Golf course eateries not always built for profit

Groton — The most successful restaurants at municipally owned golf courses aren’t started to turn a profit, but to break even and provide a service to golfers, a member of the Connecticut PGA said Thursday.

“They’re part of a golf operation,” said Tom Hantke, executive director of the PGA Connecticut Section. Golf courses make money instead on greens fees, cart fees and range fees, then use the fees to cover expenses, he said.

“Most are conducted as a business enterprise, so no tax-paying dollars go to support this entity,” he said.

Negotiations with a golf course eatery prompted a community backlash this week, after talks between Groton and owners of the Par 4 Restaurant at Shennecossett Golf Course stalled. The restaurant had notified customers that it would close on July 1 after 30 years. Nearly 900 people signed a petition opposing the closure and 80 angry patrons jammed a Town Council meeting on Tuesday night.

Councilors and Par 4 owners Peter Ganacoplos and Tony Christina then successfully negotiated a deal to extend the lease for five and a half years. The lease still is being drafted, so a copy was not yet available.

But Edward Moukawsher, a Groton attorney representing the owners, said the agreement would increase the monthly rent from $3,000 to $3,050 the first year, with payments rising $50 annually

in subsequent years.

The City of Groton would pay trash-disposal costs, which had been covered by the town, Moukawsher said. The restaurant also would increase its liability coverage, he said.

Some arrangements with municipalities offer additional help to restaurant owners.

The PGA Connecticut Section helped the City of Hartford take over operational ownership of its two municipally owned golf courses, both of which have restaurants, Hantke said. Neither the Birdie Café at Goodwin Golf Course nor Dish Restaurant Group, which manages the eatery at Keney Park Golf Course, pay rent, utilities or cable, Hantke said.

Both restaurants instead pay a cut of gross receipts. Birdie Café pays 10 percent and Dish pays 7 percent, he said.

Groton Town Mayor Bruce Flax said Thursday the council never intended to close the Par 4 Restaurant. He said councilors first learned of the negotiations in May, after hearing from the town manager. Councilors wanted to extend the Par 4 lease for six months, put the service out to bid and look at the proposals that came back, Flax said.

“We didn’t know how good or bad the deal was that they had,” he said, adding, “We were collecting $3,000 a month and the electricity was like $24,000 to $32,000 a year. So we weren’t making a lot of money. So we thought, maybe we should go out to bid.”

Flax said he believes that if negotiations had continued rather than abruptly ended, the council would have reached the same conclusion as it did on Tuesday and extended the lease.

Shennecossett Golf Course covers its operations and turns over about $60,000 a year to the general fund, Town Manager Mark Oefinger said. But capital improvements to the buildings, including the clubhouse and cart house, historically have been paid for by the town, he said.