WAILUA — Keeping tee-time rates low at the Wailua Golf Course comes at a price.
This fiscal year, that may be about $250,000 that the county’s Department of Parks and Recreation is estimating the Golf Fund will fall short.
Parks and Recreation proposed financing the shortfall by reallocating $125,000 of its own department’s funds and by requesting an additional $125,000 from the General Fund, which was introduced as proposed Bill No. 2817 currently in front of the Kaua‘i County Council introduced by request by Council Chair Arryl Kaneshiro at a meeting on Jan. 27.
The department placed the blame on the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The Department of Parks &Recreation estimates that the Golf Fund will fall short on its projected revenues for FY 2021 due to the golf course closures and play restrictions that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Parks and Recreation Director Patrick Porter said in a Jan. 11 memo to the council. “Since green fees for visitors are significantly higher than local residents, overall green fee income has been disproportionately impacted during the current fiscal year.”
For the period between July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021, the county budgeted $2,811,724 for the Wailua Golf Course. This fiscal year, shortfalls include special projects and consulting services.
Visitor play, Parks and Recreation Deputy Director Wally Rezentes said last week, has been pretty steady throughout the pandemic, but revenue losses are mostly due to the lack of tourism and local play. The course took additional safety precautions, including appointment-only scheduling, limiting group play to six, and limiting tee-times to six-minute intervals.
The county keeps track of rounds by fiscal year. So, from July 2018 to June 2019, 71,955 rounds of tee times were scheduled at Wailua Golf Course. The next fiscal year, 63,051 were scheduled, showing just a hint of the pandemic’s effects.
With the pandemic in full swing from July 2020 to the end of January this year, there were only 45,567 rounds played.
The county has owned the Wailua Golf Course since the 1930s, and became an enterprise fund in 1992.
“Normally the golf course runs a pretty significant deficit annually,” Rezentes said. In the past, the county has been forced to pay more substantial fees to keep the course running. In 2010, the county had to appropriate an extra $650,798, and in 2011 expected a $1.05 million shortfall.
Rezentes said that over the last 20 years, the gap that the General Fund covers has increased and there’s always been “a little reluctance to increase fees for local uses.”
And that’s true, the subsidized infusion of county funds keeps tee-times affordable, especially for residents.
The weekday rate for residents ranges from $1 for a minor to $15, depending on age. A weekend or holiday tee-time ranges from $13 to $20. For a non-resident, a weekday rate is $48 and $60 on a weekend or holiday.
A monthly resident card ranges from $9 for minors to $60, for somebody under 65. A non-resident play card will run about $215.
These rates are staggeringly lower than most private courses. For example, in the latter half of 2020, Kiahuna Golf Club in Po‘ipu, rates began at $55 for games played at twilight after 3 p.m. A round of 18 holes would run about $105.
The last time the county raised fees was in 2014. In 2020, the current administration considered raising fees at the Wailua Golf Course, but opted against it, again, pointing to what was then just the start of a pandemic that would shut down the island almost entirely.
“We had a proposal to increase fees across the board pretty much for the golf course after having discussions with staff … but we held off on pursuing it because of COVID,” Rezentes said. “The situation we’re in now is because user play has drastically declined, our revenues at the golf course have come down. So we’re looking at trying to plug that gap with funds internally, as well as funds from the fund balance to make up the losses.”
Concerned for the long-term operations, councilmember Luke Evslin, during last week’s meeting, noted a national decline in golfing and requested a decade’s worth of expenditures and revenue to see if there were noticeable trends.
Vice Chair Mason Chock, hoping to see the same documents, felt the department could think more creatively to increase revenues.
“To be clear, there are no sustainable golf courses,” Chock said. “We need to look at this piece of property from that standpoint in order to keep this operation moving forward for the community but (also) be able to expand on what it has to offer.”
Councilmember Felicia Cowden requested to see comparative data from other county-owned parks.
“Before we pick on golf too hard, I would like to see what the different parks cost relative to their sport,” Cowden said, pointing to golf’s “pay-to-play” structure.
In 2017, the then-council passed a bill to allow the course to sell alcohol via roving concessions on the green in an attempt to bring in more revenue. This bill was vetoed by then-mayor and now-councilmember Bernard Carvalho Jr., citing liabilities and the potential for increased insurance costs.
The Wailua Golf Course, not only an open space for residents, it also acts as a place to put recycled, non-potable water which is used to irrigate the greens, saving the county money.
The bill was approved on first reading, and a public hearing is scheduled for Feb. 24 and referred to the Committee of the Whole.
Coming in short of cash. Why don’t you just tear down the golf course then? And build something more useful. Like a shopping center. Yes, another shopping center in the Wailua area. It would make the eastside of Kaua’i into a business district and do Kaua’i for the better good in the long term. I don’t see a problem.
considering shoppers have dropped 80% in 2020 and the fact that most stores in local shopping centers are closed or about to be.. might want to hold off on building more shopping centers for a min,. ~ thanks Captain obvious
The solution would be to raise the rates to what other public courses charge and create a road ocean front for a dozen high end custom houses that together would bring in enough money to cover operation costs for the course. This would make it so the council won’t have to subsidize the course any longer.
The load of Meth-heads that live on the ocean along that entire stretch of beach ,.
May frown upon that plan ,. lol
Wailua Muni GC is a fantastic deal for residents who play often and pay between $20-$60 MONTHLY depending on age bracket. Playing 10 rounds a month at $40 translates to a $4 per round charge. Nice deal! If there’s a shortfall the County might want to look at how many rounds are being played monthly by these different rate cardholders. If these fees were increased by $10 per cardholder, how much revenue does that bring in? If all cardholders paid the same rate how much would that bring in? Do an analysis to see what category of payer contributes per round per month to the total might shed light on what categories to target. E. G., If the monthly resident card holders are using the majority of the rounds per month they may need to be increased. I know nobody wants to pay more, but $4 a round is probably the best deal in the State.
This golf course is in the red year after year, and decade after decade.
The entire island pays for a select few who has the luxury to play golf instead of working a second job like most people on Kauai who struggle with the high cost of living and t he luxury taxes placed upon by the constituents and family members of the elected leeches.
This has been identified for decades so why continue to operate in the red and transfer funds to pay for this luxury item?
Priority issues.
Absolutely agree… let’s hope those involved will read your last sentence and respond accordingly. Good luck
Why not raise the fee for locals to play? Common Sense. The people that enjoy playing there can AFFORD to pay more. You know who you are… Come on now. Amazed this is an actual story. Kauai people aren’t stupid. next story….
Evslin is mistaken. In truth, golf play has increased nationally due to COVID, as it offers entertainment and exercise in a socially-distanced climate. It is something for people to do that would otherwise be home-bound.
Guess the board should have taken my recommendation at the county meeting in 2015 to limit kamaaina play and increase the resident card prices.