The Guilford Lakes Golf Course is getting an upgrade just in time for the spring/summer season. After the town’s initial attempts to hire a management company to reduce the course’s financial losses fell through, the Guilford Lakes Golf Course Commission decided to improve the social and financial status of the course independently.

The course was opened in 1999. As a municipal course, it is open to the public and anyone can play for a fee. Approximately 13,300 players used the nine-hole course last year.

The town had originally considered hiring a management company after it was calculated that the town had been losing anywhere from $60,000 to $70,000 on the course annually, according to Joe Dunsmore, an original member of the Guilford Lakes Gold Course Commission. While no company was hired, Dunsmore said the process was instructive.

“What we found was the cost to have a management company come in would be more expensive than it would be for the town to run it, even through we are running it at a loss,” he said. “Even though we didn’t go with a company, we learned an awful lot about what we were doing right and what we were doing wrong.”

The commission started with the course fees, which Dunsmore said they quickly realized were below state averages. As of April 15, membership fees have increased from $250 to $350 for a Guilford resident adult, from $600 to $670 for a resident family, from $300 to $400 for a single non-resident, and from $700 to $770 for a non-resident family rate. Senior and junior rates have been added for residents ($300) and non-residents ($350).

“We changed the membership rates,” he said. “We will probably increase the rate next year for the daily play.”

Daily rates now range from $12 for an under-18 player during the week to $18 for a non-resident on a weekend.

While increasing rates should help to improve the finances, Dunsmore said they are also planning to improve the course’s social media presence to help draw new people to the course.

“We also realized we had to upgrade our social media and be more involved with a better website, [for] which we are now talking to two outside consultants to do this,” he said. “We are also talking and developing a better Facebook page.”

On the new website, www.guilfordlakesgc.com, Dunsmore said they have included a new feature that is designed give people a better idea of what it is like to play at Guilford Lakes.

“We are having a drone in our new website go over the golf course so a person can get a sense of virtual play,” he said.

Beyond the web, the commission plans to hire a professional to help market the course and also to add a junior golf program in the summer to encourage younger people to pick up the sport.

“These are the things we feel will help us out and develop a better facility for the people to play as well as to help us get back into the positive numbers,” he said.

In addition to the changes and improvements, Dunsmore said the course has also benefited from the improving economic climate.

“We are getting more play,” he said. “Last year there was a 12- to 13 percent increase and the year before it was about five percent, so we are seeing and hopefully we are feeling that with the economic conditions getting a little bit better, the discretionary income is better.”

Due to the warm weather, the course opened in March this year. Dunsmore said he hopes players notice the positive changes around the course.

“This is what we are trying to do,” he said. “We learned something.”

To learn more about the Guilford Lakes Gold Course, visit www.guilfordlakesgc.com.