Most green fees may go up $1 to $2 at the Manteca Golf Course.
The proposed hikes in green fees are before the City Council when they meet Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Civic Center, 1001 W. Center St.
They are expected to raise $70,000 needed to cover inflationary costs associated with operating and maintenance.
If approved, the rates changes will go into effect June 1.
Rates have not been increased since April 2022.
The rates being raised do not include pass play. Those rates were adjusted in January 2024. The city plans to review the pass play rates at the end of the year.
The fees, as recommended, for 18 holes would go from:
*$27 weekday for a resident to $29.
*$31 weekday for a non-resident to $33.
*$31 weekend for a resident to $33.
*$36 weekend for a nonresident to $38.
*$22 weekday for a resident senior to $24.
*$18 weekday for 9-holes to $19.
*$20 weekend for 9-holes to $21.
*$20 twilight weekday to $21.
*$21 twilight weekend to $22.
*$15 super twilight weekday to $16.
*$17 super twilight weekend to $18.
Active military at $15 weekday and $17 weekend would remain unchanged as would 18-hole junior players at $12 for weekday and $14 for weekend.
Timely rate increases
have helped stabilize
The golf course has enjoyed a period of financial success in cutting back on general fund assistance.
For years, starting in the 1990s, the city failed to impose rate increases as they were needed.
Previous councils indicated at meetings they did not want to raise rates in election years.
In 2018 when Ben Cantu became mayor, the council directed staff to put in place a plan to address all operating and maintenance needs of the golf course in a bid to eliminate general fund subsidies of the golf course that spanned back to at least the mid-1990s.
The subsidies started shortly after the city entered into a $2.2 million lease purchase agreement to build what some have described as a “country club style” two-story clubhouse.
The lease purchase has been paid off but there are now other capital improvement projects needed for the golf course that was built in the former site of a municipal wastewater plant and adjoining city landfill along Union Road.
A 2017 outside analysis by Gene Krekorian Pro Forma Advisors put all costs of yearly maintenance on the table as well as adding a set aside of $100,000 a year for a capital improvement reserve.
It also for the first time in at least two decades the true costs of operating the course were shown although many critics of the city contended those charges shouldn’t be slapped against the golf course since the functions involved were being handled by existing staff in city administration, finance, and parks. The critics noted in 2017 such charges aren’t made to other recreational facilities.
The big difference is the golf course is set up as an enterprise fund much like water, sewer, and solid waste. As an enterprise fund it is supposed to cover its own costs via rates charged users without tapping into the general fund.
Further stabilizing the course was the council’s decision last year to enter into a 10-year contract with Central Golf Company led by Jeff DeBenedetti to operate the 18-hole municipal golf course.
Under DeBenedetti’s tutelage coupled with the city staying on top of the need to increase green fees, Manteca to a large degree has avoided many of the issues that have plagued nearby municipal golf course that have struggled with rounds played and revenue.
In recommending the 10-year contract last year, a staff report to the council that “since CGC has taken over the Pro Shop operations, total rounds of golf played and overall revenue have increased, operational processes, along with customer service at the course, has greatly improved.”
To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com
