The pro shop at El Conquistador Resort would be part of the purchase that the Oro Valley Town Council is voting on tonight.
Oro Valley is considering purchasing the golf courses at El Conquistador.
Oro Valley is projecting a big increase in golf — even as the sport fades in popularity.
Financial documents prepared as the town decides today whether to jump into the golf business assume a 28 percent increase in rounds played and a 16 percent jump in golf memberships in order to meet its goal of breaking even after four years.
Nationwide, the number of rounds played annually fell 10 percent since 2000 and the number of golfers fell 12 percent, the National Golf Foundation says.
“There are just fewer and fewer golfers,” said Tom Charland, a retired internal auditor for city of Tucson who audited the municipal golf courses and lives on a golf course in Oro Valley. “I have a very strong interest in golf, but the financial side of me says I don’t see a lot of increased rounds played or an increase in revenue.”
Oro Valley’s Town Council will vote today on whether to buy El Conquistador Country Club, with its 45 holes of golf, and whether to increase the town’s sales tax rate to pay for it.
The town expects to subsidize the golf operation for a few years, with an estimated deficit in the first year of up to $1.3 million. After renovations and better marketing, the town’s projections push the golf business out of the red in four years.
The plan is to buy the country club and golf facilities for $1 million from HSL Properties, which wants to buy the Hilton El Conquistador resort but doesn’t want to keep its country club and golf.
The town would turn the 31,475-square-foot country club building, 10555 N. La Cañada, into a community center and recreation center, and it would outsource the operation of the three golf courses. The contractor would be Troon, which would run the courses at a “resort-level experience,” the financial projections say.
Oro Valley Town Manager Greg Caton has said the facilities are worth as much as three times the price the town would pay. However, the town has not yet received a copy of a building appraisal done by HSL.
The town’s own inspections revealed multiple renovation projects that need to be done on the buildings and on the greens. Replacing the irrigation system on one golf course is expected to cost $1.55 million. But that project would also save the town money in water bills because the new system would be more efficient, the financial plans say.
To pay for the renovations, town leaders propose raising the sales tax by a half-cent per dollar. The current sales tax is 2 percent, or $2 on a $100 purchase. The new rate would be 2.5 percent, or $2.50 on a $100 purchase.
