Contentious Pierce County golf course has new management. Will it get upgrades?
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- PenMet Parks selected Troon Golf as the interim operator for Madrona Links Golf Course.
- Transition follows Stutsman Enterprise exit amid disputes over maintenance and operations.
- Course improvements and public engagement expected over next three years under Troon.
PenMet Parks has chosen a new company to operate Madrona Links Golf Course for the next three years, promising course improvements and parting ways with a business that spent over a decade managing the course’s day-to-day operations.
Troon Golf will replace Stutsman Enterprise, Inc. via an interim management agreement beginning this summer. The transition is expected to finalize on or about Sept. 1, PenMet Parks Executive Director Ally Bujacich wrote in a statement to The News Tribune via email.
The course is the only fully public golf course in the Gig Harbor area, at 3604 22nd Avenue Northwest.
Golfers shouldn’t see any interruptions in events, tournaments or use of the course due to the transition, per a list of answers to FAQs on the PenMet Parks website. The park district also doesn’t expect “any changes to the golf course days or hours of operation, or any increases to greens fees in 2025.”
PenMet Parks selected Troon Golf, a global golf course operator with over 900 locations including several in Washington state, out of four companies that submitted proposals to the park district, the park district website says. The decision to solicit proposals followed PenMet Parks’ decision to terminate the Stutsman Enterprise sublease to operate the course, alleging that Stutsman Enterprise refused to perform deferred maintenance and repair deficiencies in the course. Stutsman Enterprise began operating the golf course in 2014, according to a park district presentation posted on the district’s website.
The News Tribune was unable to reach Stutsman Enterprise for comment. The PenMet Parks website says that “Stutsman has advised PenMet Parks it will participate cooperatively to provide an orderly and businesslike transition of golf course operations.”
“Troon Golf has extensive professional golf facility management experience, and as operations transition to Troon, players and stakeholders can expect a focus on enhanced service levels, golfer and public engagement, and improved course conditions over time while maintaining Madrona Link’s unique character that our community values,” Bujacich wrote.
Bigger changes could be coming down the road, as the park district plans to spend the next three years evaluating options to restructure how the golf course is run. The existing lease guiding Madrona Links’ operations expires in 2028, at which point a permanent operator will take over, the park district website says.
Under the interim agreement, PenMet will receive 100% of the revenue from greens fees and pay for 100% of the expenses to operate the golf course, the presentation about the transition posted on PenMet’s website says. Previously, PenMet received a percentage of the greens fees, and the remainder was divided between their tenant and sub-tenant operating the course.
Troon Golf will “perform all work required to operate Madrona Links in a professional manner as a first-class facility,” including hiring staff, managing the pro shop, developing golf programs and performing sales and marketing, the presentation continues. PenMet’s website says Hackers Bar & Grill will continue operating the restaurant at the course.
Based on the history of Madrona Links’ finances, PenMet expects to bring in more net revenue than before, taking into account management fees and other expenses. Troon will submit monthly financial reports to PenMet along with reports to help the park district review how the course does in its first year under Troon Golf, the website says.
Terms of the agreement dictate that PenMet will pay Troon Golf a base management fee of $77,000 per full calendar year and a $25,000 professional services fee for each fiscal year, and an advisory services fee of $5,000 for each month that Troon Golf provides consulting services to PenMet leading up to the transition.
The park district will also negotiate an incentive management fee with Troon Golf each calendar year, capped at 20% of that year’s base management fee; and reimburse Troon Golf for any approved “reasonable and necessary actual out-of-pocket costs incurred by (the company)” for operations. The full agreement is included in the PenMet Parks July 1 board meeting agenda packet.
The switch in operators is the latest development in prolonged negotiations between the park district and several lessees and sub-lessees responsible for running Madrona Links’ day-to-day operations.
Tensions between PenMet Parks and these private parties began building over a complicated lease agreement that led to disagreement about who is responsible for the course’s maintenance and capital improvements. The greens, cart paths and facilities on the course have shown signs of wear and tear in recent years, The News Tribune reported.
Layers of lease agreements indicate a complex web of relationships: PenMet Parks owns 80 acres of the course, and a private entity ZTM Holdings, LLC, owns the remaining 14 acres after buying that parcel from the Tyson family, which built the course and operated it for several decades. Stutsman Enterprise assumed operations via a sublease with Tyson in 2014. Hackers Bar & Grill, a restaurant on the course, subleases from Stutsman Enterprise.
Within the last year, that web has fallen apart. PenMet Parks terminated its lease with Tyson, offered to buy the 14-acre parcel from ZTM and authorized eminent domain action — though not yet initiated — to acquire that parcel when ZTM declined to sell at the $2.49 million price PenMet named, The News Tribune reported.
ZTM and Tyson also filed a lawsuit against PenMet and Stutsman Enterprise in Pierce County Superior Court on Jan. 21, alleging that Stutsman is responsible for keeping the course in good shape and questioning the park district’s right to acquire golf courses through eminent domain. That lawsuit is pending, and a trial is scheduled for next year, court records show.
Bujacich confirmed Monday that the park district has yet to initiate eminent domain proceedings because it is still “endeavoring through good faith negotiations to purchase the property from ZTM through a voluntary sale.”
