with committee members deciding to hold their final meeting before the October budget presentation out at the golf course. The group is expected to finalize its recommendations at that time.

That meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 23.

Northwood has been a source of concern for years as it has operated in the red for much of its existence, its operations subsidized by the city’s general fund.

Oliphant is the second company to manage the course since the city opted to outsource management in 2018. 

Despite its history of financial issues, there’s no shortage of enthusiasm regarding the potential for the course, as well as the adjacent 416-acre Heal Creek property, to eventually be developed into a year-round recreational facility that would rival Minocqua’s Winter Park. 

The public can watch the city’s budget meetings via www.hodagtv.com.