Running golf course in Buffalo area can be challenging

In addition to having a litany of things to upgrade and replace at the former Holland Hills Country Club in Colden, he also had to deal with wet early spring weather, including the rainiest April in seven years.

It put him and other course proprietors in a difficult position as they prepared for what can already be a dicey golf season in the Buffalo area dictated many times by unpredictable weather.

“It’s the hardest thing I have ever done, between the remodeling, staffing and then a horrible spring as far as rainfall for golf courses,” said Krempholtz, 43, of East Aurora, who closed on the $1.1 million deal for the golf course earlier this year.

“I really haven’t been able to enjoy it yet, but I will. I’ll get over the hurdles,” he added.

Shorter golf seasons already make it harder to run a course in Western New York, especially for privately owned, mom-and-pop public courses. There are plenty of expenses that come along with it as well.

That could mean purchasing the type of expensive equipment that makes it more possible to get out and work on the golf course in the early spring without getting stuck in the mud. It also makes employing a knowledgeable groundskeeper with extensive experience critical to a course’s survival.

‘Something I’ve always wanted to do’

Still, for many course owners, this type of purchase amounts to fulfilling a dream.

Krempholtz woke up abruptly one early morning in October, grabbed his phone and Googled “golf courses for sale.” He came upon the listing for Holland Hills.

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

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

He and his business partners were selected by the city seven years ago to essentially save a venue that was losing hundreds of millions of dollars annually. They run the course, restaurant and pro shop, collecting all revenues and paying all expenses. The group of investors, which includes Horn’s brother William, initially committed around $100,000 for course improvements.

The golf course has taken a turn for the better, after losing money for around 15 years while under the city’s control, but it is far from a huge moneymaker.

“None of us are getting rich,” Horn said with a chuckle. “But the key thing is we are able to afford better equipment each season and when equipment breaks, we can afford to repair it.”

Not only does it take significant money to maintain a golf course, but also plenty of time. Krempholtz said he’s planning to build a home on the 263-property at 10438 Holland Glenwood Road and eventually retire there.

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

“It is an around-the-clock, seven-days-a-week job,” he said. “There are no more weekends off, put it that way.”

Horn arrives daily at Hyde Park Golf Course by 4:30 am to tend to business and prepare staff for the day.

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

Krempholtz doesn’t envision making money on the golf course anytime soon, saying every penny generated will go back into the venue for the foreseeable future. He liquidated a rental property business for a down payment.

“We have big, big plans for this place,” he said. “I think this is an investment that will pay off, but it will take some years.”

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

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

“Golf is an outdoor sport, and Mother Nature is the boss,” Horn said. “People get frustrated in the springtime, because they want to play and are asking when we’re opening, but, in the meantime, we’re getting equipment stuck all over the course.”

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

The 30-year golfer told The News at the time that it would require significant additional funding to bring up to date the course, which also includes a restaurant and pro shop.

He was planning to put bunkers on the course, plant more trees and buy more electric-powered golf carts to replace older gas carts and has plans to develop some of the approximately 20 acres of undeveloped land on the property.

“I want to help the golf course feel better, and I have lots of plans to upgrade it,” he said.

Krempholtz has big plans for Shamrock Hills, too. He and his general manager are working on getting the restaurant reopened in late June, after a complete kitchen and bar remodel. Broken equipment is being replaced. His groundskeeper is implementing changes to the seeding, fertilization and grass and green lengths. Cracked cart paths are to be renovated, sand traps will be added to the course, and a party deck for live music will be constructed.

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

Extended fall seasons help

If course owners have been fortunate in one aspect, it is that the fall golfing season in Buffalo seems to be getting longer.

In mild autumn weather has allowed many owners to stay open well into November over the past few years.

“I’ll stay open for as long as possible,” Krempholtz said. Krempholtz also wants to encourage more people to take up the sport by putting together programming at Shamrock Hills to encourage younger 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 longer, to try different courses,” he added. “I know I’ve played countless courses around, and I generally see someone I know at each one.”