Golf and country club membership on the rise

Avalon's golf courses are expected to reverse their money-losing ways.
By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
VIENNA -- Membership at Avalon Golf and Country Club is up 30 percent since it added Sharon Country Club last October.
Ron Klingle, chairman and chief executive of Avalon's parent company, said he thinks that's just the beginning.
He expects Avalon's membership to increase from 1,900 now to 3,000 by the end of the year.
Howland-based Avalon Holdings Corp. held its annual meeting Friday at one of its three courses, Squaw Creek Golf Course in Vienna. The third course is Avalon Lakes Golf Course in Howland.
Klingle said after the meeting that the company's main focus now is the Sharon course, where it is spending 7 million to renovate and expand the clubhouse.
The clubhouse will open in stages, starting next month. It will feature a 31,000-square-foot fitness center and spa. The golf course is expected to open at the end of May.
Lots of support
Klingle said he's heartened by the support Shenango Valley residents have shown for the project. Avalon brought on 200 members who were members of Sharon Country Club but it also has added more than 300 other Pennsylvania residents.
Just over half of the total Avalon members have social memberships, which allow use of all of the club facilities except golf. These cost 500 for an individual and 1,000 for a family.
Golf memberships, which allow play at all three courses and the social privileges, are either 1,000 or 3,000 for an individual and 4,000 for a family.
"We've created a club that's affordable and a club that's fun. The last thing we are around here is stuffy," Klingle said.
Still, Avalon's golfing operations continue to lose money. The courses lost 400,000 last year on revenues of 5.9 million. In 2005, they lost 300,000 on revenues of 5.3 million.
Klingle said he expects golfing operations to be profitable this year as membership continues to increase. Also, the addition of Sharon has added employee and training costs but hasn't created any revenue because the course hasn't opened.
Avalon derives most of its revenue and all of its profit from its waste management services. It arranges for the disposal of industrial waste throughout the eastern U.S. That part of the business provided operating income of 3.1 million last year on revenues of 33.5 million.
Earnings, stock
Overall, Avalon earned 1.3 million in 2006, compared with 390,000 in 2005.
The company's stock has nearly doubled in the past year. It closed Friday at 8.65 a share, up from 4.43 at this time last year.
Klingle said he expects Avalon's waste business, which employs about 100, to continue to expand because of the expertise of the staff.
One new area of business is removing contaminated soil from construction sites, he said.
The company has been doing such work in the past six months in the New York City area.
As for the golf business, Klingle said the Sharon deal rules out any more acquisitions in the near future.
"When you open something new, you have to pay attention to it. You have to live with it for a couple years," he said.
shilling@vindy.com