The Winnetka Golf Club saw increased revenues last year, but fell just short of breaking even financially in 2014.
According to a presentation given at the Feb. 12 Winnetka Park District meeting, the golf club earned $1,866,101 in revenue for 2014, up $273,267 from 2013.
In 2013, the golf course fell $247,759 short of breaking even, but staff is confident about the positive direction shown at the golf course during the previous year.
“We were ($9,345) short of break-even (in 2014),” said Superintendent of Recreation John Muno. “We had a really strong revenue year. We had more carts not go out on us this year than maybe ever. A large part of that is the driving range came back up.”
According to the Park District, the reopened driving range added $113,000 in revenue, while season passes added an additional $50,000. Private lessons brought in $47,000 in revenue, while the nine-hole par 3 course added $15,000.
Muno said maintenance costs were “consistent” and salaries were down due to a management restructuring.
For the 2015 budget, staff is estimating $1,866,374 in revenue, which would be an $11,272 increase from 2014.
“We’re projecting being a little under break-even,” Muno said. “We’re doing everything we can to get a bang for our buck, and we’re excited for what 2015 will hold.”
Included in the 2015 budget is $13,750 for maintenance and $30,000 for a marketing campaign.
This summer, staff plans to continue working with the National Golf Foundation, which helped the Winnetka Golf Club survey its users last season.
“We tried to do a better job of gauging our member and customer satisfaction,” Muno said. “(The survey) gave us some instant benchmark information against municipal golf courses. We’re going to analyze the information, use it as feedback and see how we can adapt or improve from that.”
Overall, board members were pleased with the report and the positive trend shown from 2013 to 2014.
“(Just coming up short) was remarkable,” board member Ian Larkin said. “You did not get an easy hand dealt weather-wise. It’s an awesome job.”
Twitter: @steveschering
