PANAMA CITY — Bay Dunes Golf Course may not have to shut down Tuesday as planned, although its long-range future still is undetermined.
The prior operator of the course has offered to take over once again if the county pays him a one-time payment of $150,000 for losses he says he sustained after he moved out when county officials tried to evict him.
The current operator, Holiday Golf, also has offered to keep the course open through the end of March at no cost to the county.
Tony Ray, former Bay Dunes operator, has said he lost business during the busy time of the year for the course as the county started the eviction process and he voluntarily left. He also said he had costs involved in moving equipment.
County Commission Chairman Guy Tunnell said he would not vote to support the county paying Ray $150,000 to operate the course again.
“I’d love to keep it open for a number of reasons, but I don’t think he’s the one to be doing it for a number of reasons,” Tunnell said.
But Tunnell said he would support Holiday’s offer to stay on through the end of March at no cost to the county, and longer if the company wants to do so.
“I think that’s a good deal for us,” he said. “They obviously did a good job with it. I understand the course is in the best shape it has been in for years. Everyone seems happy with it.”
Tunnell said the county has received an email from an out-of-town company that has expressed a possible interest in operating the course.
Holiday Golf Course president Allan Bense said the company had a lot of upfront costs, such as moving in equipment and spraying the course with herbicides. He said the company was counting on three months of revenues, including those from the usually good weather months of February and March, to recoup those costs. Holiday initially was going to stay for three months and the county had agreed to pay the company $25,000 a month. But the commission at the Feb. 3 meeting decided to end the contract early on Feb. 17.
“Most importantly, golfers want to keep the course open long as possible,” Bense said. “We’re willing to take it through March 31 on our nickel.”
Bense said he doubted that Holiday golf would want to continue to run it after March 31.
“I think we’ll make a little bit of money,” he said. “We’re in the groove, so to speak. We have a very good staff. The weather is good.”
Ray is asking the county for a longer-term lease than the five-year one he had, according to the formal offer put forth by his attorney Michael Burke. Ray has said that would allow him to get financing to fix up the course. He has asked for a 20-year lease with one 10-year renewal. He has had a five-year contract.
“Because of the increased term, Ray Golf will be able to offer memberships to golfers, which will lead to increased play and profitability of the course, allowing Ray Golf to make improvements to the course,” Burke states in a letter to the commission.
The course is on county property over a previous landfill.
The proposal states that if Ray Golf damaged the clay cap over the landfill, then Ray Golf would be responsible for the repair, but if the cap were damaged for any other reason, the county would be responsible for the repair.
Ray had operated the course since 2011 until a few months ago, when the county sent him an eviction notice. County officials said Ray could not produce a $25,000 bond the county required to pay for damages in the event the landfill liner over the course was damaged. Ray said he couldn’t get the bond because of the way the requirements were worded, so he decided to leave voluntarily. But Burke pointed out in his letter to the county that Ray did deposit $25,000 cash in his law firm’s escrow account for the purposes of satisfying the lease.
After Ray left, the county put out a request for proposals for anyone interested in leasing the property free of charge with no county subsidy, but no one responded.
The county was planning to shut down the course in early December, but commissioners decided to hire Holiday Golf Club to operate it with a county subsidy of $25,000 a month for three months to give officials time to gauge the course’s finances and advertise for a golf management company to it take over.
The course is popular with people who can’t afford the green fees on the beach, golfers have said.
Golfer Kenny Eastham said Thursday that he just hopes it stays open.
“I would absolutely love to see public golf made available and kept available in Panama City,” he said. “I wish that parties could agree on a way to do that.”