Steve Skinner is the general manager for KemperSports.

The management of the two oldest public golf courses in Portland changed on Nov. 1, 2022. Eastmoreland Golf Course and Rose City Golf Course are now managed by KemperSports.

The Chicago-based company now oversees operations at four of Portland’s five city-owned courses. It has managed Heron Lakes Golf Course since 2008 and Colwood Golf Center since 2014.

The contract runs through Oct. 31, 2027 with an option to renew the contract for another five years.

Steve Skinner, the KemperSports general manager, said that adding management of Eastmoreland and Rose City courses “give us more ability to run more programs throughout the city and bring some of the instructional and youth development programing we have to these facilities.”

The new contracts mean KemperSports manages four of the five Portland Parks Bureau courses. The exception is RedTail Golf Course in Beaverton, which is managed by RYG LLC under a contract that runs through 2042.

Prior to KemperSports taking over Nov. 1, Hank Childs Golf Shop, Inc., operated Rose City Golf Course and Cumpston Bros., Inc., operated Eastmoreland.

The courses owned by the Portland Parks Bureau always have been managed by outside companies, but the city retains control of prices charged at the courses it owns. Portland Parks and Recreation also is responsible for maintenance of the courses and buildings.

In addition to the pro shops and restaurants, KemperSports manages the tee sheet (scheduling tee times), the driving ranges and the event spaces for the golf courses. 

Mark Ross, spokesperson for Portland Parks and Recreation said in an email that greens fees will need to increase in the future because of inflation, though no increases have been made since the new KemperSports contract began.

Ross noted that the contracts at all four courses were aligned to expire at the same time so that the city could receive bids from operators interested in managing all four courses.

“Through the solicitation process facilitated by City Procurement, KemperSports’ proposal received the highest evaluation, and the city ended up awarding the contract to that company,” Ross said.

Ross said efficiencies of having a single operator, such as better management of tee time scheduling, as a way to improve access for the public while minimizing price increases.

KemperSports is paid an annual management fee of $384,000, plus an incentive of 15% of the aggregate of any amount over a net operating income of $5.8 million. The management fee and the incentive both have an inflation accelerator for subsequent years. 

On-site management is done by local people. Randy Morrison is the regional general manager for the Portland area.

“We believe each of these businesses is a local business with a local loyal following. So we don’t come in and do a one size fits all approach,” Skinner said. “We really listen to the local customer and what they want and we tailor our services and programs to meet their needs.”

With that in mind, Skinner said he expects most of the staff at Eastmoreland and Rose City will remain the same.

According to Skinner, a fundamental goal of KemperSports management of courses is to make golf accessible to everyone and thus grow participation in the sport. The more golfers there are, the more revenue KemperSports can earn.

As Skinner noted, Colwood Golf Center was recognized in February of 2022 by the National Golf Course Owners of America with its national Player Development Award.

One of its programs at Heron Lakes and Colwood is Ya! Golf PDX, a learn-to-golf program catered to people under 30 that includes discounts, clinics and social opportunities.

KemperSports operates some 140 golf courses around the country, about 40 of which are owned by municipalities. Skinner noted that KemperSports recently began managing five courses in Columbus, Ohio. It manages about 10 courses, mostly privately-owned, in the Chicago area.

Skinner said adding Rose City and Eastmoreland means KemperSports can offer “more robust” loyalty programs that reward customers with discounts.

Interest in golf has increased since the pandemic, according to Skinner.

“We’ve seen play at all our golf courses up about 20% since the pandemic because more people like to be outside and picked up the game again,” he said.

The flip side, Skinner said, has been the challenge of hiring enough staff to keep up with interest, though he said the labor shortage has eased in the golf industry.

KemperSports has an environmental initiative, Green to a Tee, that Skinner called an important aspect of golf course management.

“I think we’ve become a lot more sophisticated in terms of how we use water and how we’ll use fertilizer chemicals on the golf course,” he said.

Skinner said data indicate the hotter summer weather in Portland and elsewhere might be shifting the hours when courses are busiest, but so far hasn’t impacted the hours golf courses operate.

“We’re always amazed that passionate golfers will play in all sorts of weather. They’ll play in heat, rain. They’ll play in snow and cold,” Skinner said. Te weather “sometimes drives people to play later in the day or earlier in the day to stay out of the heat, but it’s amazing. When people want to play golf, they want to play golf.”

Eastmoreland Golf Course, at 2425 S.E. Bybee Boulevard, was the first public golf course in Portland, opening in 1918 as a place where middle and working class follks could golf. At the time, three private clubs, including Waverley, were the only golf courses in the area.

Rose City Golf Club, located just west of McDaniel High School at 2200 N.E. 71st Avenue, dates to 1923, when the city acquired the former raceway property. It grew to 18 holes in 1927. Notable course upgrades happened in the mid-1980s and between 2003 and 2007.

Heron Lakes, located west of Delta Park where Vanport City existed in the 1940s, opened its first 18-hole course in 1971. The present Greenback course was named West Delta Park Golf Course. The name change to Heron Lakes came in the 1980s, when nine holes were added, and in 1992 the final nine holes were added to create the Great Blue Course.

Now a par-3 nine-hole course, Colwood has been owned by the city since 2014. In addition to the par-3 course, there is a six-hole course for practicing chipping and putting and a driving range. The property was first a privately owned public course when it opened in 1931 as Meadowbrook. After a bankruptcy, it became Colwood Golf Course. In 1955, after an ownership change, it become Colwood National.