Old Mundelein golf course gets new life

After years of decline, even some regulars had soured on the bumpy greens and dank clubhouse at Village Green Country Club in Mundelein.

Some called it a goat track, which is not a good thing in golf parlance.

But in a unique arrangement with Mundelein High School District 120, a new manager of the 45-year-old course at Winchester and Midlothian roads is intent on reviving interest.

The district agreed to buy the course in 2004 for a second building or athletic fields. Development was shelved indefinitely when enrollment leveled, but the district has opted to keep the land and allow it to remain a golf course for the near term.

"Give it a try," urges a sign along Winchester. Another touts this season as a grand reopening, although the neighborhood course has never closed.

There is incentive from both perspectives. District 120, which took title to the property in January, gets 4 percent of the gross revenues and not less than $35,000 per year. That money is used for the district's general operations and maintenance.

The operator, GolfVisions Management Inc., keeps the balance and will pay an increasing amount of the property tax up to $15,000 per year.

"It is a project. It's a lot of work," says Tim Miles, founder and chief executive of GolfVisions, which began a five-year lease in January with the possibility for extensions.

"There's no assurance we'll make any money here but we're entrepreneurs. We take chances."

While unusual for a school district to own a golf course, it is considered an asset that won't decline in value, despite the $8.5 million purchase price and the annual $833,000 debt payment until 2021.

"I don't look at it as the district being in the golf course business. We purchased a plot of land that was a golf course," said Steve Wirt, school board vice president.

"This was a chance to enhance what was there without us being a part of it, really. We would have had to maintain the grounds."

Miles described the arrangement as warehousing the land until it has a higher or better use.

"This could be around for 10 or 15 years," he said. "We're improving the property. At some point, they'll either use it or sell it."

GolfVisions' focus has been reeducating a public that gave up on the course or did not consider it worthy of their time.

"The challenge of a course like this was to get the golfers to come back and play," Miles said.

Some regulars never left, content with being able to walk on without a reservation and get their hacks in.

"We liked it. It was cheap and it was close to home. It had some challenging holes," explained Tom Brady, a Mundelein resident, who has played the course two or three times a week for several years.

The greens now are firmer and roll more true. Sand traps aren't like concrete, he says. The bar in the clubhouse has something other than hot dogs and chips.

"This year, it's absolutely surprising what they've done to the course in terms of improvements," he added.

The family-run company operates seven other courses in the Chicago area and an eighth in Florida, and is constantly scouting for new ventures. Miles saw an opportunity when he learned District 120 wanted to continue operating Village Green as a golf course rather than immediately build a new school or athletic fields there.

"We've looked at hundreds of golf courses," he said. "We saw the potential. The niche for this is an affordable, nice, sporty golf course."

In golf speak, sporty translates to short - 6,018 yards from the back tees.

Considered unworthy by some of the younger generation of golfers, who favor high-tech equipment and long, long courses with more bells and whistles, the focus for Miles has been presenting a fun challenge at a reasonable price.

"The average guy needs to differentiate between recreational golf and competition golf," Miles says.

Quality control became the first priority. The effort has been akin to painting, replacing carpeting and outdated appliances and sprucing up the landscaping on a sound, but worn fixer-upper home to make it more salable. The parking lot won't be repaved, but at least the big hunks of asphalt have been removed.

GolfVisions has invested about $250,000, mainly to replace ancient mowing equipment. That allows for precise cutting, which for the first time in eons defines the fairway from the rough. Bumpy, slow greens now run smooth and fast.

The edges on the three dozen bunkers on the course were redefined and the sand redistributed. Attention was paid to the drainage issues on the east portion of the course, which became swampy at times.

Improvements also have been made to the clubhouse. Upstairs, two rooms were cleared of 45 years of accumulated debris and made into modest offices.

"This clubhouse was deplorable. I had five guys in here for five months. We didn't do any structural change, it's all cosmetic," Miles said.

The mantra "clean and crisp" applies to all aspects of the operation, and staff are drilled in being friendly and helpful.

But the golf business in general hasn't been all that good anywhere. In 2006, more courses closed than opened for the first time in 60 years, and the number of rounds played since has remained virtually unchanged.

"Last year, industrywide across the United States, rounds were pretty flat, and we're not going to have any significant growth this year either in golf rounds," Miles said.

This year, operators haven't been able to even make good comparisons. This spring was the coolest in 11 years, and May was the ninth coolest in 50 years, according to Dan Prezell, director of revenue facilities for the Lake County Forest Preserve District, which operates 72 holes on three courses.

High gas prices, a drop in disposable income and other economic factors also play a role.

"To try to compare it to last year or previous years is kind of a tough call. We just couldn't get a handle on it," he said. "We're looking for consistent good weather so we can evaluate our operation in terms of how the economy might be affecting it."

Prezell has a unique perspective. He was a member of the District 120 board in 2004 when it agreed to purchase Village Green.

"The reason it came about was because they were selling," he said. "We were looking for property, that was the bottom line. It was in the district, it was close, it was open space."

Miles already has downsized his original projection of having 30,000 to 35,000 rounds played at Village Green this season. He thinks the economy may work in his favor, however, as area residents look for inexpensive entertainment closer to home.

But it's obvious he is having fun no matter what happens.

"If we don't make any money here and break even, I be happy," he said. "This is cool."