The Arroyo Seco Golf Course is considered a hidden gem in South Pasadena, providing a beautiful landscape for visitors and neighbors to soak in. For the activity itself, community members see the park as both a challenging course for veteran golfers and also welcoming to beginners.
However, residents and city officials alike believe the city’s beloved space is long overdue for a makeover.
South Pasadena residents turned out for a study session held during a special joint meeting at the City Council chambers on Sept. 6 to provide feedback on the course’s renovation options provided to the Council.
Consulting firm Pro Forma Advisors and the City Leased Recreational Facilities Ad Hoc Committee reported their market analysis during the meeting, and more than 15 people spoke during public comment, with a handful of others sharing their thoughts over Zoom. No decision was to be made during the meeting, but city staff sought Council direction on the matter.
As part of the committee and firm’s presentation to the Council, the report suggested converting the existing 18-hole, 3-par course into a 9-hole, 3-par executive golf course, among other renovation plans.
South Pasadena community members urged the Council to refrain from carving up the course, and pleaded with city leaders to consider upgrading the course’s restaurant, driving range and restroom instead.
“The executive course would change the nature of our green area substantially,” Deborah Fox told the Council during public comment. “A lot of us love the way it looks. We love the pathways … and I think it’s far preferable to upgrade that and have all these wonderful things sooner than later.”
The course covers 27.8 acres. Along with the 18-hole, 3-par field, the property has a 9-hole miniature golf course, with a 34-tee driving range. The clubhouse and restaurant span 4,500 square feet and has a 135-space parking lot with a maintenance yard included.
“To get rid of this 18-hole course would be insane,” said Mark Haines, a veteran of the landscaping business, during public comment. “I would absolutely never do that.”
“Yes, please, to the much-needed renovations,” said another speaker. “No, no, no to the 18-hole conversion” into a 9-hole course.
Following public comment, Mayor Jon Primuth said he would not consider the conversion to an executive course, which earned a round of applause that echoed throughout the chambers.
“It taps into a demographic that has a lot of money to spend, so it does hit the bottom line and it’s very attractive, but it’s a big-box solution and we don’t really go for big-box solutions here in South Pasadena,” Primuth said. “We have an 18-hole course that is perfectly set up to be a wonderful commercial draw as well as a wonderful golf experience for plenty of people.”
The ad hoc committee was formed in 2021 to review the leases or agreements in place for operations of facilities such as the Arroyo Seco Golf Course, as well as the All Star Batting Cages, Arroyo Seco Racquet Club and San Pascual Stables. The committee was also tasked to assist with the creation of requests for proposals for potential new operators. Donovan Bros. Golf Inc. has been operating and managing the facility since July 2011, and have been on a month-to-month agreement since April 2022.
The Community Services Department also reached out to consulting firm Pro Forma Advisors in December 2021 to help with the development of market analysis and project the operating performance of the course’s restaurant.
Gene Krekorian, a representative of the firm, presented to the Council a report of the entire facility, which included land use, market support, capital costs and financial projections.
The firm’s plan would shrink the course’s existing 19.6-acre space to 17.3 to accommodate expansion elsewhere. The proposal would also expand the miniature golf course from 0.3 acres and nine holes to a 1-acre, 18-hole course. The parking space would also expand from 0.7 acres to 2 acres, and an upgrade of the food and beverage operations would also be considered under the plan.
The committee found the firm’s suggestions would generate additional revenue by bringing in first-time golfers and making the facility more family friendly. Upgrades would draw inspiration from the growing Top Golf brand that’s converted other courses in the region, most notably in El Segundo. Tiger Wood’s Popstroke mini golf courses was also used as a model for the park’s mini golf expansion.
The firm also suggested using Toptracer technology to provide data to golfers and enhance the experience for visitors. The technology has been in use in nearby courses in Glendora and Alhambra.
Krekorian also previously presented a food and beverage concept to the Council in February 2022 that would create a family-oriented experience, with an emphasis on creating an outdoor patio dining area, which the committee endorsed to include in the property’s master plan.
The committee recommended the Council to prepare a master plan for a full renovation of the golf course in two phases, which would include the conversion of the 18-hole, 3 par course to a 9-hole executive length layout and an upgrade to the maintenance yard. The total cost after two phases will be $10,815,750.
Refuting the committee’s presentation to make the course a more family-friendly area, some speakers argued the course already provides valuable lessons for kids.
“There’s a kid’s class that learns how to chip and putt out there every day and we’re just eliminating that without even talking to those kids who use that,” said Eric Dunlap, chair of the city’s Mobile and Transportation Infrastructure Commission.
Also circulating through the community was the possibility that the Council would consider converting the course into housing developments.
“We were under the assumption that this was going to be talking about housing from some other sources, and obviously, we’re not, but I would like to bring up that … we definitely oppose any housing in the Arroyo area,” said one speaker.
Councilman Michael Cacciotti, however, quashed any consideration of housing as a replacement.
“I’m never going to allow anything to ever be developed at that golf course. Ever,” Cacciotti said.
Other speakers urged the Council to preserve the wildlife corridor the course provides to the surrounding habitats.
Though the executive course was relegated to an afterthought for some leaders, the Council largely agreed with exploring ways to get the restaurant up and running when city staff requested for direction toward the tail end of the meeting. It has been vacant and unused since the pandemic forced its closure in 2020.
Cacciotti urged the Council to come up with a plan for the restaurant sooner than later, suggesting a month-to-month renter or a capital improvement program. He also argued against dissolving the committee, worried that forming a new group would further lengthen the process.
“If we don’t have a committee to focus on it and spend late-night hours working and going on visits, it will sit, and facilities will deteriorate,” Cacciotti said.
The ad hoc committee representatives present at the meeting were Victoria Rocha, Michael Siegal and Alberto Ocon.
According to the city’s website, the ad hoc committee was dissolved following the Sept. 6 meeting.
Primuth argued fast-tracking a new restaurant would possibly compromise the potential master plan, forcing the city to build around the eatery or have it adapted to the plan. The mayor encouraged city staff to create an RFP that would include staged implementation with some of the more high-priority tasks to be evaluated first.
“Maybe an RFP for a restaurant use that has flexibility in it,” said Primuth, who also opposed the idea of expanding the facility’s parking lot. “In other words, you will eventually be integrated with a mini golf complex so that you have a restauranteur who’s willing to put in extra capital as other improvements come online, so they can go in on a basic level, they can deal with construction that’s going while providing services and then they bring in capital at the right time when everything else comes online.”
City Manager Arminé Chaparyan suggested the Council keep their options open for restaurant use and not jump the gun. She believes it can be utilized for many different events, from potential catering gatherings to even weddings.
“The opportunities at the sites are endless, especially if we think about the use of that facility as a venue for events in the future,” she said.
First published in the September 15 print issue of the South Pasadena Review.
