Even with several days of rain this month, the Lions Club Municipal Golf Course could still top $30,000 in monthly revenue before May 31, members of the El Dorado Parks and Playgrounds Commission said.
The total for April ($28,619) was down slightly from April 2022 ($30,729).
As the EPPC reviewed a financial report Tuesday, chairman Ken Goudy noted that the overall tally for the year has eclipsed the first four months of 2022 by $6,739, or just over 9%.
"This month's going to be hard because last year, we did ($38,023) in May and we're a little over $22,000 with eight days to go, so, you know, with the weather halfway decent, it'll easily get up into the thirties," Goudy said.
"I mean, we had two weeks of rain," Commissioner Alexis Alexander pointed out.
Commissioners said they were still pleased with the numbers, which climbed steadily throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as residents looked for safe, outdoor activities.
In 2020, LCMGC brought in $288,576, compared to $215,439 in 2019.
The yearly totals continued to climb in 2021 and 2022 at $293,136 and $312,174, respectively.
The financial report is a testament of an ongoing effort by the EPPC, LCMGC staff and golfers to help maintain the golf course and promote it.
Earlier this year, EPPC members marveled at the 6.5% percent increase in revenue for 2022.
The boost represented a dramatic turnaround at Lions Club within the past decade.
In prior years, the golf course had routinely yielded an annual budget deficit that averaged at least $100,000.
The EPPC heeded calls from the El Dorado City Council to look for ways to better market and promote the 18-hole facility, generate more interest in the course and attract more players, including luring back some players who had left Lions Club for other golf courses in El Dorado and South Arkansas.
In 2015, revenue for Lions Club totaled $217,490, which preceded a downward trend in 2016 and 2017 when revenues came in at $120,000 and $198,872, respectively.
Two years later, Goudy reported that while the facility had remained under budget in 2016, LCMGC had sustained a loss of $170,000 for the year.
The EPPC has worked for the past several years to help close the income-expenditure gap with efforts that include stepping up marketing and promotion.
Commissioner Karen Hicks on Tuesday distributed copies of the latest edition of the El Dorado Insider, a quarterly magazine that highlights people, events, attractions, points of interest and services that are offered in El Dorado.
With $1,890 in funding from the El Dorado Advertising and Promotion Commission, the EPPC has been working with the Diamond Agency advertising firm on a campaign to promote the golf course -- including the creation of a new digital logo and design.
The Relocation Guide of the Insider was recently published and includes an ad featuring the golf course and new digital logo -- an "L" that is conjoined with a "C" with a golf club piercing through the letters.
Hicks said another ad is planned for the next edition of the Insider and a professional photography shoot is forthcoming.
EPPC member Glenn Faust said he is pleased to see that more events and outings at LCMGC are being advertised by the groups that are hosting them.
Faust and Goudy cited ads they've recently seen for upcoming events -- including UCAPS' Jim. W. Bennett Memorial Golf Tournament: Pars Fore Pups, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. on June 17 -- that are scheduled at the municipal golf course.
"It's nice to see it's not just us saying it ..." Faust said.
"And with the advertising, more people show up," added Commissioner Greg Harrison.
LCMGC manager Danny Carelock has said that word-of-mouth promotion has also drawn more golfers from out of town, including North Louisiana, in recent years.