February 27, 2004

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Publication Date: Friday, February 27, 2004

Pleasanton Fairways contract up for bid

Some fans of Pleasanton Fairways - the 9-hole golf course in the center of the racetrack at the Alameda County Fairgrounds - are unhappy that the golf operations have been put up to bid after 30 years, fearing that the affordable green fees will be raised.

Seniors now golf for $10 during the week, juniors for $9 and others for $12.50. On weekends it jumps to $15, $11 and $15.50.

"Those of us who play there are on fixed incomes," said Sandy Warner, 55, who said that both her 82-year-old father and 19-year-old son are regulars on the course. "We're afraid it's going to go to the highest bidder and it will all change tremendously."

"The course is a phenomenal asset to the community," said Fairgrounds CEO Rick Pickering. "The market wouldn't support it if it didn't serve seniors and children."

He said that when he came on board five years ago, the Fair Board directed him to put services out to bid as their contracts expire. It is also part of diversity outreach, he noted, with notices sent to the ethnic chambers of commerce in the county. Other services put out to bid include the security contract, the telephone system, the Stable Cafˇ, the carnival contract for the Fair and the food and alcohol service.

The request for the golfing facility bids stated that golfing rates must stay the same for three years, Pickering said. They could be raised 5 percent after six years of operation and another 5 percent after nine years, in a 10-year contract.

"If they over-charge, they will lose the market," he said. "We're getting the 'fear factor' at play here."

Randy Curtola, owner of Pleasanton Fairways and the Pleasanton Driving Range on Valley Avenue, was involved with the operations with his father Ron Curtola from the beginning 30 years ago.

"He was approached by the Fair Board," recalled Randy Curtola. "He was involved in the development of Castlewood Country Club in 1949 and managed the country club for 20 years."

He said his dad designed Pleasanton Fairways, routed the holes and got a crew in to build it.

"Back then the population was around 11,000 so it was slow going for about eight, nine, 10 years," said Curtola. "It's been a long, even, steady growing process to get to where we are today."

The Curtolas approached the Fair Board in 1987 with the idea for the Driving Range at the west side of the Fairgrounds, said Curtola. "The instant this place opened it was a huge hit," he recalled. "It turned out to be the right time and the right concept for what we were doing. It was the first of its type in Northern California, a standalone full-scale practice facility, not associated with a golf course."

They started the Pleasanton Golf Academy in 1997. "We thought there was a need to bring more people into the game on an affordable basis," said Curtola. The golf pros are his employees, he noted, so classes are held in a professional manner. "We're here to serve families," he said. "We have women-only clinics, juniors, golf camps, golf leagues, middle school teams and tough competitions."

He said that due to the sensitivity of being on county property, he began a program two years ago to teach golf to youngsters from the west side of the county and currently has 40-50 participants. He said he is working with the First Tee, a division of the World Golf Foundation whose mission is to make golf accessible to those not previously exposed to the game and its positive values.

"First Tee has made several visits to our site, seen the facility and met the instructors," he said. "They want to make us a chapter facility for the Bay Area and that could mean hundreds of thousands of dollars for expansion."

He said he has already received grants in the amount of $35,000 from golf associations, including the USGA.

Curtola said that as a Pleasanton resident, he runs into his clients everywhere he goes. "I'm accountable to these people," he said. "I'm accessible. Our ties to the community are really deep."

Pickering noted that the Fair Association, too, has a commitment to all county residents. "We are the No. 1 employer of inner city kids in the summertime," he said. "And we do quite a bit to support seniors and kids, with free days at the Fair."

The current contract with the Curtolas brings the Fairgrounds roughly $100,000 per year, said Pickering. This is 10 percent of the gross income from the course and the driving range, excluding money from lessons. The golf course and driving range are supplied with approximately $165,000 worth of water per year because the Fairgrounds has eight wells on the property, with the main one in the middle of the golf course.

"Knowing the contract was up after 30 years, we hired Economics Research Associates, whose specialty is golf operations," said Pickering.

Its report stated the ground rent at 10 percent was fair, but that it was unreasonable not to include a percentage of the income from merchandize and that 3-5 percent should be paid on lesson revenue.

The report also stated that to continue an efficient operation, Pleasanton Fairways and Pleasanton Driving Range will require some capital investment. It identified upgrading irrigation systems, tee renovation, parking lot repaving, clubhouse improvements and fencing repairs for a total of $300,000.

Ten companies interested in bidding came to a mandatory walk-through tour of the facilities, including Randy Curtola, said Pickering. He said one of the bidders asked if he was unhappy with current management and he assured them he was not. He also said when reviewing the bids, "it absolutely makes a difference that the Curtola family built the course" and has run it successfully for 30 years.

The bids, which are due March 15, will propose a percentage against a minimum guarantee, Pickering said, as well as a capital set-aside fund to do improvements. The Fair Board will approve improvements and any raise in fees. "The goal of our Board is to enhance our golf product," he said.

Pickering will review the bids and recommend one operator to the Buildings and Grounds Committee of the 26-member Fair Board. He said the new contract will "be a chance to take it to the next level," with improvements to the clubhouses and restroom facility, which are now portables.

Sandy Warner referred to the Fair Board as "good ol' boys," but Pickering said those days are over.

"We can't do business that way any more," he said. "Putting things out to bid is a prudent manner of doing business. The Fairgrounds is too big a business entity to not do business in a professional manner." In the past five years the annual budget has gone from $9 million to $17 million.

Warner has written a petition addressed to the Fair Board, the county Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Scott Haggerty and Pickering recommending continued management of Pleasanton Fairways and Driving Range by the Curtola family and keeping golf affordable for everybody.

"If it's not broken, don't fix it," she said. "Since they've already been there all these years and done a great job, why would we want them to leave?"

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