The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Golf season had its challenges this year
Rainy spring, fall drive down numbers at area golf courses
It has been a challenging year for golf courses across Northeast Ohio.
The 2018 golf season here began fitfully with cold, wet conditions in April and May.
Momentum was established through the prime times of June, July, August and early September.
Then, just as golf course owners and operators thought a good run of fall weather might allow them to make up some of the ground lost in the spring, unwelcome rain throughout October again put a damper on their bottom lines.
“I don’t want to sound too negative, but let’s just put this year behind us and start the new one right now,” Willoughby Lost Nation Municipal Golf Course manager and superintendent Mitch Allen said, shaking his head.
Allen said Lost Nation generally comes in at 37,000 rounds per year. This year, it will be more like 33,000 rounds.
It wasn’t just the rain that put a dent in business at the city-owned, 18-hole course that has been a fixture in Willoughby’s north end for 90 years.
Allen said a summer heat wave that produced 20 days with temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s also kept away some customers.
“Excessive heat is just as bad as rain. It hurt us the most with our core group of senior golfers,” Allen said.
Tom Porter is the PGA professional and manager of Forest Hills Golf Course, an 18-hole layout in Elyria owned and operated by Lorain County Metro Parks.
Porter said the number of rounds played at Forest Hills this year will be down slightly from its overall annual average of 19,500 in years that featured more golf-friendly weather. However, he is greatly encouraged that more golfers from outside Lorain County are patronizing the course.
Cleveland Metroparks has eight courses in its portfolio, making the parks board based in Cleveland the largest owner and operator of golf courses in the area.
Its golf course holdings include Manakiki in Willoughby Hills, Big Met in Fairview Park, Sleepy Hollow in Brecksville and Shawnee Hills in Bedford.
Sean McHugh, executive director of golf operations for Cleveland Metroparks, said the total of rounds played at those courses this year will be down slightly from the typical annual total of 345,000 rounds.
“The good news is, despite the issues with weather this year, we’re still on track to make a profit,” McHugh said.
Lake Metroparks owns and operates Pine Ridge Golf Course in Wickliffe and Erie Shores Golf Course in Madison Township.
Vince Urbanski, deputy director of Lake Metroparks, said total rounds at both courses will be down this year from the 2017 totals.
At Pine Ridge, it will be 29,000 instead of the typical 31,000. Erie Shores is tracking for 21,000 instead of 23,000.
Black Brook Golf Course and Practice Range in Mentor typically does 34,000 to 35,000 rounds per year. Longtime pro and manager Tim Ausperk said the tally in 2018 will be closer to 32,000 at the city-owned course.
“With the weather we’ve been having, it’s a tough way to end what’s been a tough season,” Ausperk said.
CLE Golf Properties of Chester Township owns and operates one private course, Legend Lake in Chardon, and three public courses — Fowler’s Mill in Chester Township, St. Denis in Chardon and Powderhorn in Madison Township.
Business at the four courses will be down about 10 percent from last year when the books are closed on the 2018 season, said Mike Mucciarone, general manager of CLE Golf Properties.
“If we had those (bad weather) days back, we’d be right where we want to be,” Mucciarone said.
“But you can’t get them back, so it’s just an OK year.”