CHARLOTTE, North Carolina – In the 15 months since Mecklenburg County selected Troon to operate its four Charlotte-area golf courses, under a potential 20-year agreement, the partnership is already a win-win for the community.
Capital investments made by the County and Troon to improve course conditions, clubhouse and practice facilities, maintenance equipment, golf carts, service levels and marketing, have resulted in rounds increasing by an average of 12.4 percent (over 2023), revenues increasing by an average of 22.6 percent (over 2023).
In addition, Troon recently made a $128,151 donation to the First Tee of Greater Charlotte for the 501(c)3 to fund programming for kids and teens as provided for in the agreement.
In January 2024, Troon in partnership with the First Tee of Greater Charlotte was selected to operate the four Mecklenburg County courses, including Charles T. Myers Golf Course, Harry L. Jones Golf Course, Sunset Hills Golf Course, and Dr. Charles L. Sifford Golf Course for up to 20 years, including renewal options.
The First Tee made an initial contribution of $250,000 to improve the practice areas at the four facilities, in return for First Tee students to have free access to practice areas, rounds of golf and opportunities to gain work experience in the areas of golf operations, food and beverage, marketing, and science/agronomy.
Upon engagement, Troon’s sales and marketing team launched new branding for the county courses, designed new course logos, debuted new user-friendly websites, created a new “Meck” County Golf app, began new email marketing and social media strategies, as well as other new marketing programs.
As part of the partnership agreement with First Tee, Troon and its Indigo Sports division committed to donating up to two percent of gross revenues from the four courses annually to fund programming and scholarships for the First Tee of Greater Charlotte – the recent $128,151 donation marked the first annual payment.
The agreement also calls for Troon to pay Mecklenburg County a combination of base rent and percentage rent annually with the County committed to reinvesting all rent payments back into the golf facilities as capital improvements.
Over the past 15 months Mecklenburg County has invested more than $1.8 million on capital improvements at the four golf facilities, including:
- Bunker renovations
- Cart path improvements and renovations
- Irrigation system improvements
- New landscaping around clubhouses and exterior upgrades such as paint
- Improved lighting, new air conditioning units and new energy-efficient doors at the four clubhouses
Troon has also invested in the four golf facilities, providing:
- New maintenance equipment
- New golf carts, beverage carts and utility vehicles
- New furniture, fixtures and displays in the golf shops
- New tables, chairs, televisions and equipment in the food and beverage areas
- Enhanced golf merchandise as well as food and beverage selections and experiences
“We’re thrilled with the strides we’ve made for Mecklenburg County Golf in a relatively short time,” said Mecklenburg County Golf Regional General Manager Josh Anderson, PGA. “The courses are better conditioned, services levels have improved, and more people are enjoying their experiences at our golf courses.
“We have a lot more improvements planned for 2025 and beyond including a Callaway Fitting Center at CT Myers, a practice range tee expansion and new putting green at Sunset Hills, continued irrigation upgrades and cart path improvements at Harry L. Jones and CT Myers, and resodding/tee box leveling projects at Dr. Charles L. Sifford and Harry L. Jones.
“For those who haven’t played the Mecklenburg County golf courses in a while, they’ll be impressed with the improvements the County-Troon-First Tee partnership has produced.”
With more than 150 municipal courses, Troon is the largest operator of municipal golf facilities in the U.S., with relationships structured as management agreements, lease agreements or a combination of both depending on the needs of the municipality. Troon, the world’s largest golf and golf-related hospitality management company and biggest employer of PGA professionals, also provides consulting services to municipal golf courses on operations, marketing, agronomy, customer service, community engagement, capital projects and more. Troon-affiliated facilities are home to 40-plus First Tee Chapters across the country.
For more information on Mecklenburg County Golf, visit https://meckcountygolf.com.