GolfNewsRI

On Wednesday, September 14, GolfNewsRI obtained copies of the three bids to operate and manage Triggs Memorial Golf Course. 

The bids are all public information and can be found through the City of Providence Open Meetings Portal. 

Given that the bids are more than 200 pages long, in some cases, we do our best to break each one down and pull out what we think you – the golfers – would find interesting. 

The FCG Associates Limited Partnership Bid

FCG Associates is the group that currently operates and manages Triggs, and they have since 1990, according to the City. 

READ FULL BID HERE

They have the second highest bid at $2,993,970.00, and that can be found right on page one. 

Page 2 FCG Associates gives a table of contents to their bid. 

Page 9 is a breakdown of the yearly payments. 

The breakdown is as follows: 

2023 – 2027- $286,000 

2028 – $294,580 

2029 – $303,418 

2030 – $312, 521

2031 – $321,897 

2032 – $331,554

On page 14, FCG Associates writes a short, four sentence letter to the Department of Parks, offering their bid. 

The letter is written and signed by Karl Augenstein. 

FCG Associates is identified on page 15 as Augenstein, James Leach, Jon Savage and Michael Goes. 

The Triggs Management team is listed on page 16-17

FCG Associates explains their history and qualifications for running Triggs starting on Page 18. 

“Prior to our stewardship that began in April 1990, the conditions at Triggs has severely declined after several years of poor turf management, shoddy customer service, inferior food and beverage service and general neglect,” writes FCG. 

They continued, “During the next several years, FCG Associates corrected these deficiencies by investing over $2.5 million in course and facility capital improvements, hiring professional staff and implementing “state of the art” operating technology.” 

FCG goes on to list the improvements they have made over the years from the course, to the restaurant to the pro shop. They even go into changes that they were forced to make during the Covid Pandemic on page 22. 

FCG lays out the improvements they are planning to make over the next several years, with the estimated cost on page 25. 

For example, FCG estimates that paving the existing parking lots will cost $280,000, repaving the cart paths will cost $230,000. 

Fixing the sign is estimated to cost $20,000. 

In total, FCG is offering to make $1,449,00 in improvements. As GolfNewsRI reported, the RFP called for at least $1 million. 

“As time has passed, certain conditions at Triggs have aged and deteriorated behind normal maintenance and are in need of major Capital Improvements. As noted in the RFP, the parking lots need a total renovation and Triggs is clearly lacking curb appeal along Chalkstone Avenue, at its entrances and overall “travel” and directional signage in its parking lots, clubhouse and pro shop. Our list of Capital Improvements will address all of these issues,” writes FCG in the summary on page 26. 

On page 30, FCG again lists the improvements they plan to make with the estimated costs. It’s a much more detailed version of the list they posted on page 25. 

On page 33, this blueprint can be found, although it is sideways in the document.

Page 35 is interesting as they address their relationship with Button Hole, something that the RFP called for. 

“Triggs has a standing offer for the past 22 years to any “Button Hole Kid” up to the age of 16 to play Triggs for free on any day during the off peak hours with the proviso that the tee reservation be made by a Button Hold staff member and the younger kids up to age 13 be accompanied by an adult. Unfortunately, participation at Triggs from Button Hole Kids has been limited. This year to date, we have only done approximately 60 Button Hole rounds,” writes FCG. 

They add that they plan to host a roundtable discussion later this month to figure out how to get more Button Hole participation. 

The rates are discussed on page 38 and it looks like they are going up for 2023, but only by a dollar or two. 

Golf passes and memberships, page 39, are also going up in 2023 and significantly.  

A seven day pass is going up from $1,800 in 2022 to $1,950 in 2023. 

The next handful of pages talks about their marketing plan (radio, google golfnow etc…), and their relationship with RIGA. 

They include a letter (page 45) from Bob Ward to Golf Course Superintendent Joe Hoyle complementing him on the conditions during RI Mid-Amateur. 

Pretty much the entire rest of the document, another 200 pages or so, is all tax related forms, IRS, W-2s etc… from the last couple of years.