by The Editors on March 3, 2016
Happy Hour Politics is pleased to host their own President, Melanie Burkholder, as the featured speaker at their March meeting scheduled for Wednesday, March 16, 2016 at Carlsbad’s own golf course The Crossings. Her topic – On the Campaign Trail … as a Secret Service Agent!
Melanie served for six year as a Special Agent (SA) in the Department of Homeland Security with the United States Secret Service. Her duties included protection details for the President, Vice-President, and many foreign dignitaries. As an investigator of Identity Theft, Fraud, Money Laundering, Bank Fraud and Counterfeit in the Los Angeles Field Office, SA Burkholder was an integral part of an investigation into an international identity theft organization based in Nigeria.
The event starts at 6 PM on March 16, 2016 and costs $20 (appetizers included). If you enjoy conservative politics and drinking (the two seem to go hand-in-hand) then please follow the jump for all the official details.
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by Richard J. Riehl on December 30, 2010
This year’s $1.7 million bailout of Carlsbad’s three-year-old golf course will bring the total amount of annual subsidies since its opening to $5.1 million. Four of the five council members who voted to tap city coffers again this time voted for each of the previous giveaways. Here’s a small sample of what three of them have said to explain their votes to save a failing enterprise.
The most creative justification came from newly re-elected councilman Mark Packard. “We’re not subsidizing,” he claimed, “we’re ‘fronting’ the money. None of us on the council play golf, so we didn’t do this for our own benefit.” For him, keeping the course on life support amounts to a misnamed and selfless act.
In a variation of I’m-from-the-government- and-I’m-here-to-help, Mayor-elect Matt Hall assured his constituents, “The five of us manage the affairs of the city very well and I feel certain it will pay for itself.”
Holding environmentalists largely responsible for the ballooning cost of construction from its $11 million estimate 18 years ago, Retiring Mayor Lewis sadly predicted, “This will pay, maybe not in my lifetime.”
Each year since its August 2007 opening, the number of budgeted rounds of golf has fallen. The number for 2008 was 52,000. This year’s number of actual rounds is projected to be 42,000. That’s a 20 percent decline. Reaching next year’s budgeted goal of 44,000 seems unlikely, given the course’s track record.
Follow the jump for the rest of the story. . .
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by The Editors on March 11, 2009
KemperSports that golf management firm that runs The Crossings At Carlsbad has announced that they’ve hired a new sales and marketing director. His name is Rory Taylor and his job will be “steering all sales and marketing initiatives for the golf course.”
Taylor, a native of Encinitas, Calif., brings several years of industry experience to his new position. He is a 2007 graduate of Utah Valley University and most recently oversaw sales and marketing operations at The Links at Sleepy Ridge in Orem, Utah, where he was responsible for increasing tournament and outings rounds by more than 40 percent and implementing innovative marketing strategies including redesigned collateral and signage.
If he can do the same at The Crossings he’ll be a hero.
[Link: World Golf]
by The Editors on August 13, 2008
On August 11, 2008 Carlsbadistan’s municipal golf course celebrated its one-year birthday. Hard to believe the City’s $74 million baby is growing up so fast. The press release from KemperSports was jubilant, but it’ is the Canyon Restaurant that Kemper seems most happy about.
In the past 12 months, The Crossings has hosted 57,980 rounds of golf, exceeding its initial projection of 56,775 rounds. About 40 percent of the golfers were Carlsbad residents, while roughly 30 percent were from the surrounding San Diego County area. . . . Averaging 183 customers a day during the first seven months of 2008, the Canyons Restaurant has exceeded its daily ala- carte revenue budget for the first 12 months of operations by more than $400,000. Highlighting the fact that The Crossings is more than just a golf course is that approximately 90 percent of the restaurant’s daily patrons were non-golfers from the local community and surrounding business parks.
Happy Birthday, Crossings, though to be truthful we’d much rather be celebrating the first year birthday of Carlsbadistan’s new skatepark.
[Link: The Crossings-at-Carlsbad]
by The Editors on July 18, 2008
The Crossings at Carlsbad, the City’s $63 million dollar (or so) golf course may “fall short” of it’s projected revenue for the first year according to a Richard Riehl column in the North County Times.
Carlsbad’s Director of Finance Lisa Irvine, told me the course had expected green fees to generate $1.6 million in revenue in the first five months of this year. It fell $300,000 short of that projection. . . . The Canyons Restaurant did much better, bringing in $829,000, 33 percent higher than the $624,000 projected return. But the loss in golf course revenue alone resulted in city plans to subsidize The Crossings at Carlsbad to the tune of $400,000 in 2008 and an additional $900,000 in 2009.
We can totally understand. We’ve eaten breakfast at Canyons Restaurant numerous times and have yet to play a round of golf. Maybe it should be marketed as a $63 million dollar restaurant, with a really nice yard. . .
[Link: North County Times]
by The Editors on July 10, 2008
The City of Carlsbad has filed a lawsuit against Carlsbadistan’s Prince Reza Shah claiming “numerous improper acts and (an) overall scheme to effectively hijack and unlawfully profit upon the name “The Crossings at Carlsbad,” according to a story in the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The city’s lawsuit says Shah applied for the trademark two months after the city registered the Internet domain name “thecrossingsatcarlsbad.com.” . . . It accuses Shah of “cybersquatting” by laying claim to names that incorporate “The Crossings at Carlsbad” name, but for which he has no “bona fide commercial use.”
Shah’s rather shoddy looking godaddy.com site-holder website, TheCrossingsAtCarlsbad.net features ads for several .mobi domains (VisitCarlsbad.mobi) along with an email address.
Shah apparently feels that he is completely justified with his trademarks and according to a fax quoted in the Union-Tribune is sending a letter “to the city’s golf course operator, KemperSports, accusing it of trademark infringement and threatening a $10 million lawsuit.”
This should be interesting.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on April 1, 2008
Carlsbad, CA (April 1, 2008) After only seven months in business and weeks of negotiations with civic leaders the City of Carlsbad has decided to take The Crossings At Carlsbad private.
“We just weren’t seeing enough revenue,” said Carlsbad Mayor Bud Louis. “Math mistakes were made. At currently usage and pricing ($100 a round) it would have taken us nearly 147 years to break even. And obviously that is not a workable solution. It’s an unfortunate necessity of the times.”
What had once been hailed as the finest municipal course in the world will now cost more than $120,000 to join and upwards of $350 a month to play. But that is not seen as a problem by The Crossing’s management. “The majority of Carlsbad residents don’t even golf, but they do enjoy driving by the rolling grassy fairways, and dinning in our award winning Canyon’s Restaurant,” said General Manger Geoff Parry. “None of that will change.”
Many are happy about the change. “There were just too many hacks out on the course,” said course pro Stevie Von. “A $75 million course is wasted on the average golfer, so I’m glad we’re kicking them out.”
Cec Vaurnet has lived in Carlsbad for 14 years and he couldn’t care less. “Golfers are a–holes,” he says “If the City can take more money from those idiots I say go for it. Then they can take the money and build a proper skateboard park near the Village.”
The Crossings at Carlsbad becomes The Crossings Country Club on April 15, just into time for taxes.
by The Editors on August 19, 2007
In classic old-school point-counter-point fashion the North County Times has paired two people up to answer the burning question: Is Carlsbad’s $68 million golf course a good investment? The pair is made up of sports editor Loren Nelson and staff writer Marc Figueroa. Would you believe the sports editor is in favor of the course? It is Figueroa, however, who makes the best point in the entire debate:
So when the city of Carlsbad trotted out its shiny, new $68 million track earlier this month, I couldn’t help but scratch my head. Why invest that much money in something that only a small percentage of people are going to use?
We agree. Let us know what you think: click the link below to post a comment.
[Link: North County TImes]
by The Editors on August 11, 2007
After two separate days of “locals only” play, The Crossings-at-Carlsbad is finally open to the general public. We were planning on getting up early this morning and driving out to do some coverage on the first people to play the course, however, after last night’s TGIF Jazz in the Park we just weren’t feeling it.
We called to check on when a “visiting guest” could get on the course and the first available bookable tee-time was on Sunday August 19th. Apparently, this course is being pretty well-received.
[Link: The Crossings-at-Carlsbad]
by The Editors on July 28, 2007
While the course itself won’t open for play until August 11, the city’s $63.3 million project The Crossings-At-Carlsbad will be open for public inspection today.
During today’s events, people will be able to look out the windows of what Kulchin describes as “one of the most beautiful clubhouses I’ve ever seen.” They’ll also be able to practice their putting skills and even hike the trails that run through the project.
We don’t know which is worse: seeing the course and not being able to play it, or just skipping the event entirely. We think we’re going to wait.
[Link: North County Times]
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