County golf courses have another record year

The Ozaukee County golf courses had another record year in 2024, preliminary figures released last week show.

The county’s two courses — Mee-Kwon in Mequon and Hawthorne Hills in the Town of Saukville — generated almost $2.95 million in gross revenue with 80,940 rounds of golf last year, compared to $2.9 million on 81,600 rounds in 2023.

Revenue per round was up, $36.43 compared to $35.60 in 2023.

Net operating revenue has a chance to also surpass 2023, but final expenses won’t be known until March, County Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck said.

Struck credited the higher revenue per round to several things, including increased sales of gift cards, online ID cards, increased golf cart rentals and slightly higher fees.

Officials also have credited improved clubhouse and concession service for making the courses more attractive for golfers.

“It was just an excellent season,” Struck said.

The golf courses are a county “enterprise fund,” meaning any “profit” raised goes back into the courses for maintenance or to make improvements. They are not supported by the property tax levy.

In addition, the courses were able to contribute $100,000 from those profits to support the county budget in 2025.

Plans call for continued improvements to the courses.

Those include reconstructing the irrigation system at Hawthorne Hills, parts of which date back to the course’s beginnings in the 1960s.

Struck said he hopes the irrigation project will be completed by the time the golf season begins next spring.

“We are already working on a major irrigation project. We hope there will be no impact to the golf season. We are trying to do as much as we can now,” Struck said.

In addition, reconstruction of two greens  at Hawthorne Hills that was planned for this spring is being pushed back to fall.

The greens on holes two and seven are “severely” sloped and have garnered many complaints over the years, Struck said.

Easing the slopes will improve pace of play on those two holes and “make for a better experience,” Struck told the Natural Resources Committee last week.

The budget for the project is $292,856 and is scheduled to start in early September and be completed by the end of October.

It was pushed back to fall so it would not conflict with the irrigation project nor the golf season.

“By moving the construction dates from spring to the fall, the odds of getting the project done on schedule improve drastically due to more predictable weather conditions,” Struck said in a memo to the committee.“Additionally, the busiest part of the golf season would be avoided.”

The original budget for the project was $185,000.

“Pricing has gone up significantly from the original budgeted amount of $185,000 prior to final design,” Struck said. “This is mainly due to the economic environment, but also from the decision to sod the entire project. This decision was made to get the golf greens back to play as quickly as possible.”

Indoor golf simulators have already been installed at both clubhouses and staff will soon be trained on the use of the software.

The simulators are expected to help make the clubhouses a year round attraction for golfers and generate additional revenue.

Reservations for the simulators can be made online, similar to reserving a tee time.

The county also has purchased two new beverage carts for the courses.

The combined cost is $30,810 after a $7,000 trade-in credit for the courses’ two existing carts.