We think that the Ocean Pines Golf Club should be given the “one year of solid operation” to determine if it can be turned financially turned around. The suggestion by OPA President Tom Terry and GM Bob Thompson and the majority of the board is a sound one.
Also, we agree that any sort of referendum just as the spring golf season begins, would for sure send a wrong message to potential members and players.
With that, we know that Terry will keep a close eye on the course’s performance under Billy Casper Golf. We also are confident that OPA will seek a different plan if the course fails to attract the business it needs.
A report, Terry said, showed that the 40-year-old golf course’s greens were in poor condition and subject to future “severe damage from weather conditions.”
Remediation of the greens, the report said, turned the course into a 9-hole facility instead of an 18-hole course, and that alone caused a much greater operating loss. Terry said, “FY 2013 was the most dramatically impacted period, as revenue declined 17 percent from the prior year and the operating loss nearly doubled to $537,000.”
Mr. Terry is correct; trying to lease the course needs to happen at another time.
With less of an expected operating loss, the course will be in a better position. OPA needs time, and it should be given that time.