It’s a beautiful autumn day and you are playing a round at the Captains. Maybe you are playing with your regular foursome or maybe your playing partners have driven down from Boston to enjoy the spectacular fall weather. It doesn’t really matter which because invariably someone in your group will exclaim about the fantastic conditions of the course. And you smile. Because if this is the 50th round of golf you have played this season at Captains, it is the 50th time that sometime during the round, someone has made the same or similar remark.
We are all incredibly lucky to play golf regularly at Captains. Not only are the course conditions amazing despite the remarkable number of rounds that are played there each year. (So far through October, 83,385 rounds have been played.) But additionally, the golf staff, both inside and out, do a great job, the maintenance staff is always working on projects that improve the total golfing experience and Freemans Grill is a great place to grab a bite or even enjoy a delicious dinner sitting out on the patio.
And speaking of Freemans, we are happy to be able to tell you that their lease has been renewed for 2025.
We have gotten so used to the positive experience of playing at the Captains that we don’t often give a lot of thought to what it costs to maintain that degree of excellence.
The considerable amount of debt that was incurred in building the second course significantly hampered the course’s ability to invest in its infrastructure particularly in the area of maintenance equipment. The rate increases we have implemented over the past few years have allowed us to both make the necessary investments in our maintenance equipment as well as build up a reserve (retained earnings) so that we may continue to address the critical needs to the golf course.
Recent critical purchases have included the following:
- At the cost of $67,000 each, we will be replacing our 15 year old fairway mowers with 4 new Toro Reelmaster Mowers. This equipment is charged with keeping our fairways in pristine condition with each fairway being mowed every other day. That job is tough enough but we remind you that all work is done so as not to interfere with play. In the summer this means that the amazing grounds crew is out mowing with these workhorses long before the first tee time of 6:30 am!
- The Toro Sand Pro, with a price tag of $32,000, will be a huge help to the crew in maintaining our greenside and fairway bunkers. When you consider that between the two courses, there are almost 100 bunkers, this machine will significantly decrease the amount of time and effort that the crew currently expends on keeping the bunkers in good condition. This piece of equipment will also be used in the tee box renovation work that will be undertaken this off-season.
- Also critical to the renovation of tee boxes, is our new Redexim Laser Grade Box. Purchasing this machine will enable the crew to do this work in-house as opposed to contracting it out. At the cost of $30,000, this piece of equipment will quickly pay for itself. Although we only recently received this equipment, the white/gold tee boxes on Starboard #11 and #12 have already been improved and work is currently happening on Starboard #4.
- Director of Golf, Jay Packett, has nicknamed the Chandler Ton Turf Spreader, Big Red. This 2 ton spreader is immediately recognizable by its mammoth size and bright red color. Towed behind a tractor, it is used to spread fertilizers and pesticides in a far more efficient dispersion pattern. Contracted out, this work would cost between $80-$100 per acre of application. Given the area that is treated, Big Red will save us, on average, $10,000 per application of fertilizer, lime, etc. as we can do this same work in-house.
- At an annual cost of $7,000, our purchase of GPS Subscriptions for our three John Deere GPS sprayers provides us with an invaluable tool. They allow us to pinpoint the particular areas of the courses we want to spray and, as noted below, have an additional significant value.
Not only does this new equipment add to the quality course conditions but it is also playing a notable role in meeting the Town’s nitrogen mitigation obligations under the Pleasant Bay watershed. To quote Peter Lombardi, the Town Manager, “all of Brewster’s nitrogen reductions to date are related to practices that have been implemented at the Captain’s Golf Course including reducing the total area we fertilize (particularly the rough), transitioning from granular to spray fertilizer products, and using the new GPS controlled sprayers to apply fertilizer. . . In meeting these state obligations, the cooperation and support of our Golf Department in proactively making these changes has saved the Town and our residents millions of dollars that would otherwise be needed to either install neighborhood sewer plants and related infrastructure or Innovative/Alternative septic systems in this area.”
Clearly, our investment in new equipment is paying off not only for you, our members, but for the entire community of Brewster.
This communication has focused on the on-going investments we are making in some of our infrastructure. In the coming months, we will be highlighting other areas where we expect to use our retained earnings and what drives the decisions we recommend.
We would be remiss, however, if we didn’t share with you a high-level report on our year end financials.
We ended FY24 (June 30th) with revenues of $5,908,569 and expenses of $5,001,877. After taking into account previously authorized capital projects (such as the replacement of doors and windows which will take place this off-season), our ending retained earnings balance equaled $1.9M. At Special Town Meeting on 11/18, we anticipate requesting approval for capital expenses of approximately $1.2M. These monies, if approved, will be used for, among other things, additional upgrades to our maintenance equipment, design work for our planned modernization of our maintenance facility and cart path improvements.
In the future we will be sharing with you additional information about the FY24 financial results and the capital projects we will be investing in during FY25 and FY26.
We appreciate your on-going support of the Captains Golf Course.
Brewster Golf Commission
Jay Paggi, Chair David Valcourt, Vice-Chair
Girard Healy Andrea Johnson
Jim Juras Anne O’Connell