PANAMA CITY — A company has put forth a proposal to operate Bay Dunes Golf Course, giving golfers hope the course may not shut down at the end of March as planned.
Course Management Solutions Inc. has put in a formal proposal to run the course at 5304 Majette Tower Road that is on a county landfill and has been on the verge of closing several times in recent months.
Florida Division of Corporations records list the company CEO as Mark Sincavage of Panama City Beach. He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Interim County Manager Dan Shaw wrote in a recent email that “our review of their submittal has been positive.” He added that in order to execute a contract, the county has to advertise for 21 days, giving any other interested party an opportunity to put in a proposal. Shaw wrote that a contract for Bay County Commission’s approval will be on the April 7 agenda.
Valerie Sale, a spokeswoman for the county, said it is her understanding that Course Management Solution’s proposal does not request a county subsidy.
Bay County Purchasing Director Wendi Sellers said state law does not allow the details of a proposal to be released publicly at this time.
“It will be protected as if we were in the middle of a bid process,” she said.
The course is currently being operated by Holiday Golf Club, which took over operations in December after the county started the eviction process with the prior operator, Tony Ray.
In December, the commission agreed to allow Holiday Golf Club, which operates a course on the Beach, to operate the course for three months and be paid a monthly county subsidy of $25,000. County officials were trying to gauge the finances of the course and what it would take to bring it up to speed.
When no companies put forth a proposal to operate the course after the county advertised for it, the commission decided at its Feb. 3 meeting to end the contract early, on Feb. 17. Holiday Golf Club president Allan Bense then requested the company be able to continue to operate the course with no county subsidy through the end of March to recoup its upfront costs, and the county agreed.
Sellers said if the commission can reach an agreement with a company to operate the course, then county officials will ask Holiday Golf Club whether they can keep it open a few more weeks past the end of March until the new company takes over.
Golfers said Wednesday they were elated to learn the course might stay open, saying it is the only reasonably priced 18-hole regular course within a reasonable driving distance that isn’t on the Beach.
“I sure hope they do” keep it open, David Riddle said.
Riddle, stationed at Tyndall Air Force Base, said Bay Dunes is convenient for golfers who live by the base. In 2013, Tyndall’s Pelican Point Golf Course closed.
Before heading out to play in a weekly Wednesday tournament, Callaway resident Steve Rossignol said even if they raised the greens fees a little, he would pay for it.
Horton Pennington, who lives about 2 miles from Bay Dunes, said the course is in better shape now than he’s ever seen it, with the cart paths being the only thing in bad shape.
Butch Turcotte, who is retired military and organizes one of the weekly tournaments at Bay Dunes, said he hopes the county can find a way to keep the course open for the few weeks after Holiday leaves and the new operator comes in so people don’t think it has closed permanently.
“It needs to stay open,” he said.
