COMMUNITY AND RESOURCES
COMMITTEE MEETING
MONDAY 20 JULY 2015
ATTACHMENT 1 OF 3
TO ITEM CR15.96
MINIATURE GOLF, PLAYGROUND
AND COURSE WORKS WEMBLEY GOLF COURSE
COMMUNITY AND RESOURCES
COMMITTEE MEETING
MONDAY 20 JULY 2015
ATTACHMENT 2 OF 3
TO ITEM CR15.96
MINIATURE GOLF, PLAYGROUND
AND COURSE WORKS WEMBLEY GOLF COURSE
BUSINESS CASE:
MINIATURE GOLF - WEMBLEY
GOLF COURSE
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The miniature golf project at Wembley Golf Course will provide a unique facility for people of
all ages and is seen as complementary to the facilities and operations at Wembley Golf
Course.
Strong economic growth potential will be afforded from this project.
2. VISION AND OBJECTIVES
The vision for the project is to "create new revenue opportunities and generate additional
interest in Wembley Golf Course by providing new leisure facilities such as miniature golf
and playground in an attractive and well designed area ".
The objectives of the project are:
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Achieve strong financial returns on investment
Create a playground area to attract families to the new food & beverage facilities
Develop a high quality miniature golf facilty that can be played by wheelchair bound
patrons - creating an unique point of difference
Ensure that our core business at Wembley Golf Course is not compromised by
undertaking necessary improvements to short game practice areas and golf holes
impacted by the works area
Develop new opportunities in partnership with Clubhouse Catering for weddings and
other corporate events in the new faciltiies to strengthen the long term viability of the
facility
Further strengthen Wembley Golf Course's capability in attracting and retaining
patrons for golf by creating interest in new offerings
3. KEY DRIVERS FOR CHANGE
3.1
Existing Situation
Participation in the game of golf has been in decline in Australia and internationally for the
past 8-10 years (in terms of pro rata community take up). In the US they have seen 8
consecutive years of net course closures (averaging 160 per annum) and a decline in
participants from 30 million in 2006 to 25 million in 2015.
In Australia golf membership numbers has declined by 7.2% in the last 5 years and social
golf rounds are believed to have remained stagnant in most markets. Importantly Golf
Australia research shows that the 55 and over age group represents 30% of the population
yet plays 44% of all golf rounds in Australia. This has implications in regards to green fee
revenues as the uptake of senior/concession green fees increases.
The three most common reasons given for the decline in golf are
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Too hard
Takes too much time to play
Is an expensive sport
The Town of Cambridge is investing $10m towards new food and beverage facilities which
will only be successful if patrons are attracted to Wembley Golf Course who are not golfers being families, local residents, businesses seeking new and innovative corporate function
areas and people wishing to hold parties and weddings.
3.2
Existing Miniature Golf Facilities
Within the greater Perth region, there are known to be the following 'mini golf' facilities Facility
Distance from Perth
CBD (straight line)
Botanic Miniature Golf
40 km
Supa Golf Mini Golf, Swan Valley
20 km
Murdoch Pines, North Lake
15 km
Great Escape, Hilary's Boat Harbour
20 km
Botanic Miniature Golf is believed to be the market leader by volume. The remaining facilities
are relatively low scale or purely of a 'novelty' nature.
Wembley Golf Course is situated much closer to the Perth CBD and as such affords a closer
travel distance for many families.
3.3
Playground Facilities
One of the key attractors to the new food and beverage facilities being developed at
Wembley Golf Course will be the availability of 'coffee and cake' in alfresco areas
overlooking the golf course, lakes and scenery. This feature could be highly successful to
parents / mother's groups if there was a complementary facility such as a playground to
occupy small children. The development of a playground is seen as value add to the
capability of the food and beverage operations.
3.4
Short Game Practice Facilities
Wembley Golf Course provides ~ 4,800 m2 of area for patrons to practice their short game chipping, putting and bunker play. This is seen as a complementary provision for the existing
Driving Range, allowing players to be able to practice their full game. Any development
being undertaken for this project has to be cognisant of maintaining short game practice
facilities in order to maintain existing revenue streams from the Driving Range.
The short game area is also an important facility for golf tuition, which provides another
revenue stream to the Town.
3.5
Tuart Course
The Tuart course is one of two 18 hole courses at Wembley Golf Course (the other being the
Old course). The Tuart course was originally a 9 hole course, opened in 1959 and in the
1960s expanded to 18 holes and known as the "New" course. In 1997 it was redeveloped
into what is now known as the Tuart course. It is more popular with leisure golfers and is the
designated course for all Corporate Golf events.
It has a 'par' of 71 over a distance of 5,464 metres from the blue tees The proposed
miniature golf works would impact the 1st hole on the Tuart course, reducing it from a par 5
to a par 4. Consideration needs to be given to restoring the overall par rating of 71 by
altering other holes on this course.
4. PROPOSAL
The following works are proposed as part of this project:
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Miniature Golf facility, including space & shelter for hospitality/small corporate events
Playground set below the al fresco areas of the new restaurant/bar area
Construction of new short game (putting, chipping and bunker) practice facilities
Alteration of the existing Tuart 1st hole from par 5 to par 4
Alteration of the existing Tuart 10th hole from par 4 to par 5
Construction of wedding pavilion overlooking the main lakes
Improvements to pedestrian access from the lower car park to the facilities
Alterations to the GolfShop to cater for miniature golf servicing
Relocation of Wembley Golf Course 'back of house' functions.
The indicative cost of this project, is $2.5m. A master plan showing the spatial relationship
between these facilities is shown below:
4.1
Miniature Golf
The Miniature Golf course will be developed as a 18 hole course, with a novelty 19th hole to
capture balls at end of the play. The front 9 holes have been specifically developed such that
wheelchair bound players can access and play miniature golf along paths and playing
surfaces compliant with relevant parts of Australian Standard 1628 regarding universal
access. Wheelchair players can play this front 9 twice in a round, providing them with 18
holes of miniature golf.
It is believed that this is a unique feature for Perth and should attract a demographic that has
not previously been catered for in this market. This will be a major distinguishing feature of
the miniature golf course to be accessible to people with a range of abilities. A consultant
specialising in accessibility advice was engaged to assist in the design of these elements.
The back 9 holes utilising the natural topography has greater grades and slope and provide
their own points of interest.
Another characteristic proposed for this course is that each hole will have a 'big hole' on the
greens (~ 180 mm diameter holes). This will provide small children a much easier 'target' to
aim for, reducing their frustration of putting into normal 95 mm diameter holes and speeding
up play. Most holes will have a choice of tee points geared towards easy, medium and
difficult holes on the greens, again providing a new level of competitiveness for players.
This course will be set in a high quality landscape environment and will be a premium
product not seen in Perth. The facility is not a basis 'putt putt' layout but has challenges
similar to conventional golf, albeit on a smaller scale It will provide keen challenges, interest
and fun with features such as:
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Swinging pendulum over a hole
Tunnels through natural rock hazards
Balls that can be played into a running water creek towards a hole
An AFL themed hole, where the hardest line is through the goal posts
Fairway hills and valleys intended to shape the path of the ball
The course will feature a separate putting area for 'warm up' and allows people to have a
putt, especially in busy times when the first tee is congested.
Key to the course will be a covered pavilion area. This area will allow the course to be
booked out for special events by providing a covered area for hosting these events.
Clubhouse Catering, as the new operator for the food and beverage at Wembley Golf
Course advise that this could be a very successful part of the business.
The proposed layout is shown below:
4.2
Playground
The playground is proposed to be located immediately to the north of the al-fresco area of
the restaurant/bar. It will be set down from existing ground level such that patrons in the alfresco can overlook the playground towards the golf course fairways, greens and water
features.
The play space will include climbing and swinging equipment, shaded paths and seating
areas and golf themed soft fall ground cover.
4.3
Short Game Practice Area
Immediately to the north of the miniature golf facility a new short game practice area will be
constructed, comprising tiered greens, bunkers and chipping areas. This area is used by the
public for practice, often as part of them using the Driving Range as well as Wembley Golf
Course's Professional staff for teaching purposes.
Whilst there is no direct fee for use of this area, it is ancillary to revenue generating areas
(such as the Driving Range and Professional Teaching)
Provision will be made for future lighting of this area to facilitate additional teaching to occur
at night, increasing the availability of tuition for customers and revenue for the golf course.
4.4
Alteration of Tuart Course
The construction of the miniature golf will necessitate change to the 1st Hole on the Tuart
Course, as the Tee & front part of the fairway will be taken up by these facilities.
It is proposed to construct a new Tee to the north of the new practice facilities and shorten
this hole to a par 4. This will reduce the par for the Tuart Course from 71 to 70. It is proposed
to extend the length of the Tuart 10th from a par 4 to a par 5, which will restore the overall
par to 71. This work will be designed and constructed to not require closure of the hole,
except for changeover, as well as take into consideration any future Walking Trail through
Wembley Golf Course.
Finally, upon conclusion of the works on the 1st hole, the order of the holes will be switched
(ie the front 9 becomes the back 9 and the back 9 becomes the front 9). This is preferred as
it provides better player amenity, better oversight of what will become the 1st tee, better
traffic flow for golfers using the Golf Shop and reduces golf traffic past the miniature golf /
playground.
4.5
Wedding Pavilion
The Hospitality Development at Wembley Golf Course will provide large function room
spaces that would be ideal to host wedding functions. The attractiveness of the views from
these function spaces lends the location to be highly sought after. It has been suggested
that if a complementary facility was provided to allow civil wedding ceremonies to be
undertaken, this would increase the number of bookings made at the function centre.
It is proposed to build a small wedding pavilion overlooking the lakes which could be booked
for use by patrons. It would be developed to not impact, or be impacted, by golf activities.
4.6
Improvements to Pedestrian Access
As growth in the diversity of activity at Wembley Golf Course continues, it is anticipated that
the lower car park (which is less preferred at times) becomes busier and that patrons will
require a legible and suitable access from this car park to the main facilities. With the
development of miniature golf, it is proposed that wayfinding signage directs these patrons to
the lower car park. At present the footpath from the car park is not compliant with
accessibility standards and given our emphasis on providing a wheelchair friendly miniature
golf course, this needs rectification. It is proposed to improve the path and landscaping from
the lower car park to the main facilities to make it more attractive and become a main entry
way to miniature golf.
4.7
Golf Shop Improvements
The existing service counter in the Golf Shop would be inadequate to cater for peak
customer service demand for golf, driving range and miniature golf customers.
It is proposed to refurbish the GolfShop to provide new service capacity, especially for
miniature golf, as well as enhance the retail offering on non-golf related apparel.
The proposed changes to the Golf Shop will increase retail floor space by approximately 75
square metres to 375 square metres.
This will necessitate most of the existing 'back of house' administrative functions to relocate
to alternate premises. It is proposed to utilise most of one of the two office spaces being
developed for the Hospitality Development at Wembley Golf Course, on the premise that this
will deliver similar or greater return than office rents.
5. MARKET DUE DILIGENCE
The Town sought peer review from an industry expert regarding the forecast demand for
corporate golf and miniature golf. The corporate golf demand formed part of the Business
Case for the $10m Hospitality Development at Wembley Golf Course which has been
approved by Council and is currently under construction.
With regards to miniature golf, this review indicated that a target base case of 45,000 rounds
of miniature golf pa was easily achievable.
Whilst the local market supply of miniature golf courses is well known in terms of quality,
variety, demand and pricing it was deemed insufficient to develop a new facility business
case on the back of 'more of the same'. Two Town officers visited miniature golf facilities in
S-E Queensland (Brisbane & Gold Coast) to undertake a series of inspections and
discussions with operators. Some facts to come from these visits showed:
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The forecast demand modelled is below actual activity in the more popular locations.
The quality of the landscaping provides better customer participation
The proposal for wheelchair accessible course is unique and the operators in
Queensland are now examining this
Greater returns exist when there are complementary food & beverage facilities with the
facility - facilitating a greater uptake by young adults
Preconceived ideas of the layout of the GolfShop to facilitate miniature golf had to be
abandoned in favour of a more 'customer friendly' and efficient layout
Complementary facilities such as playgrounds add to the attractiveness of the site for
customers
6. TRAFFIC AND PARKING
Wembley Golf Course will be moving from a pure golf and driving range customer base to a
new customer base that includes:
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Wedding & function guests in evenings
Miniature golf players, especially at weekends and evenings
Diners for breakfast, lunch and dinner who wouldn’t be playing golf
Families making use of the 'coffee and cake' and playgrounds
Uplift in corporate golf and corporate functions.
As part of the $10m Hospitality Development at Wembley Golf Course currently under
construction, an additional 42 bays of sealed car parking will be undertaken; as well as an
overflow area that can accommodate a further 20 cars. This 42 bay expansion is a 12%
increase in car parking capacity.
The Town has forecast car parking demand over periods of the day matching the various
types of activity that will occur. This modelling indicates for the short to medium term, that
there are sufficient car parking bays to meet demand.
The Town has also developed concept plans for a further 50 bay expansion, which can be
undertaken as and when demand predicates.
There are no foreseen issues with traffic flow to and from the entry at The Boulevard.
7. RISK ASSESSMENT
This project contains inherent risks. These risks, and their proposed treatment, are
discussed as follows:
Risk Type
Major Risks
Risk
Rating
Risk Mitigation
Funding
Lack of project funding due to
constrained borrowings
Low
Town has capacity in its
borrowing program to provide
for this project
Capital
Cost
Project Cost materially exceeds
forecast and reduces business
case viability
Medium
Use of quantity surveyors to
properly estimate elements of
cost;
Review scope to defer certain
works;
Proceed with project only after
main works tendered
Project costs exceed approved
budget during construction
Low
Relatively simple scope of
works;
low risk of latent conditions
Downturn in miniature golf
activity due to external economic
conditions
Medium
Model is robust and viable at
significantly lower than
forecast activity;
Ability to reduce variable
operating costs in low periods
of turnover
Implementation of miniature golf
and playground deters regular
players from using main course
facilities (Golf and Driving
Range)
High
Consultation to date suggests
that younger demographics of
regular Wembley Golf Course
players do not perceive this
as a deterrent, however more
'senior' regulars are
concerned. Important that
core business is maintained
by providing continued service
standards and access to
facilities
The facilities are 'too successful'
causing unsatisfied demand for
car parking from all Wembley
Golf Course patrons
Medium
There is capacity to construct
in short time additional car
parking
Low
Use of consultant Project
Managers and robust project
procedures in place.
Operating
Revenue
Car Park
Constraints
Project
Project fails to be delivered in
Governance line with Town's cost, time,
scope and community
requirement standards