Staffing to be addressed on golf course in 2018

WORLAND — Plans for the Green Hills Golf Course in 2018 include changes to staffing and continuing to work on the irrigation system, according to Gary Shampeny of Go Play Golf LLC.

The city of Worland has contracted with Go Play Golf to manage Green Hills Golf Course and the company is in the midst of a three-year contract that runs through 2018.

Shampeny presented his annual report to the council, looking back at the 2017 season and looking ahead to 2018.

He said revenues were up overall by 6 percent, thanks mostly due to golf shop and merchandise revenues. He said daily fee and event revenue saw an increase, but pass, trail and cart revenues were down.

He said they didn’t have great record keeping regarding rounds in 2016, but were better in 2017 with about 8,000 rounds. He said when they took over management, they were told the course averages about 10,000 rounds each season.

Shampeny said golf participation in this region of the country is down about 3 percent and across the country, golf participation is flat.

Shampeny said in 2017 they enlarged the golf shop, made some interior upgrades and added merchandise. Regarding player development, he noted they were able to get the Big Horn Basin Junior Tour started. “That was very important to us, getting that off the ground. We’ll want to continue that next year,” he said.

Shampeny said in 2017 there were issue with the greens, with a majority of them stemming from the old irrigation system, but added, “not all of them, and I will recognize that.”

He said the city funded most of the new pump system. “We still have some issues there that we need to address. Shampeny said they will work to address those issues for 2018, which should help to shorten the watering times and eliminate watering at 9 a.m. when people are wanting to golf.

“We have many ongoing mainline valve and sprinkler head issues. That’s not going to go away because of the age of our system,” Shampeny said.

The No. 1 green complex was enlarged with a larger putting surface and greens improved. “That will become fully operational in 2018,” he said.

“We have so many trees out there. I’ve never seen as much cotton as I have at this course. It’s like you get a snow report in June and July here. We removed a lot [of trees] around the clubhouse that improved the quality of turf in that area,” he said.

Shampeny said they continue to reshape the back nine bunkers.

He said there is a worm and ant problem out at the course, but noted they will never be completely gone, which leads to clumpy turf. He said they do one application and due to the cost likely won’t do two in one season.

Regarding herbicide, he said the fairways have pretty good control over broadleaf, and there is improvement outside the fairways.

Shampeny said there is a lot of clover and dandelions that they plan to control the best they can but due to limited resources they will concentrate on the core areas, which he said means there will be large patches of clover in non-playable areas.

2018

“So where do we go in dealing with our issues and improving our operation as we move into 2018,” Shampeny said.

First, they will make adjustments in staffing. They have made some new hires to increase communication between the course and the golfers.

He said they plan to have more qualified people overseeing the golf course.

There will be an on-site manager at the golf shop that can deal with the issues on a daily basis.

“We’re going to be looking at academia. People who are just coming out of collegiate programs,” Shampeny said. “We’ll be seeing younger people [in the area of instruction]. We’re looking at one to two people in that area.” He said the positions will be seasonal, working in Wyoming about five months and working in the south in the winter.

Instructors will be required to get into an apprentice program and work under the Go Play Golf’s Class A professional out of Billings.

Regarding golf course operations/turfgrass, the company has posted openings with the University of Wyoming, Colorado State and Utah State in the agronomy and horticulture and soil science programs. That position will be a full-time position.

If the on-site manager happens to be gone there will be phone numbers of key people so employees will know who to call if there is an issue.

He said they will stress to the staff to stay focused and stress an urgency in repairing irrigations leaks. He said a lot of leak repairs required the use of a backhoe and the city did provide one after hours. With an additional back hoe this year, the city can be more flexible, Shampeny said.

Shampeny said they will be painting and making some repairs to the back nine bathroom.

Regarding the front nine bathroom, Worland Public Works Superintendent Brian Burky said the hope is to remove the bathroom and reclaim the area. He said he has spoken with Shampeny about sharing costs for two portable toilets for a temporary restroom until money is available where the city can provide a low maintenance, bathroom.

During questions, council member Mandy Horath noted that the city already has a design for a new irrigation system for the golf course, so she wondered if the design could be implemented in zones or holes over a period of a few years.

Shampeny said the irrigation system “is old but manageable.”

Council member Gary Gerber said neither system on the front nine or back nine were designed by a golf course designer.

In other golf course news, Burky said he had been contacted by the Power River Pass Nordic Club wanting to set a track for cross-country skiing at the golf course, when there is enough snow. Shampeny said he had no issues with the plan as long as they avoided some areas.

The council approved a motion to allow for the Nordic Club to set a trail.

In other news:

•Burky reported that the Memory Tree that benefits Washakie County Olympics will be the Christmas tree at the corner of Pioneer Square rather than the tree on the courthouse lawn as in the past.

•The council supported the annual agreement with Washakie County on winter maintenance for Washakie Avenue. The county plows the road and bills the city for their 60 percent portion of the road.

•Worland Chief of Police Gabe Elliott reported that the Shop With A Cop program will be this Saturday.

The council recessed into executive/closed session for “potential litigation and personnel.”