Wheaton's Arrowhead seeing more green after clubhouse renovation

Bad bookkeeping in the recent past sometimes makes apples-to-apples comparisons of performance in the Wheaton Park District difficult.

But the numbers at Arrowhead Golf Course are so good, there's no denying the facility is matching the new revenue expectations park commissioners envisioned in renovating the clubhouse.

The park district this week released the 2007 performance numbers for the golf course.

Last year, the course logged 57,377 paid rounds of golf. That's a 21 percent increase from just three years ago, prior to the $16 million clubhouse upgrades.

The increase in golf rounds bucks a national trend of a downturn in golf's popularity.

Golf lessons also shot up by 33 percent in 2007 after the start of a new after-school program and free clinics by the golf pro staff.

The American Grill restaurant and banquet facilities continue to be the major breadwinner of the renovated facility. Last year, the restaurant served nearly 68,000 guests -- a number that would have been considered unheard of for the old eating facility.

All told, the restaurant and bar raked in nearly $2 million in sales. The costs of the goods sold to the district is not included in that total and is above average because the eatery sells higher-end food, liquor and wine.

The banquet facility served 44,505 guests in 2007, mainly during the warm-weather wedding months.

Park commissioners told district staff this week that they were very pleased at the performance of the clubhouse, especially as the dining operation has had some problems with repeated turnover in management staff.