In an effort to turn around the city’s Cedarcrest Golf Course, the council voted Feb. 2 to work on a contract with Premier Golf Centers to take over management of the facility.

Parks director Jim Ballew emphasized Feb. 4 that no contract has been worked out yet or approved by the City Council.

Premier has helped other nearby courses go from the red to the green.

“They were all troubled when we took over, and they all have improved,” Matt Amundsen of Premier said.

Walter Hall and Legion Memorial, both in Everett, were losing money until Premier took over, as was the Lynnwood course.

One way profits improve is through its call center. When golfers call for a tee time, if that time is booked, the center refers the golfer to a nearby course.

“We keep them inside the Premier family,” Amundsen said.

Also, rather than discounting rounds, Premier likes to bundle packages to include food and other items.

“We don’t charge you less, we give you more,” Amundsen said is their philosophy.

Amundsen said discounted rounds can hurt a course’s reputation. He cited Walter Hall as an example.

“People thought it was a sub-par course when it really wasn’t,” he said, adding green fees have been raised slowly over the years to catch up.

He said rounds at Cedarcrest were discounted a lot last year, but the number of rounds still were down 13.3 percent.

Amundsen said green fees are just one piece of the economic success of a course. Also important are: the pro shop, golf lessons, golf carts, and food and beverage.

He said a driving range brings the best bang for the buck, but there is no room for one at Cedarcrest. Driving ranges are being added to facilities in Seattle and Bellevue. At Cedarcrest there could be room for video golf, such as what’s set up at Legion.

Because Premier runs 12 city courses only in the Pacific Northwest, is also uses cooperative advertising to save costs. And it uses technology, using mobile applications to provide promotions to players on their phones.

They also use technology to survey golfers. They found out that at Walter Hall women spend three times more than at Legion, so they promoted the Ladies Club more at the former.

Premier also is big on customer service.

“We have our staff trained the right way,” Amundsen said, adding the customer is the boss.

Premier also could handle the maintenance of the course to save costs, he said.

“If it’s not presented properly it can hurt your reputation,” he added.

Council member Camille Norton, who was on the committee that recommended Premier, said she likes that golf classes would be offered.

“Build the golfers for tomorrow,” Mayor Jon Nehring said.

Amundsen said outreach is important. In Marysville, only about 5 percent of the public golfs, down from 8 percent a few years ago.

Ballew said Premier has received “glowing reports” from other municipal courses it manages. He said golf is on the decline nationally. He joked that even once-popular courses like Kayak are discounting the marketplace with a “hot dog and message.”

Amundsen said he would like to improve the fleet at Cedarcrest as golf carts are profitable.

“The doctor might not like it but we want people riding golf carts,” Amundsen joked.

Because of the weather in the Northwest, one problem courses have is no shows on tee times.

“So we overbook just like the airlines,” Amundsen said.

He said Premier would like to expand use of the entire golf facility. So along with cross country meets and the Tour of Lights at Christmas, he would like to see things added like the summer jazz and dinner offerings Premier has at other courses, which are popular with non-golfers, too. He also would like to see an increase in small corporate tournaments of 20 to 30 people, which died out during the recession but could make a comeback.

As for the cost of Premier to take over, there would be a monthly management fee and likely an incentive clause.

“We truly won’t make a lot of money unless we do a wonderful job for you guys,” Amundsen said.

Premier Golf Centers courses

Seattle: Interbay Golf Center, Jackson Park, West Seattle, Jefferson Park

Pierce County: Lake Spanaway, Fort Steilacoom

Bellevue: Bellevue Golf Course

Maple Valley: Lake Wilderness

Everett: Legion Memorial, Walter Hall

Lynnwood: Lynnwood Golf Course

www.premiergolfcenters.com