Spokes finalizing deal with city to operate Watertown golf course clubhouse

City Council is expected to approve the agreement Monday night.

“We are ready to roll,” Ms. Danielson said. “All that’s missing is place to do it right now.”

The city has a May 1 target date to open the golf course it purchased in January. It will open whether the clubhouse is ready or not, City Manager Kenneth A. Mix said Friday.

But getting the clubhouse operator was a major hurdle to clear to get the golf course open, he said.

However, the city still has some major electrical repairs to complete before the clubhouse can be used. The electric system in the basement must be replaced. The city is seeking proposals for the electric work, with a deadline of April 27.

Ms. Danielson is creating a new company for the clubhouse venture and is calling it Spokes on the Green.

She’s planning “a very soft opening in May.”

If the clubhouse isn’t a go, Spokes will cater from its Public Square location to provide food in the events tent at the golf course, Ms. Danielson said.

Currently, the owner is working on obtaining separate temporary liquor licenses from the state for the clubhouse restaurant and outside for the course’s special events tent, she said.

Delaney Keppner, who works at ABC-50, will be general manager for Spokes on the Green. They continue to hire staff for the clubhouse,

Spokes lead bartender Dillon Wood also is helping to line up the area’s top bartenders and servers to work as guest staff at the clubhouse.

According to the agreement, Spokes will pay $1 to run the clubhouse this season.

Spokes will have the right to request a one-year extension with the fee structure to be agreed upon before Jan. 1, with the minimum base of $5,000, according to the agreement.

The city would have the right to determine additional fees, including to collect payments for special events.

At the same time it’s preparing to get ready for the golf course, Spokes is also opening a new restaurant in Clayton.

Spokes was the only business to submit a proposal to operate the clubhouse concessions.

The city continues to hire golf course staff, including employees to maintain the course.

Jordan Northrop was hired as the course manager. Mr. Northrop was the golf manager at George Dunne National Golf Course, an 18-hole course in Oak Forest, Illinois, and G2 Golf LLC, overseeing a 27-hole semipro golf course and an 18-hole private course.

He’s also a graduate of the San Diego Golf Academy in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with an associate degree.

The 35-year-old is a 2005 graduate of Immaculate Heart Central. He started on the job last week.

Ken Hicks, who worked at the old Watertown Golf Club for years, was hired as head groundskeeper. Other personnel also have been hired.

Seasonal employees to handle greens fees and other responsibilities will be hired closer to the opening, Mr. Mix said.

In recent months, the purchase of the golf course has been a political hot potato after the city paid owner Michael E. Lundy $3.4 million for it.

As a result of the purchase, Ives Hill Country Club owner P.J. Simao was paid $850,000 for reducing Ives Hill to a 9-hole golf course, leaving the city’s newly named Thompson Park Golf Course the only 18-hole facility in the city.

The council meeting is at 7 p.m. Monday in the third-floor council chambers at City Hall, 245 Washington St.