New Ocean Pines Golf Contract To Begin Next Month

BERLIN – Ocean Pines Association officials this week are finalizing a contract with the new management company slated to take over the community’s golf course.

Dave Stevens, president of the Ocean Pines Association’s board of directors, said he expected to have a signed contract with the company, Landscapes Unlimited, by Friday. He said negotiations had gone well.

“It went smoothly but slowly,” he said. “It’s not anybody’s fault just the nature of the game.”

The board voted in February to hire Landscapes Unlimited, a company based in Nebraska, to take over the golf course in Ocean Pines. The course, which has struggled to make money in recent years, has been managed by Billy Casper Golf since 2010. The contract with Casper Golf expires April 30.

Stevens said that in spite of the change in management he didn’t expect to see any huge changes at the course in the near future.

“I told people this is not the kind of thing we’re going to see a whole lot of differences right away,” he said. “It’s going to take some time.”

The major difference between the way the course has been operated and the way officials expect it to be operated under Landscapes Unlimited is philosophical, according to Stevens. He said that while Casper Golf tried to make money by promoting outside play at the course, the new company would focus on building a membership base from the community itself. In recent years, course memberships have dropped to about 200.

“Casper’s main focus was on package play,” Stevens said. “Landscapes Unlimited is going to do that but it’s not their main focus.”

Stevens said the contract being finalized with the company would be for three and a half years. A three-year contract, he explained, would have ended in April, as Casper’s did, which meant a potential change in management would come just as the golf season was getting busy. A three and a half year contract would enable the association to make a management change in the fall.

“We don’t want to get into the same situation we’re in now,” Stevens said.

Though some concern has been expressed for the future of the course’s current employees, Stevens said they were expected to continue in their positions.

“As far as I know, they’ve been contacted by Landscapes,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons you won’t see much of a change [at the course].”