Company would receive $38,250 in first year, plus incentive payment

BY KEVIN BONESKE

REPORTER/PHOTOGRAPHER

The company that conducted a business review last year of the Northwood Golf Course is now being recommended to the Rhinelander City Council to manage the course this year.

Rhinelander’s Golf Course Advisory Committee and the city Finance, Wage and Salary Committee, which held a joint meeting Tuesday, both favored approving the proposal of the Indiana-based Green Golf Partner as the management company to run the city-owned course.

The Northwood Golf Course, which has accumulated a deficit of more than $1 million over the years of its operation, will no longer be run by the city after the City Council decided in December to hire a management company and/or a manager with total golf course operation experience. The council’s action also resulted in terminating the employment of the course’s golf professional, Dan Buckley, as well as the lease of the restaurant operator, Dave O’Melia.

However, the golf superintendent, Joe Andersen, who presently remains a city employee, is expected to be hired by the management company when it takes over running the course.

Interim city administrator Keith Kost said the city will continue to control the golf course upon hiring a management company, also noting the income raised there would belong to the city, which has a budget for equipment, etc.

Of the three companies submitting management proposals, Kost said the two that weren’t out of line with their pricing were close in cost and he favored the local connection with Green Golf Partners, which its CEO, Matt McIntee, is from Land O’ Lakes, and the company manages golf courses in Wisconsin, including a municipal course in New Berlin and golf courses in Racine.

“(McIntee) has an incentive to make sure that he turns the golf course around financially as his relatives and friends in the area will be watching how well he handles this endeavor,” Kost said. “There is nothing like personal reputation on the line to motivate a person.”

Green Golf Partner’s proposal, which calls for a two-year contract term plus one two-year renewal, includes having a flat rate fee of $38,250 in the first year, plus a 10 percent incentive in which the company would receive that percentage of gross income for 2018 above the course’s gross income for 2017. For instance, if the gross income ends up $100,000 above last year, the company would receive another $10,000.

The company’s flat rate would increase to $54,000 in 2019, not including the 10 percent incentive.

The recommendation to hire Green Golf Partners is being forwarded to the full City Council for consideration at Monday’s meeting.