The road to success has been a little bumpy at times, though.
The Interbay P-Patch had to move not just once, but twice, to make room for the course. Fill dirt taken from the Key Arena project and used for the site was contaminated with concrete and rebar. The driving-range lights had to be completely redone. The original owner, Family Golf, went bankrupt after only a few years in operation.
Bill Meyer - Interbay Golf Center's general manager - was there from the beginning.
"When I got here, it was a dirt field, and they were working on the foundation for the building," he said.
Meyer said he had been working in the Los Angeles corporate office for Family Golf when he got the call to head up the company's new course and driving range in Seattle.
"I was happy to leave," said Meyer, who recently bought a home in Magnolia.
The Family Golf Center - which includes an 18-hole miniature golf course - opened in 1997 and was an immediate hit.
"Golf Range Times," for example, picked the Interbay operation as the best new golf range in the country in 1998, Meyer said.
Family Golf, with more than three dozen courses in the country, had become overextended by 2000, however, and the company filed for bankruptcy that spring.
"They tried to restructure the company," Meyer remembers, "but were unsuccessful."
The company and all its assets were put up for sale the following year, he said. The city - which had been heavily involved in the creation of the golf center - put up the winning bid of $5.65 million for the Interbay operation.
"The city and the Parks Department specifically liked the operation and didn't want it to change," Meyer said of the reason the city put in a bid.
John Mallon, the Parks Department golf manager, said the city was able to negotiate with Family Golf and the banks for credits that reduced that price by around $450,000.
Mallon thinks the city got a good deal.
"Interbay is a jewel for us," he said, "both for the condition of the facility and for the money it makes."
Last year, the golf center pumped around $1 million into city coffers, Mallon said. Some of that money goes to pay management fees, and around $425,000 currently goes to pay debt service on the 20-year bonds used to finance the purchase, he added.
"Interbay got the highest price out of the 26-some (Family Golf) facilities in the country," Meyer said. "It makes sense because Interbay was the highest grosser ... and the leading profit-maker for the company since it opened."
Meyer now works for Premier Golf Center LLC, a Family Golf Center spin-off that manages the Interbay facility and one in El Segundo, Calif., he said.
The rough spots
The rebar and concrete that ended up at the site were supposed to be separated from the fill dirt and recycled elsewhere, but the subcontractor cut corners, instead, and dumped everything in Interbay. There was some worry the debris might damage grading equipment used to contour the course, but it didn't turn out to be a problem, Meyer said.
However, the lights used to illuminate the driving range did turn out to be a problem because of spillover.
"A lot of neighbors were upset," he said, adding that the old system was completely scrapped.
The new lighting system, which cost around $50,000, solved the spillover problem, "and we haven't any complaints at all," Meyer said.
The Interbay P-Patch was moved to make room for a new course in the mid-1990s, but a new design forced the gardeners to move a second time. They were less than pleased with the development.
However, following several public and sometimes heated city meetings, the community garden was moved to its present location. These days, the gardeners and the golf center staff enjoy a cordial relationship, they say. Meyer added that the golf course lends its tractor to the gardeners when they're mixing compost.
The gardeners occasionally have to shag a few golf balls that sail over tall netting at the north end of the P-Patch, but no one has been hit, said gardener Jim Blackstock.
A busy place
Meyer said between 40,000 and 43,000 rounds of golf are played each year at Interbay. The driving range keeps busy, too.
"We've hit almost 59 million balls," he said, adding that around 90,000 golf balls are kept in the inventory at any one time.
"We get new ones every six months," Meyer said.
He tries to sell the old balls to other golf ranges, "but the demand has definitely dropped off."
Depending on the season, Interbay Golf has a staff that numbers between 55 and 70. That has included up to 10 PGA and LPGA golf pros who give lessons. "Right now I've got seven," he said. "They keep busy."
The center features a cafT, and there have been jazz concerts and barbecues during the summers for the past three years, he said, adding that the concerts draw close to 400 people.
The pro shop now does a brisk business, as well, although it was in bad shape when Family Golf tanked. The company had cut back on inventory in a cost-saving move, Meyer explained. "As a result, we lost a lot of customers."
The inventory is back to its previous levels, though, and the customer numbers have also rebounded.
Changing demographics
"Golf used to be a game for old white men," Meyer said.
That's changed in part because of the Tiger Wood phenomenon, he believes. "We get a pretty good mix of just about everybody here."
Between 300 and for 400 youngsters take part in golf camps at Interbay each summer, for instance, and the course also offers popular golf clinics for women, Meyer said.
"It's a great entry-level course for a beginning player," he said. "Inside Golf Magazine" picked the Interbay Golf Center last year as the best practice facility in the West, Meyer added. Experienced golfers also like the course because they can play a round in the relatively short time of 45 minutes to an hour, he said.
Meyer estimates that most of his customers come from within five to seven miles to golf at Interbay. However, some come from farther than that.
Mark Mannon lives between Redmond and Fall City, and he said he likes to play at Interbay around once a month. "This is the only par-three course I play."
The course is in good condition, Mannon said, and it's also convenient. "It's real easy to get on here because it's never crowded."
Contract talks
Premier Golf Center has been operating on a short-term contract, Mallon from the Parks Department said. But the city plans to send out a Request for Proposals (RFP) in middle or end of next year in preparation for setting up a long-term management contract, he said.
The RFP process is mandated by city rules, and Premier Golf will definitely be considered, according to Mallon.
"They've done a great job for us, so they will certainly be in the running if they chose to," he said.
As for Meyer, he likes his job. He also likes to golf, but ironically doesn't get much opportunity because he keeps so busy at the Interbay Golf Center.
"The rule of thumb," Meyer said, "is if you want to play golf, don't get involved in the golf business."
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