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By Sharon Aron Baron

The 2011 acquisition of the Woodlands Country Club by ClubLink expanded its presence in Florida.

First, ClubLink added six courses in Sun City Center south of Tampa. Then they acquired Heron Bay Golf Club in Coral Springs and Palm Air Golf Course in Pompano Beach. This variety makes ClubLink unique because members have the convenience of reciprocal play at those clubs along with 39 others.

John Finlayson, Vice President ClubLink U.S. Cor,p oversees the Florida locations. He is originally from Canada but is now based here to spend his time overseeing Florida operations. He is currently a Woodlands resident.

Finlayson wanted to meet and discuss several items, such as golf course improvements, the 44th Street corridor, and the hat-racking of the trees by FPL.

Woodlands was close to closing:

When ClubLink purchased the member-owned Woodlands Country Club in April 2011, they were close to closing its doors. It was only a few months into the year, and they had already run through all their 2011 dues. There were significant accounts payable and back taxes owed as well. Clublink paid for these and funded part of the employee’s payroll.

Besides the financial issues was the condition of the two 18-hole courses. The golf course superintendent left three weeks before they took over. They discovered that his level of service was incompetent and the conditions of the courses were neglected.

Improvements:

After the sale, the first thing that ClubLink needed was to get the course condition up to speed. At over $300,000, this accounted for the most significant amount of money spent. All of the West Course greens were enlarged and resurfaced,d and three bridges were rebuilt at $50,000. Last winter, every bunker on the property was redone.

“We are doing a major tee renovation to the West Course where every tee deck will be regarded and resurfaced,” said Finlayson.” We will also build a few new tee decks for the Ladies and the Seniors. We will be re-sodding some of the areas around the greens that have become bare and a bit of an eyesore. And we will also be completing the work we started last summer on the fairways. They should be very healthy and lush going into the fall.”

“When we acquired the course, they were very thin, and in the winter, about 1/3 of each fairway would go dormant. Everyone will notice a significant change to the fairways come this fall.“

The 44th Street Corridor:

As far as the debris, weed,s and trailer in the back of the property facing 44th Street, Finlayson said he wasn’t aware of how bad it had become as he rarely went back there. He noted that Progressive Turf Management (PTM) manages that area which ClubLink contracts to oversee maintenance on the golf course.

Finlayson knew that when ClubLink purchased the course, they would soon be turning over maintenance of the front entrance and Woodlands Blvd back to the City of Tamarac. He was surprised to find out when The City of Tamarac told him that ClubLink was now going to be responsible for the grass outside their property along the long stretch of 44th Street.

He spoke to code compliance officer Peyton Whitfield who told him he would be responsible for mowing the entire strip of land down 44th Street when brand-new palms were planted in that area. We were both curious as to who grew them. With palm trees along the roadway, it would be even more difficult to mow the area.

I contacted the City of Tamarac to see if they planted the palms. They told me it was the City of Lauderhill. Why would the City of Lauderhill plant new trees on the property that belonged to Tamarac?

I contacted Broward County Commissioner Ilene Lieberman, former Mayor of Lauderhill,l and asked her about that area. She said the strip of grass along the North side of 44th Street belonged to Lauderhill, and they had been maintaining it for years.

This made perfect sense. It seemed that code compliance wasn’t aware that this land belonged to Lauderhill and would not be the responsibility of ClubLink.

Funding for the palms along the corridor came from the Tree Preservation Fund, according to Richard Kaplan, Mayor of Lauderhill. The fund requires the city to receive a fee for each tree cut down that wasn’t replaced. The funds are also used for the Lauderhill Garden Club.

Finlayson was thankful and relieved that the area outside ClubLink property was not their responsibility and hoped that the clean-up of the space inside the gates would be completed by the end of this week.

“We have completed all the chainsaw work outside the fence, and it looks much better. Hoping to get the weeds on the inside of the fence taken care of as well the trailer and the tree trimmings.”

Hat-racked Trees

Because of guidelines mandated by the state, trees have to be removed from getting close to electrical wires. Because FPL trims every three years, they made sure that the trees would not grow close to the wires for that period.

Finlayson said that he is upset about the trees on the golf courses being hat-racked. He discovered that FPL did not contact management before proceeding with the trimming but instead went to the contracted maintenance company, PTM, which had no authority to oversee it.

He agrees that the trees look butchered and believes they took away from the shade and definition of the course. He will be in closer communication with FPL and is hoping that he can have the trees maintained every year versus every two years.

Future:

Finlayson says they need to add more members for the Woodlands Country Club to be viable. At the end of 2011, ClubLink added 170 members. This includes 100 seasonal and 70 local members.

He has many ideas on what he would like to see ClubLink do with the areas of the club that are not being used, such as the outside restaurant, pool, and tennis courts but says that the changes and investment cannot happen right away.

“We’re optimistic; we have to focus on sound decisions on how we spend our money,” said Finlayson. “Our long-term goal is to offer more activities at the club for the community to enjoy. We need to find out their needs in the community and if we can meet them in a way that offers good value.”

“It’s not going to happen overnight. We want to be responsible and do what’s right.