When Landscapes Golf Management first partnered with the City of Sioux Falls in 2018, addressing the maintenance fleet was a top priority. The courses – Elmwood, Kuehn Park, and Prairie Green – comprise 54 holes of championship-caliber golf throughout the City. The condition of the maintenance fleet did not match the quality of the golf courses. The maintenance and repair costs were outrageous, and course conditions suffered as equipment was frequently out of service.
Worse yet, the city courses had been performing poorly, so there was no budgetary “magic bullet” for equipment. A new fleet was out of the question, and any upgrades would need to fit within confined budgets.
The team from Landscapes Golf Management got started, working alongside the course superintendents and mechanics to log every piece of equipment and its ailments. With an effective “to-do” list, they ranked the needs from first to last and filled in the gaps. They also identified new opportunities to share the equipment under new, unified management.
With a list of needs – and wants – the team worked with equipment suppliers and lenders to develop a plan to replace the entire fleet over five years within the operating budget. The program consisted of sourcing new and used equipment from across the midwest in a priority fashion. It also includes a long-term replacement strategy that begins in year six and meets budget constraints. After gaining approval from City officials, the Landscapes team set to work getting new equipment for the courses.
More than three years later, the plan has been working perfectly, with significant improvements to course conditions, reduction of repair and maintenance costs, and improved employee morale. Better yet, the program has contributed to more than $1,000,000 in operating income improvement across the Sioux Falls portfolio during LGM’s first three years of partnership with the City.
This project is a prime example of the depth of LGM’s partnerships. The team will always work to develop a realistic plan to serve the owner’s objectives best. In this case, the team leveraged creativity, industry contacts, and expertise to do the job within confined resources.
