By Paul Leighton
BEVERLY — In 1987, North Reading chose a company called Golf Facilities Management Inc. to run Hillview Golf Course, which the town had just purchased by eminent domain.
Twenty-three years later, GFMI is still in charge. Last year, the course brought in $1.5 million in revenue, and on Thanksgiving Day the town opened a $2 million artificial turf field at the high school that will be paid for entirely with golf course money, said George Stack, a member of the town commission that oversees the course.
"I can't say enough about them," Stack said of GFMI. "They're quality people."
After years of turmoil and uncertainty, residents of Beverly are hoping GFMI can bring the same stability to their municipal golf course.
Mayor Bill Scanlon last month awarded the company a five-year contract to operate the Beverly Golf & Tennis Club. GFMI is run by Steve Murphy and Chris Carter, a golf course superintendent and golf pro, respectively, who are well-known in New England golf circles.
Murphy, a 59-year-old Lynn resident, has been the course superintendent at Gannon Golf Course in Lynn for 34 years and at Hillview for 23 years. Carter, a 35-year-old Danvers resident, started working for the company as a teenager at Gannon and became co-owner with Murphy in 2007. Last week, he was named the New England Professional Golf Association's Professional of the Year.
Murphy and Carter have hired another well-known North Shore golf name, Burton Page, to run the food and beverage operation at Beverly Golf & Tennis Club, as he also does at Hillview. Page's family owned the Colonial Country Club in Lynnfield for more than 40 years.
Murphy and Carter are assuming control of a club that has become known more for controversy than for leisurely rounds of golf. After years of bickering between the city and former operator Doug Johnson, hopes were raised when a new team led by Manny Barros took over two years ago.
Club members and city officials credit Barros for improving the golf course and smoothing over any lingering hard feelings. But he also failed to pay the $600,000 management fee he owes the city, forcing Scanlon to find another operator. Scanlon has said the city will eventually get the $600,000 it is owed through attachments on Barros' property.
Repairs needed
In an interview in a small office inside Beverly Golf & Tennis Club's century-old clubhouse, Murphy and Carter said they want to gain the confidence of both members and the general public.
"A lot of people have bad memories," Carter said. "It will take us a good chunk of our contract to put those memories aside. That's our goal, to get our contract extended."
As Carter spoke, a steady rain poured down on the roof of the clubhouse, a reminder of some of the obstacles facing GFMI in its quest to run a profitable operation.
The roof has been leaking, causing water damage inside. The building has no elevator, making it more difficult to rent out the upstairs function room. The golf staff is operating from inside a trailer while the pro shop is being repaired. The maintenance building was torn down last month due to its poor condition, and a new one has yet to be built.
In the meantime, golf course equipment — Murphy said GFMI has spent $400,000 on new John Deere equipment such as fairway mowers and green rollers — is being stored in golf cart garages, while the golf carts are being kept outside.
The city often came under fire from Johnson for failing to live up to its responsibilities to maintain the buildings at the club. In October 2008, the City Council authorized the spending of $1.5 million on repairs, but GFMI is taking no chances. Carter said the company insisted that the city include in its contract a timetable for when those repairs will be completed.
"We knew there would be speed bumps," he said. "We hope to assist with all of those capital projects."
Beverly Golf & Tennis Club also includes tennis, of course, and at one time had an outdoor pool. GFMI has contracted out the tennis operation to Bass River Tennis Club (which is owned by Barros). There are no plans to bring back a swimming pool.
"Everybody's golf-oriented," Murphy said.
Murphy said his goal is to get the golf course into top shape. Carter said GFMI wants to establish a good teaching program, including youth clinics and junior programs, with its new golf pro, Dave Dionne. Page said he hopes to open a restaurant at some point. There are plans to install lifts to make the second-floor function room handicapped-accessible.
Seeking members
GFMI will pay the city $1.7 million over the five years of the contract, an average of $340,000 per year, for the right to manage the club. The company keeps all the revenue from membership fees up to $550,000; anything over that is split 50/50 with the city, Carter said.
Carter said he has not yet received a list of paid club members, but he said it is "well below" the maximum of 300.
"We hope to get to that and start a waiting list," he said.
GFMI has only been on the job for a few weeks, but club member Don Jones of Beverly said he likes what he sees so far.
"They've got all new equipment, and that's half of it with a golf course," Jones said. "Anybody I've talked to so far seems to think it's going to be pretty good."
Stack, the Hillview Commission member, said it's difficult to compare the situations in North Reading and Beverly because GFMI operates under a different kind of contract at Hillview. Instead of GFMI paying the town, the town pays the company $550,000 to run the course and keeps any revenue beyond that.
But he did say Beverly residents will be able to count on honesty and hard work from GFMI.
"The town will have to be patient," Stack said. "If the revenue is there, it will be realized. It might not be the first year or even the second year, but as time goes on and their reputation develops, I'm sure people will be very happy."
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or pleighton@salemnews.com.
