An interesting public/private partnership looks like it might happen.

The TOA is going to explore having a private company run the towns 3 golf courses. The courses have been operating at a net loss – about $2 million over the past 10 years – prompting officials to seek proposals from private companies interested in operating and managing the three. Amherst-based Value Turf is negotiate with the town.

On one side:
The courses would no longer be taken care of by the highway department, which IIRC is a big reason for the net loss. It's also a reason, personal opinion here, that the courses are so poorly viewed by golfers. It's simply too expensive and not a good enough product. Instead, Value Turf plans to hire the former golf course superintendent at the Westwood Country Club to oversee day-to-day moving, maintenance and improvements and plans to hire one part-time and two full-time employees to maintain Oakwood and another six to eight full-time seasonal employees for Audubon and the Par 3.

On the other side:
Odds are that Value Turf in exchange for managing the course will increase the greens fees on the course. The numbers I could find were between $31 and $33 per round on the weekend with a cart. For those who do not golf...that's really really cheap compared to most good courses but about right for average public courses.


What's the catch:
Well there is always going to be people who ask questions like "Why is Amherst in the golf business anyways?" and "If golfers want to golf, let them pay for it!", which are valid points. But here is the catch. Just what are people going to say if Value Turf turns Audubon around? What if VT gets a 10 year deal on the course and goes in an invests a ton of money to then warrant charging greens fees that are $50-$60 per round? What if they make improvements to the driving range, say by adding outdoor eating and a bar that serves beer? Would these same people turn around after 10 years and say the course belongs to the town residents and I want my golf to be subsidizes? Of course an alternative is for the town to sell the courses to a developer or convert the courses to park space but that's another conversation.