Shaking It Up - New Course Owner Stares Down Challenging Business
Photo/Matt Pilon
Photo/Matt Pilon
This view from the front of the clubhouse reveals a newly constructed practice putting green and the fairway of holes one and nine.
During his careers in real estate and in running an $80-million company that makes truck cabs, Fred "Skip" Curtis got to know plenty of bankers. The golf course business, they told him, is a bad one.
But Curtis –— an avid golfer who whittled his handicap down to an impressive four during his several years of retirement after selling Curtis Tractor Cab in Worcester (now Curtis Industries) –— found himself needing a new project that would allow him to take the reins once again and diversify his real estate investments.
The bankers' words of caution were heeded, but ultimately cast aside when Curtis purchased Shaker Hills Golf Course in Harvard for $3.4 million at foreclosure auction earlier this year.
Shaker Hills was the first MetroWest golf course to go into foreclosure in years.
In a recent interview at the course, which straddles the Harvard-Ayer border on Route 2, Curtis said like any golfer, he had always dreamed about owning a golf course.
He said he saw potential in the course when he visited it before the April auction.
"The trick was to reveal it," Curtis said.
Curtis knows a foreclosure can sour a course's image in some golfers' minds.
"I have to rebound from that," he said.
He's banking on the course's history and his plans to make the venture a success.
"The course, you notice, I kept the same name," he said. "The retention of the Shaker Hills name is a testament to the strong image of the course."
He tweaked the name slightly, though. The course is now called Shaker Hills Country Club.
Renovation Rundown
The changes to Shaker Hills have been carried out by a construction crew from Vermont-based NMP Golf Construction, which built courses at Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun, as well as by course employees and other contractors. Renovations have taken place throughout the course, but have zoned in on the 13,000-square-foot clubhouse and the area surrounding it.
The fairways visible from the clubhouse slope toward the building, "like an amphitheater," Curtis said. He wanted to spruce up that area so customers could better enjoy the view on an extended roof deck he plans to build in the coming months.
Curtis hired architects to help with the redesign, but he said he didn't like their plans and ultimately threw them out.
The pathways, landscaping and practice green around the clubhouse are all new, as is a major modification to the 18th hole.
The deck will extend all the way to the edge of the new 18th green. Formerly a par 4, the final hole of the course has been converted into a long par 5 that ends at the clubhouse rather than off in the distance, adding a stroke to the formerly par-71 course and bringing the total distance from the expert tee boxes to more than 7,000 yards. The original final fairway had to be blasted with dynamite to make the changes.
The driving range was moved over to make room for the new fairway, and Curtis has turned the former 18th green into a practice hole for golfers waiting to play their rounds.
"How many courses have a 19th hole?" he asked.
Curtis has also widened and fixed up fairways and greens, redesigned sand hazards and taken down dozens of trees to open up natural views to water features on the property. He even filled in a part of a pond that many golfers had trouble carrying their drives over, making it fairway.
Closed to golfers all year, the Shaker fairways appeared virgin, perhaps the only ones free of divots in the state; that is, until the course held a soft opening in late September to build interest for the 2013 season.
The clubhouse renovations get underway this winter.
He's planning a second phase of changes for the course, though he stayed mum on what they would entail.
On a golf cart tour of the course, Curtis pointed out an area at the 13th and 6th tee boxes, where he will build a concession stand with a roof-viewing deck for tournament seating and refreshments.
He envisions the course's wedding business will also benefit by offering wedding guests rides from the clubhouse to enjoy the hilltop view and drinks.
Competitive Spirit
Curtis believes his investments in the clubhouse and course renovations can return Shaker Hills, once rated as the top public course in Massachusetts, to its former glory.
He pointed to several hires who will help him get there, including NMP Golf Construction superintendent Clayton Longfellow as director of course management and longtime friend and fellow golfer Timothy Valas as general manager.
Valas, who until recently was selling employee benefits all over the country, said he laughed at first when Curtis asked him to help run the course. But a job that would let him be closer to home started to sound appealing. And he knows Curtis well.
"Besides my respect for Skip as a visionary and a great businessman, I knew he's been successful at everything he's tried, and that was part of the draw of the career change," Valas said.
He said he thinks golfers are going to be impressed with the changes to the course.
Golfer perception will be important, as Curtis wanted to draw tournaments to Shaker Hills. And of high importance on his list is regaining Golf Digest's top public course title, which is awarded annually in each of the 50 states.
"I don't mind telling you, my goal is to get that No. 1 public course spot back in two to three years," Curtis said. "We have that kind of layout."
Curtis is certainly going to have competition from Red Tail Golf Club, a younger course just 10 minutes away in Devens. Red Tail won the Golfweek magazine's top spot this year, in 2011 and 2009 (The International in Bolton, which has one private course and one public course, currently holds the 8th spot).
Indeed it was the opening of Red Tail in 1999 that Curtis thinks ultimately hurt Shaker Hills' revenue, especially when the recession hit in 2008.
Ever the competitor, Curtis said his colleagues up the road better watch out.
"There's going to be trouble over there," he said.
Jim Pavlik, general manager and head professional at Red Tail, declined to stoke the competitive fires when told Curtis was gunning for top rankings.
"I respect what they do at their golf course and what everybody else does on their operations," Pavlik said. "I'm not going to start any kind of banter. I wish them well and I'm sure they wish us well. There's plenty for everybody."
Pavlik said Red Tail has held up well, even during the recession. The club has seen a steady 30,000 rounds per year, and the warm winter this year was a particular boost.
He said corporate events are up this year as companies start to spend more. And, the course hosted the USGA's Women's Amateur Public Links Championship in 2009.
"No matter what's happened throughout this downturn, Red Tail has maintained a championship condition," Pavlik said.
Tough Business
Golf course metrics shine a light on why the business can be tough.
The number of rounds played and the number of golf courses in the United States has fallen over the past 12 years, according to data from the Professional Golf Association and National Golf Course Owners Association.
There's been a similar trend in Massachusetts. But since many courses are private companies, there isn't much data that drills down to specific regions or courses.
Curtis thinks many golf courses are heavily leveraged, always having to worry about paying their lenders. He, on the other hand, is self-financed and willing to invest in the course, something he thinks will give him an advantage over competitors.
"I only have to evaluate my opportunity costs," he said. "Even if the amount of rounds played in Massachusetts is on a slow decline and there's only a fixed amount of players out there, I'm still extremely confident. I'm familiar with other courses that surround me and I believe we have a value here for people that come see our product."
Come spring, Curtis can start trying to meet those expectations. n
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