Managing a golf course in the Buffalo area can be a challenge

In addition to having a litany of things to improve and replace at the old Holland Hills Country Club in Colden, it also had to deal with a rainy start to spring, including the wettest April in seven years.

That put him and other course owners in a difficult position as they prepare for what can already be a risky golf season in the Buffalo area, repeatedly dictated by weather conditions. unpredictable.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, between the renovation, the recruiting and then a horrible spring as far as precipitation on the golf courses,” said Kremholtz, 43, of East Aurora, which earlier closed the $1.1 million deal for the golf course. This year.

“I really haven’t been able to enjoy it yet, but I will. I will overcome obstacles,” he added.

Shorter golf seasons already make it more difficult to run a course in Western New York, especially for public private and family courses. This also leads to a lot of expenses.

That might mean purchasing the type of expensive equipment that allows you to get out and work on the golf course in early spring without getting stuck in the mud. This also makes employing a competent gardener with extensive experience essential to the survival of a course.

“Something I always wanted to do”

Yet for many course owners, this type of purchase is like making a dream come true.

Kremholtz woke up abruptly one October morning, grabbed his phone and Googled “golf courses for sale.” He came across the Holland Hills list.

“I must have dreamed it in my subconscious,” said Kremholtz, who also owns two auto repair shops in West Seneca. “It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but I never thought I could do it. I hadn’t thought about it in about 20 years, but suddenly it was there.

The challenges of operating a golf course haven’t made it any less fun, according to Rick Horn, president and CEO of Niagara Golf Partners, who is in his sixth season at the helm of the golf course. Hyde Park in the city of Niagara Falls.

He and his business partners were selected by the city seven years ago to save a venue that was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. They manage the course, the restaurant and the pro shop, collecting all revenue and paying all expenses. The investor group, which includes Horn’s brother William, initially committed about $100,000 to the course improvements.

The golf course has improved, after losing money for about 15 years while under city control, but it is far from a huge revenue generator.

“None of us are getting rich,” Horn said with a laugh. “But the main thing is that we can afford to buy better equipment every season and when the equipment breaks, we can afford to repair it.”

Not only does it take a lot of money to maintain a golf course, it also takes a lot of time. Kremholtz said he plans to build a home on Property 263 at 10438 Holland Glenwood Road and eventually retire there.

For now, he divides his time between working on the course he renamed Shamrock Hills Golf Course and tending to his responsibilities as owner of Don and Jim’s Auto Service Center.

“It’s a 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week job,” he said. “There are no more weekends off, let’s put it that way.”

Horn arrives at the Hyde Park Golf Course at 4:30 a.m. every day to take care of business and prepare the staff for the day.

“Not everyone can afford a country club, which is why public courses are important,” he said. “Country clubs are wonderful, but at the same time, the average Joe or Jane needs a place to play.”

Kremholtz has no plans to make money on the golf course in the near future, saying every penny generated will be reinvested into the venue for the foreseeable future. He liquidated a rental property business for a down payment.

“We have very big plans for this place,” he said. “I think it’s an investment that will pay off, but it will take a few years.”

As part of ongoing efforts to improve the Hyde Park course, Horn added 80 tons of sand to the bunkers, improved the greens, built advanced tees for golfers preferring shorter driving distances and purchased two Ventracs, featuring additional wheels and a wide wheelbase to allow mowing on wet roads.

Yet when the season opened in May, only 18 of the course’s 27 holes were playable and golfers had to walk because driving golf carts caused too much damage to the course.

“Golf is an outdoor sport and Mother Nature is the boss,” Horn said. “In the spring, people get frustrated because they want to play and ask when we open, but in the meantime we have equipment stuck all over the course.”

Last year, William Hong Ye, a Toronto financial services executive, acquired Eden Valley Golf Course in North Collins, paying $900,000 for the 163-acre property at 10401 Sisson Highway.

The 30-year-old golfer told The News at the time that he would need significant additional funding to upgrade the course, which also includes a restaurant and pro shop.

He planned to install bunkers on the course, plant more trees and purchase more electric golf carts to replace the old gas-powered carts. He also plans to develop part of the property’s approximately 20 acres of undeveloped land.

“I want to help the golf course feel better and I have many plans to improve it,” he said.

Kremholtz also has big plans for Shamrock Hills. He and his general manager are working on reopening the restaurant at the end of June, after a complete renovation of the kitchen and bar. Broken equipment is replaced. His gardener implements changes regarding seeding, fertilization and length of turf and greens. Cracked cart paths are to be renovated, sandboxes will be added to the route and a party terrace for live music will be built.

“The goal is to create the most beautiful golf course in the world for the everyday golfer,” he said.

Help for extended fall seasons

If course owners have been lucky in one way, it’s that the fall golf season in Buffalo appears to be getting longer.

In recent years, sufficiently mild fall weather has allowed many owners to stay open well into November.

“I will stay open as long as possible,” Kremholtz said.

Kremholtz also wants to encourage more people to play the sport by setting up programs at Shamrock Hills to encourage young golfers to play.

“It’s fantastic, honestly speaking,” Horn said of Western New York as a place to play golf.

“People come from an hour away, and sometimes more, to try different classes,” he added. “I know I’ve played countless courses and I usually see someone I know on each one.”