Golf Great Submits Low Bid to Manage Los Robles Greens

THOUSAND OAKS — The city-owned Los Robles Greens golf course--which faces legal problems and is set to undergo a long-overdue renovation--may soon be in the hands of a legendary pro.

Arnold Palmer, to be precise.

The City Council tonight is set to consider granting the pro golfer’s firm, Arnold Palmer Golf Management Co., a five-year, $6.45-million contract to operate the 32-year-old course.

Palmer’s firm outbid the other candidate, M.F. Daily Investments, whose proposal includes the course’s current operator, Angelo Ruggiero Inc. M.F. Daily of Camarillo had submitted a $6.72-million offer. Both bids would provide the operators with additional income from the money generated by teaching golf lessons and sales at the pro shop.

Its lower bid, however, may not guarantee Palmer Golf receives the contract. Councilwoman Jaime Zukowski said that although Palmer Golf is bigger--it manages 17 courses--M.F. Daily should be considered because it is locally based and already operates the county’s Soule Park Golf Course in Ojai.

“We need to look beyond just the dollar figures,” Zukowski said. “Both of these proposals are very close, and there are advantages to working with local firms. I would like to give the local firm an opportunity to do this.”

More than 800,000 rounds of golf have been played at Los Robles Greens during the past eight years--making it one of the most popular municipal golf courses in Southern California--and Thousand Oaks leaders consider it one of the city’s top assets.

Thousand Oaks was making between $250,000 and $500,000 a year from operation of the course, according to Finance Director Bob Biery.

But the intense, prolonged use of Los Robles Greens has caused it to deteriorate considerably, and city officials have embarked on a multimillion-dollar redesign and renovation.

And a lawsuit brought by a nearby property owner, who contends he was knocked unconscious by a stray golf ball, is delaying--and complicating--the plans.

Landowner Al Dickens sued Thousand Oaks last year, alleging that golf balls from Los Robles Greens’ driving range were constantly flying around his newly built office building next door. Dickens and his lawyer argued that the wild balls created a safety hazard that would make it impossible for him to rent out the building.

Superior Court Judge Barbara Lane issued a preliminary injunction calling for the driving range to close until city officials could guarantee that absolutely no golf balls would fly onto Dickens’ property.

Despite protests from city officials who said the injunction was too extreme, the judge refused to withdraw it earlier this year. After Dickens and the city failed to come to an agreement, the driving range was closed in March.

The City Council tonight is also expected to consider plans to relocate the driving range, which is apparently going to cost $629,000--more than twice the original estimate. Council members will consider whether to allow city officials to seek bids and award contracts to perform the work.

As part of its proposed deal with Palmer Golf, Thousand Oaks would receive all revenue from the driving range’s operation, expected to be somewhere around $200,000 a year. In its current pact with Angelo Ruggiero Inc., the city received only one-fifth, or about $40,000, of the annual range revenues.

It is still too early to estimate how much Thousand Oaks would receive from the entire golf course once it is renovated, Biery said.

Councilman Mike Markey said that for him, money would also not be the only factor in choosing a new operator: The level of service the company would provide is something he wants to know more about.

“We were concerned about the future of the golf course, that’s why we got into all of this,” Markey said. “We need to look at improving the way the golf course is run. I’m concerned with more than money. I’m interested in the customer service aspect, how people are going to be treated.”