Water deal will aid young would-be Taupo golfers

Under 23 golf tournament at the Taupo Golf Club. Photo / Stephen Parker

A deal struck by Taupo Golf Club with Taupo District Council for free water over the next three years will help the club speed up debt repayments and has a side benefit for the area's young golfers.

The financially strapped club will save $135,000 in irrigation costs, thanks to the council waiving the annual fee of $45,000 for untreated water. In return, the club offers free membership to under-13-year-olds who live in the Taupo area.

Club chairman John Marshall said the free membership was a way of giving back to the local community.

"We felt we were asking the community to give us something and wanted to reciprocate."

The savings in water payments would enable the club to double its debt repayments. Mr Marshall said the club's financial position had improved significantly since 2009, when it ended up $1.65 million in debt after spending more than $1 million to upgrade fairway irrigation on the Centennial and Tauhara courses in the early 2000s. Declining membership and the global financial crisis compounded the debt crisis.

A debt restructuring programme driven by former board chairman Stuart McKinley in 2009 had seen the club pay off $450,000 over the past six years. The introduction last year of a course fee of $3 per 18-hole round, along with increases in tournament and green fees, had helped boost revenue. A revenue growth committee was continuing efforts to generate additional income from sponsorship, tournaments and bequests, and had come back with a good report this year. Volunteers had also done a great job helping with maintenance.

Mr Marshall said irrigation for the courses was the biggest cost after wages and salaries, and the council's decision to grant the club's request to waive the annual water rate for three years was a huge benefit for the club.

Mr Marshall said the club currently had just over 900 members and was in "good heart".

While golf membership nationwide has been on the decline in recent years, the Taupo Golf Club has experienced an increase in the number of green fee players over the past couple of years. He said the golf course attracted around 12,000 people annually for tournaments, or as casual green fee players, and they contributed around $12 million in economic benefits to the Taupo area. Mr Marshall said the club was continuing to attract new tournaments and will be hosting about 40 New Zealand professional golfers on the Centennial Course in September, for a New Zealand PGA Pro-Am tour.