Kevin Collins, of Two-Pro Golf Management, the firm hired by the City of Llano to manage the golf course, updated the City Council on the status of the Llano River Golf Course.

Two-Pro assumed management of the golf course on March 19 of this year, following a decision by Council to attempt to gain control of an increasing deficit and increase the profitability of the course.

Collins reported that from March 19 until June 14, the golf course has had a revenue of $72,465, and has paid $80,377, leaving a deficit of about $7,911. Collins said that the course is $10,000 ahead of budget as compared with last year, which showed an overall deficit of $150,000 for the year.

While the numbers look promising, Collins said he would be more confident once he has 6-9 months of data to gauge how well things are going, however, he said he was ‘reasonably optimistic’ with the direction that the course is moving.

Since taking over, Two-Pro has converted the point of sale system to one that would allow them to more accurately track sales, rounds of golf and more. The new POS system also allows them to track geographical information about their players.

When Two-Pro took over the golf course, city employees were given time to decide whether or not to stay with the management team or not. None of those chose to stay, however, Collins told Council that they have hired new employees. In addition to those staff, they have brought in two golf professionals, Dale Means and Willie Ray.

Dale Means brings with him 26 years of experience and plans to enhance open play and develop programs for teaching golf to kids and says that he plans to offer lessons to those wishing to learn or improve their game.

Willie Ray handles the grounds for Two-Pro.

Other improvements to the course have included painting porches and staining decks.

Issues that have been identified include aging equipment, weeds, improving the irrigation system to improve the life of sprinkler heads, and working on marketing.

Collins said that once they are able to assess all of the issues, that the next step would be to examine ways to fix them, trying to work within the budget set forth by the city. As an example, he said that leasing new equipment could possibly be more cost effective than continuing to try to maintain the equipment that is currently there. He told Council that they would examine all avenues and bring their proposed solution before the Council in a more in-depth presentation.

In conclusion, Collins was excited about what had already been accomplished and told Council that he felt like they were moving in the right direction.