Tee times don’t grow on trees, but the city has unexpectedly gained more than 7,300 rounds of golf per year.
During the March 8 meeting of the Natural Resources & Culture Committee, the Torrey Pines Club Corporation (Pro Shop) announced that it will return its allotted 12 daily tee times to the city by June.
Torrey Pines Club Corporation wishes to maintain good faith with its business partner, the city, said Mike McDade, an attorney for the club corporation. The Pro Shop rents space in the clubhouse from the city, with its lease extending until 2023.
Times have changed for Torrey Pines since 1991, McDade said. At that time, Torrey Pines Golf Course wasn’t an international tourist destination and the Torrey Pines Lodge didn’t exist. The lodge receives five tee times daily from the city.
Now “there’s a real squeeze on public play,” McDade said.
While the city has more tee times in its pocket, it may have less money. The club corporation will lose the significant revenue gained from re-selling tee times to the public, and therefore might not be able to continue providing all of its usual services.
Revenue will also drop for the city, which receives a percentage of the Pro Shop’s earnings. The city has not yet determined what the loss will be, said Mark Marney, assistant golf operations manager with the city.
The Pro Shop sells golf merchandise and equipment, runs the tournaments, the junior golf program and the driving range, and also provides rent-free space in its shop to city staff.
The Pro Shop “will either have to stop doing those services or the city will have to figure out how to compensate the [Pro Shop] for them,” McDade said. “Now it’s the city’s choice entirely and the city’s responsibility to make it work.”
The city has not yet spoken with the Pro Shop about the impact to its business, Marney said.
The 12 additional daily tee times will “help increase public play and that’s a good thing,” he added.
The city first offered to sell tee times to the Pro Shop in 1991 in exchange for using 14,000 square feet of the Pro Shop rent-free. The Pro Shop effectively marketed tee times at a time when the golf course wasn’t as popular with non-residents, McDade said.
The Pro Shop has since paid the city more than $5 million for tee times. Last year, the city earned between $623,000 and $700,000 from selling tee times to the Pro Shop, according to McDade.
The Golf Advisory Council (GAC) actually showed support for selling tee times to the Pro Shop during a Feb. 21 meeting when the GAC rejected the city’s five-year business plan for the municipal courses, including Torrey Pines, Mission Bay and Balboa.
While GAC unanimously voted against allocating tee times to hotels, it voted 6-3-2 to retain tee times for the Pro Shop. GAC is an advisory board to the city.
Meanwhile, the five-year business plan for the municipal courses is on hold as Mayor Jerry Sanders scrutinizes the highly contested proposal.
Sanders’ office is investigating whether the golf enterprise fund should continue to pay rent to the city.
“They want to look at the whole process to make sure everything is being fairly and properly accounted for,” said Julie Dubick, director of policy for the mayor.
Sanders also wants to ensure that golf fees cover the cost to play, so that the city does not have to subsidize the municipal courses, Dubick said. In addition, the mayor will determine whether building a new clubhouse at Torrey Pines is appropriate.
Concerns over the nature of the golf enterprise fund have also been raised. City Council created the enterprise fund, giving it unilateral authority to change or eliminate the fund. Typically a charter creates an enterprise fund, such as the ones for sewer and water services, and requires ballot vote to change.
While the golf enterprise fund is a “proper” enterprise fund in that its fees pay for its activities, it differs in that it is controlled by City Council and not by the people, Dubick said.
The mayor expects to issue a response to the plan within one to two weeks.