Patrick Krempholtz’s first spring as a golf course owner was full of challenges.
In addition to having a litany of things to improve and replace at the former Holland Hills Country Club in Colden, he also had to deal with wet early spring weather, including the wettest April in seven years.
This put him and other course owners in a difficult position as they prepared for what can already be a dangerous golf season in the Buffalo area, often dictated by unpredictable weather.
Shamrock Hills owner Patrick Krempholtz, left, talks to golfers on the course.
Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, between remodeling, staffing and then a horrible spring in terms of rain for the golf courses,” said Krempholtz, 43, of East Aurora, who previously closed the $1.1 million deal for the golf course. this year.
“I haven’t really been able to enjoy it yet, but I will. I will overcome obstacles,” she added.
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Shorter golf seasons already make it more difficult to manage a course in Western New York, especially for family-owned and privately owned public courses. There are also many expenses that come with it.
That might mean buying the kind of expensive equipment that makes it more possible to get out and work on the golf course in early spring without getting stuck in the mud. It also makes hiring an expert gardener with extensive experience essential for the survival of the field.
‘Something I always wanted to do’
Still, for many farm owners, this type of purchase is equivalent to fulfilling a dream.
Krempholtz woke up abruptly early one morning in October, grabbed his phone and Googled “golf courses for sale.” He stumbled upon the Holland Hills listing.
An aerial view of the Shamrock Hills golf course in Holland.
Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
“I must have dreamed about it in my subconscious,” said Krempholtz, who also owns two auto repair shops in West Seneca. “It’s something I always wanted to do but never thought I could do it. “I hadn’t thought about it in about 20 years, but all of a sudden it was there.”
The challenges of operating a golf course haven’t made it any less fun, according to Rick Horn, president and general manager of Niagara Golf Partners, who is in his sixth season at the helm of Hyde Park Golf Course in the city of Niagara Falls.
He and his business partners were selected by the city seven years ago to essentially save a place that was losing hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. They run the course, restaurant and pro shop, collecting all revenue and paying all expenses. The group of investors, which includes Horn’s brother William, initially committed about $100,000 to improve the course.
The golf course has improved, after losing money for about 15 years while under city control, but it is far from being a big moneymaker.
“None of us are getting rich,” Horn said with a smile. “But the key is that we can afford better equipment each season, and when equipment breaks down, we can afford to repair it.”
Maintaining a golf course not only requires a lot of money, but also a lot of time. Krempholtz said he plans to build a home on property 263 at 10438 Holland Glenwood Road and eventually retire there.
Shamrock Hills owner Patrick Krempholtz says he has wanted to own a golf course for many years.
Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
For now, he is dividing his time between working at the course he has renamed Shamrock Hills Golf Course and tending to his responsibilities as owner of Don and Jim’s Auto Service Center.
“It’s a 24/7 job,” he said. “There are no free weekends anymore, let’s put it that way.”
Horn arrives at Hyde Park Golf Course daily at 4:30 a.m. to take care of business and prepare the staff for the day.
“Not everyone can afford a country club, that’s why public courses are important,” he said. “Country clubs are great, but at the same time, the average Joe needs to have a place to play.”
Krempholtz doesn’t foresee making any money on the golf course anytime soon, and says every penny generated will go back to the course for the foreseeable future. He liquidated a rental property business in exchange for a down payment.
“We have big plans for this place,” he said. “I think it’s an investment that will pay off, but it will take a few years.”
As part of the ongoing effort to improve the Hyde Park course, Horn added 80 tons of sand to the bunkers, improved the greens, built advanced tees for golfers who prefer shorter driving distances and purchased two Ventracs, which have additional wheels and a Wide wheelbase to allow cutting in wet fields.
Still, when the season opened in May, only 18 of the course’s 27 holes could be played and golfers had to walk because driving golf carts caused too much damage to the course.
“Golf is an outdoor sport and Mother Nature rules,” Horn said. “People get frustrated in the spring because they want to play and ask when we open, but in the meantime, we get jammed with equipment all over the field.”
Last year, William Hong Ye, a Toronto financial services executive, acquired the Eden Valley Golf Course in North Collins, paying $900,000 for the 163-acre property at 10401 Sisson Highway.
The 30-year-old golfer told The News at the time that significant additional funds would be needed to update the course, which also includes a restaurant and pro shop.
He was planning to put bunkers on the course, plant more trees and buy more electric golf carts to replace older gas carts and plans to develop some of the roughly 20 acres of undeveloped land on the property.
“I want to help make the golf course feel better and I have a lot of plans to improve it,” he said.
New signage is seen outside Shamrock Hills Golf Club in Holland on Tuesday, June 4, 2024.
Joshua Bessex/Buffalo News
Krempholtz also has big plans for Shamrock Hills. He and his general manager are working to reopen the restaurant at the end of June, after a complete remodel of the kitchen and bar. Broken equipment is being replaced. His gardener is making changes to planting, fertilizing, and the length of his lawn and green spaces. Cracked cart paths will be renovated, sand traps will be added to the course and a party terrace will be built with live music.
“The goal is to create the most beautiful golf course out there for the everyday golfer,” he said.
Extended Fall Seasons Help
If course owners have been lucky in one respect, it’s that the fall golf season in Buffalo appears to be getting longer.
In recent years, sufficiently mild fall weather has allowed many owners to stay open into November.
“I will stay open as long as possible,” Krempholtz said.
Krempholtz also wants to encourage more people to take up the sport by creating programming at Shamrock Hills to encourage younger golfers to play.
“It’s fantastic, honestly speaking,” Horn said of Western New York as a place to play golf.
“People come from an hour away, and sometimes more, to try different courses,” he added. “I know I’ve played countless courses and I usually see someone I know at each one.”
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