Following a Dream

Dick Stuntz, Alvamar Country Club. Photo: John MutruxGolf has been a part of Dick Stuntz’s life for as long as he can remember.

As a child growing up in Greene, Iowa, and playing at the nine-hole Round Grove Golf Course.

As a member of the Iowa State University golf team, where he first discovered there was a discipline called agronomy and turf management, which he declared his major his sophomore year.

At Saginaw (Mich.) Country Club, where Stuntz did his college internship, and Ames (Iowa) Country Club, where he first worked as a superintendent. And at Alvamar Country Club, a major jump from the 18-hole, modest-budget Ames facility to the 45-hole, Lawrence, Kan., complex with more sizable purse strings.

“The superintendent profession fit me well,” he recalls.

At Alvamar, Stuntz befriended Head Pro Randy Hunt. During one of their occasional brainstorming sessions in the early 1990s, they agreed it was time to make a decision – to either remain in their jobs, where they were both extremely happy, or to follow their dreams and take the next logical step in their careers – course ownership.

The two men kicked the tires on numerous courses available throughout the Midwest and talked to bankers about how to secure acquisition financing.

In 1995, they purchased a small Southeast Kansas course called Cedarbrook for well under $1 million. A short while later they acquired a lease on a second golf property, Safari Golf Course in Chanute, Kan.

They kept their day jobs and operated the two facilities, located less than 25 miles apart, as absentee owners. Over the next few years, Hunt moved to Chicago to fulfill his duties with Kemper Golf, so Stuntz, with another small partnership, acquired another course and took on two additional management contracts.

Four years ago, Stuntz was promoted to general manager and president of the corporation that owns Alvamar. On the course ownership side, he and his partners own and operate a nine-hole Leavenworth, Kan., public course and manage Paola (Kansas) Country Club.

Stuntz believes his experience is further evidence the superintendent position is becoming better recognized as an avenue to develop general managers and groom future course owners.

“The skill set developed as a superintendent is well suited to running a sizable golf operation,” he says, “But superintendents have to also learn to be good communicators, understand financial statements and lead departments.”

To acquire those additional skills, superintendents, whose basic financial responsibility is to control costs, should seek opportunities to become familiar with other parts of the operation, particularly marketing and revenue generation if they want to eventually become owners.

Stuntz advises that superintendents already employed at a golf facility find someone within the upper-management staff who will let them get involved in the income-producing side of the operation. “Become knowledgeable about balance sheets and income statements,” he advises fellow superintendents. “Learn how courses make money. That knowledge will help prepare superintendents interested in ownership.”

Interestingly, being an owner can also make a superintendent a better employee. For example, Stuntz says working with banks and investors on the various properties he owns gave him a better knowledge base and appreciation of the desires of the other owners at Alvamar.

“Having been an owner helps me realize what other owners want,” he says.

Superintendents looking to become course owners may not have significant funds to invest in a golf property. But banks and investors are more likely to back a superintendent who comes to them with a purchase proposal if the superintendent is willing to invest at least a little money into the project in addition to the considerable sweat equity they will also expect.

“There is nothing more reassuring to a potential investor than knowing that the superintendent has skin (money) in the game,” Stuntz says.

Despite a recession that has hit the golf industry particularly hard, Stuntz still sees great opportunity for those interested in course ownership.

“People who strive to perform well will be successful in most any industry they choose,” he says. “The golf economy is certainly different than it was 10 to 15 years ago. We had it very good back then. Golf participation and course values were going up every year. Interest rates were low.

“There is more competition for the golf dollar today than when I first got involved in course ownership,” he adds. “But there are still many opportunities and bargains out there. Superintendents can get involved in ownership at a good price. But they need to be selective when it comes to the specific property and the market. In the 1990s you could afford to be a bit sloppy with your cost and revenue efforts.”

Stuntz’s final bit of advice to superintendents-who-would-be-owners involves the personal cost of becoming an entrepreneur. In his case, keeping his day job meant managing his investments in his off hours, traveling to his properties nights and weekends. That often left little time for family or other pursuits.

“You have to evaluate yourself and how much time you want to devote to work,” Stuntz notes. “You and your family have to be willing to make some sacrifices. Fortunately, I have had a very understanding and supportive wife.”

He also had to put some professional ambitions aside. Stuntz said he would have enjoyed serving on the Golf Course Superintendents Association (GCSA) board of directors. But finding time to run his business, work for an employer and serve on the board would have been impossible if he wanted to do any of those well.

Even in this difficult economic climate, many people still want to invest their money in golf properties.

What would-be superintendent/owners need to do is find a property with needs and then show how they can be agents of change that will make that property profitable. Approach potential investors with an opportunity to become a partner in something with growth potential.

“Being part of the golf industry, and course ownership in particular, is very rewarding,” Stuntz concludes.