BREC announced today it will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday to present recommendations from the National Golf Foundation on how the parks and recreation commission can increase play at its seven golf courses in East Baton Rouge Parish.
BREC has commissioned the NGF to conduct a study of all its golf operations as part of the commission’s effort to create a new 10-year strategic plan. Tuesday’s meeting will be held at Womack Park, 6201 Florida Blvd.
As Business Report detailed in a magazine feature earlier this year, BREC’s seven courses posted combined revenue of about $3.5 million last year, or about $500,000 less than it spent at the courses, not counting administrative expenses. Meanwhile, the number of rounds played at the courses increased by just over 2,000 between 2012 and 2013, when a total of 132,767 rounds were played.
BREC has made several moves this year to try to improve its golf operations. In June, it began hosting public input meetings to get ideas for the courses. Those meetings were led by NGF officials, and the input they were given was to be used in its study.
Also in June, BREC announced it was suspending the golf clinics that it had held at its courses the previous two years, and in August it launched a new series of PGA-recommended clinics called First Swing. In September, BREC hired Michael Raby as its new director of golf. He replaced Jeffrey Marks, who resigned in June to return to Georgia to be with his family. —Steve Sanoski
