Latest / The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi / Jordan Abe on free golf for junior golfers at our municipal courses

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Jordan Abe on free golf for junior golfers at our municipal courses · The One Oʻahu Podcast with Mayor Rick Blangiardi

• 0:14
  Welcome to The One Oahu podcast.
• 0:16
  I'm your host, Brandi Higa, and we're joined this week by Jordan Abe
• 0:20
  golf course system administrator for the City and County of Honolulu.
• 0:23
  Jordan, we've sat down with you before, but for those that aren't familiar,
• 0:27
  what do you do?
• 0:28
  What is a golf course administrator?
• 0:31
  Hey, Brandi.
• 0:32
  Great question.
• 0:33
  So, as a golf course system administrator,
• 0:36
  I oversee the six city municipal golf courses.
• 0:39
  So that's Ala Wai, Ewa villages, Kahuku,
• 0:43
  Pali, Ted Makalena and West Loch.
• 0:46
  And what does that mean?
• 0:47
  You oversee them?
• 0:48
  Are you charge of getting people onto the course, making sure that everything good.
• 0:53
  Exactly. Is your job? You come to work. You do what?
• 0:55
  I get asked that all the time Brandi,
• 0:56
  No, it's, It's there's a lot encompassed with the job.
• 1:01
  Basically, with the golf up, getting the golf operations all set.
• 1:04
  Golf maintenance all set.
• 1:06
  So it's a full encompass of everything with with golf, right.
• 1:09
  Making sure the golf courses are in good condition for our customers.
• 1:13
  And then also the customer service component of it too.
• 1:16
  And we're in the dog days of summer.
• 1:17
  So we thought would be a good time to sit down with you
• 1:19
  because you have a unique opportunity at our munis right now.
• 1:22
  Can you talk about that?
• 1:23
  Yeah. So, summertime, right?
• 1:25
  The kids are out of school, and it's the perfect time for kids to,
• 1:30
  get on the golf course and parents, grandparents and bring them out there.
• 1:33
  And if you don't know, we have the best deal in town for juniors.
• 1:38
  If you're a resident with the ages of 8 to 17, you can get a resident golf ID card.
• 1:44
  And once you get the resident golf, the card golf is free.
• 1:48
  And how do you go about getting a resident golf ID card?
• 1:50
  So over this past year, we improved our customer service,
• 1:54
  opportunities and experience for all.
• 1:56
  So we now make the golf ID cards at our 518 hole locations.
• 2:01
  So if you go to our website at golf.honolulu.gov.
• 2:04
  All the information is on there.
• 2:06
  And what qualifications you need to get a golf I.D.
• 2:08
  card, as well as the schedule of where we make the golf I.D.
• 2:11
  card and the locations.
• 2:14
  But basically, in a nutshell, if you are a junior and you,
• 2:18
  our resident of Hawaii,
• 2:20
  come with your parent to show proof of residency,
• 2:23
  and then you're going to have to bring, like, a birth certificate.
• 2:25
  Just a picture ID, just to verify that the person
• 2:28
  on the birth certificate matches, the ID verification.
• 2:32
  Yeah.
• 2:33
  I know, when I was at age and I came to the golf course
• 2:36
  for the first time, I wanted to drive the cart.
• 2:38
  Are the kids allowed to drive a cart?
• 2:40
  If you have a driver's license, yes, you can, but, yeah,
• 2:44
  if you don't have a driver's license, unfortunately you can't.
• 2:46
  And for those who are sitting,
• 2:47
  maybe they're thinking about driving a city course for the first time.
• 2:51
  How do you go about making a tee time?
• 2:52
  And what are some of your suggestions for those folks?
• 2:55
  So if you have a resident golf ID card, obviously that's the fastest way.
• 2:59
  We do offer online tee time reservations now, so I think everybody remembers
• 3:04
  back in the day when it was calling the 296 2000 number.
• 3:08
  Those days are long gone.
• 3:10
  So now it's easy to make tee times online.
• 3:13
  Website is tee times dot Honolulu gov.
• 3:16
  Once you go into the website it's very easy.
• 3:19
  Everything is very transparent, very visible for the end user.
• 3:23
  And you can see what available tee times are on there.
• 3:25
  And now I mean you can book a tee time in less than a minute.
• 3:29
  The other good thing too, Brandy, is that we now make, same day reservations.
• 3:33
  Or in the past you could make reservations.
• 3:36
  That same day, you would have to come to the golf course,
• 3:38
  put your name on the stand by waiting lists.
• 3:40
  So now you can make tee times same day.
• 3:42
  What about for those who are a little old school
• 3:45
  and still want to pick up the phone and call.
• 3:47
  We still provide that opportunity to to call, over the phone.
• 3:50
  Some people actually are more comfortable.
• 3:53
  It does take a little bit longer.
• 3:55
  But, you know, nonetheless, it still is afforded to our customers to call.
• 3:59
  And we also thought it was a good time to get you on.
• 4:02
  We are here at all the way, by the way. So that's what you're hearing overhead.
• 4:06
  Okay.
• 4:06
  And, we thought it was
• 4:08
  appropriate to get you on because we have some exciting news.
• 4:10
  Coming to other villages this year.
• 4:12
  Can you can you talk about that?
• 4:14
  Yeah.
• 4:14
  So, Eva village's our food and beverage concessionaire.
• 4:18
  We just awarded a bid.
• 4:19
  This is the first that we're doing.
• 4:21
  It's going to be a ten year bid.
• 4:23
  It's, going to be a village golf course, like you mentioned.
• 4:27
  It's going to be, the company's name is Fairway Tavern.
• 4:30
  So they have, their own food and beverage business outside of this, location.
• 4:36
  But we're definitely looking forward to
• 4:38
  what they're going to bring to us at other villages.
• 4:40
  And just being around the residential community,
• 4:43
  which is really close by the golf course.
• 4:45
  You know, we feel this, concessionaire is going to be a great fit.
• 4:48
  You know, they're going to also cater to, obviously, our golfers first,
• 4:51
  but also to the residents around other villages golf course as well, too.
• 4:55
  They're looking at doing, a lot of activities as well,
• 4:58
  too, in the evening, you know, just to kind of promote,
• 5:02
  you know, more recreational things not around the golf course,
• 5:05
  but also to, the people that live in the area.
• 5:08
  And so is that, like Burger Simon?
• 5:10
  Like you'd find at other courses? Because we know what is here at all.
• 5:13
  I know what, Eleanor.
• 5:14
  What does Fairway Tavern, sir?
• 5:16
  So we haven't seen the complete menu yet.
• 5:18
  And one thing that we really liked that they did was they did actually, like
• 5:21
  a little,
• 5:23
  you know, questionnaire to our golfers.
• 5:24
  Like, what do you guys want?
• 5:26
  You know, what would you want a concession to do?
• 5:28
  So I thought that was really neat.
• 5:29
  They're very innovative and kind of want to see
• 5:31
  what the the demographics we have at our village as well to.
• 5:36
  You know, sort of when it comes to revenue,
• 5:38
  what has this past year looked like for your division?
• 5:42
  So, Brandon, you know, we've been fortunate to,
• 5:44
  continue our, our positive upward trend for revenue.
• 5:48
  You know, lately we've been doing that $1 million a month average.
• 5:53
  And as of now, we're continuing to stay on that progression.
• 5:57
  So hopefully we can close the fiscal year at the end of June, on that upward trend.
• 6:01
  But, you know, last year we were very fortunate and,
• 6:05
  you know, meeting those revenue numbers.
• 6:07
  So we hit over 12 million last year and
• 6:09
  looks like we're going to be a little over 12 million as well this coming year.
• 6:12
  What does that look like comparatively.
• 6:13
  Like maybe say like five years ago.
• 6:15
  Five years ago we were not in that ballpark.
• 6:18
  You know, prior to Covid, we were roughly about 25% less.
• 6:23
  So we're averaging maybe like 9 million a year.
• 6:26
  You know, we definitely took advantage of Covid closures.
• 6:29
  And the golf course is being open.
• 6:31
  And, you know, a lot of the golf courses, provided that opportunity for people
• 6:35
  to get out. And a lot of people came back to golf.
• 6:38
  And the challenge that we've had brand new, was trying to make sure
• 6:41
  that they stayed playing our golf courses.
• 6:43
  And I think one thing that we
• 6:44
  we do really well is that because we are the most affordable,
• 6:49
  golf courses in town
• 6:51
  or in our industry that that keeps golfers staying here.
• 6:54
  Right?
• 6:55
  And, you know, with this administration giving us a lot of money for our budget
• 6:59
  and putting it back into our golf courses, I think that helped
• 7:02
  keep our customers going.
• 7:03
  And even bringing in new customers as well, too.
• 7:05
  Yeah.
• 7:06
  And, you know, I know not everyone was familiar
• 7:08
  with the prices, even how to, you know, get a golf I.D., things like that.
• 7:11
  But we have heard you folks on the radio, we've seen more digital.
• 7:16
  What kind of, I guess impact has the marketing
• 7:19
  played in exactly what you're talking about?
• 7:21
  Market has been great for us, Brandy.
• 7:23
  You know, we never had a marketing budget two years ago.
• 7:25
  And obviously now that we do have a marketing budget,
• 7:28
  you know, our job, which we haven't been doing
• 7:30
  too well prior to a marketing budget, is just getting the word out.
• 7:34
  And, you know, surprisingly, a lot of people don't realize that.
• 7:37
  You know, the city has six municipal golf courses.
• 7:39
  I think most people could only identify alloy as a municipal golf course.
• 7:43
  But, you know, our job was to make it known to the public that we do have
• 7:47
  six courses that conveniently located where you live.
• 7:50
  You know, obviously we have a town with Woodridge side, you know,
• 7:53
  North Shore side.
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  And obviously, if you don't realize we have three out on the
• 7:56
  the west side of Island two.
• 7:58
  So, you know, part of marketing is doing our job and making sure
• 8:01
  the the general public knows where we are, where we're located.
• 8:04
  But what we also don't do is you advertise about our prices.
• 8:07
  You know, we have the cheapest rates in town
• 8:09
  for residents or even nonresidents as well too.
• 8:13
  Right.
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  And obviously, you've heard on the radio, we're doing a lot of marketing
• 8:15
  for junior golf, and we definitely don't forget about our seniors and kupuna,
• 8:19
  where we do have the $95 a month senior monthly card,
• 8:23
  which basically is like $9.50 for an 18 hole around the golf.
• 8:28
  Right?
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  And we all know like a plate, lunch is more than $9.50.
• 8:31
  So, you know, it's definitely affordable, for everyone.
• 8:35
  And we are just trying to make sure we market that to to everybody.
• 8:39
  And so we talked about the revenue coming in.
• 8:41
  I'm assuming that you know, rounds played have also gone up.
• 8:45
  What does that look like right now.
• 8:47
  So brand has been really good.
• 8:49
  You know, we've been on that upward projection as well to for rounds.
• 8:52
  We are on target to have over 450,000 rounds this year.
• 8:58
  And actually the rounds of golf, that have been on the upward
• 9:01
  trend is actually a 10 million, a golf course.
• 9:03
  You know, that's kind of a buzz in, in the local community.
• 9:07
  Yeah, it definitely
• 9:09
  has given all of our competition on on who's the busiest course.
• 9:13
  And what about when it comes to, you know, where do state tournaments happen?
• 9:17
  Where is that all on munis.
• 9:19
  So we work closely with the Hoist Golf Association,
• 9:23
  who hosts a lot of competitive golf
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  tournaments over the hills, like the Mayor's Cup,
• 9:27
  Francis Brown for ball and even the for both tournaments.
• 9:29
  Well, too.
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  So it's good now that we have other courses
• 9:32
  that are in tournament condition so we can kind of spread the
• 9:35
  the wealth around, if you know what I mean.
• 9:37
  So McClennan has been able to host some of those golf tournaments as well too.
• 9:41
  And one of the things
• 9:42
  that we're really proud of this year, two brand, is we held 12,
• 9:46
  school golf tournaments spread amongst the college and the OIA.
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  So we've never had 12 tournaments within a school year.
• 9:54
  At our municipal golf courses. So it was nice.
• 9:57
  We actually could spread all of them out at the 518 hole locations,
• 10:01
  throughout their school season, which is really condensed for them.
• 10:04
  I think it's within like three months.
• 10:05
  Yeah. For those listening, yeah.
• 10:07
  When I hear munis, I think of all the, like, Kahuku.
• 10:09
  But what makes Ted Macallan so special?
• 10:12
  You know, I think it's, it's in a, I think it's kind of an accessible area.
• 10:17
  I mean, granted, they got to go through the traffic by Waipahu High School, but,
• 10:20
  you know, it's right off of the freeway and it's close for a lot of people
• 10:24
  that actually live in town actually drive out to to McKinley on a golf course.
• 10:27
  But why? Michael Pena is good to brand.
• 10:29
  It's it's a flat golf course is very short.
• 10:33
  So it's kind of like the, the West Side all the life per se.
• 10:35
  Right? It's easy to walk.
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  So it's just a really accessible course for all, whether you're,
• 10:40
  you know, the most skilled golfer or you're just the first timer.
• 10:43
  Can we go through some of the others?
• 10:45
  I mean, I haven't been to Kahuku and I don't even know how long,
• 10:48
  what does that look like now?
• 10:50
  So, I mean, sort of beautiful, you know, obviously, if you don't know, we purchased
• 10:54
  Kahuku in 2017 for preservation and conservation purposes.
• 10:57
  But the beauty of Kahuku,
• 10:59
  it's it's, pier Link style golf course, which means it's along the ocean.
• 11:03
  So almost every hole along the golf course, you can see the ocean.
• 11:07
  And, I mean, it's just the environment, you know, coconut.
• 11:09
  Very country. Right? It's, laid back.
• 11:12
  It's just peaceful. Right? There's no noise.
• 11:15
  And that's one of the beauties about Kahuku is that it's just.
• 11:18
  It's like getaway. Right?
• 11:19
  The other course is is a lot more congested.
• 11:22
  There's more people.
• 11:23
  But Kahuku is definitely a gym.
• 11:25
  Poly kind of feels like a getaway to me, too.
• 11:27
  Sometimes, though, it's. It's maybe for you.
• 11:30
  I live on the windward side,
• 11:31
  so it's like home for me, but, you know, it probably is.
• 11:34
  It's a hidden gem as well, too, right?
• 11:35
  Call our mountains.
• 11:37
  You know, just lush. Scenic.
• 11:39
  But poly is also one of our more challenging golf courses, too.
• 11:42
  It's the distance, the length. It's a challenge.
• 11:45
  So we.
• 11:46
  You know, I wouldn't say we we don't have new timers or
• 11:49
  beginners play over there,
• 11:50
  but that's also a good place to start to just because it's not as busy.
• 11:53
  So it's not as intimidating for,
• 11:55
  you know, people that are just starting as well too. Yeah.
• 11:58
  What about West Locke?
• 11:59
  West Locke has quickly become popular as well too.
• 12:02
  Brand new.
• 12:02
  It's our third busiest golf course,
• 12:06
  where
• 12:07
  people can't get a tee time at at Muckle and, they go through us.
• 12:10
  Locke next to West Locke is a fun course.
• 12:12
  There's actually a lot of water hazards there, too.
• 12:14
  Not the longest of courses, but it's definitely fun.
• 12:19
  It's a challenge as well, too.
• 12:20
  And then Emma Villages is the other course on the west side of the island to.
• 12:24
  That's a challenging golf course.
• 12:26
  Plays long. A lot of wind out there too.
• 12:28
  So the beauty of our six course is brand is it's it's different.
• 12:33
  All six of them are different. None of them are the same.
• 12:35
  You know, different layout, different conditions, different, design.
• 12:40
  So you can't really get bored at, at our municipal golf courses.
• 12:44
  It's a different challenge for all.
• 12:46
  What is your favorite course to play right now?
• 12:48
  And what are you shooting these days? Jordan?
• 12:50
  Oh, geez. I don't play anymore.
• 12:53
  Tired?
• 12:53
  Yeah, I, I, I stepped aside for a little bit,
• 12:56
  but no, most of my time is spent on the soccer field, so I don't golf.
• 12:59
  But, you know, I'm very biased on my favorite,
• 13:05
  you know, all the ways where I started when I came into the city.
• 13:08
  So I'm always favoring although I.
• 13:10
  But, you know, all six of have special place for me.
• 13:13
  I grew up playing municipal golf, so all six of them are special.
• 13:17
  I love Pollito.
• 13:19
  I live on that Staten Island.
• 13:20
  And, you know, I think there's so much potential in that place for for growth.
• 13:26
  And there are growing as well, too, right now.
• 13:29
  It's interesting that you say that.
• 13:30
  So when you like, see potential
• 13:31
  and of course, like you said, you know, you started off playing municipal courses.
• 13:36
  Why did you want this job?
• 13:38
  So I actually fell into the job.
• 13:40
  I was working private.
• 13:41
  And when I was working private, that's when the economy wasn't too great.
• 13:45
  So a lot of golf courses were struggling on, you know, making ends meet.
• 13:50
  And I was fortunate that the opportunity actually arose that
• 13:53
  although I had a vacancy and, you know, I worked at all of Y
• 13:56
  and just bring it all the way, my aspirations were wanting to to at
• 14:01
  some point hopefully be the administrator so I can oversee and run all six.
• 14:05
  And just growing up playing municipal golf, it holds a special place for me.
• 14:09
  This is where I grew up playing and what?
• 14:12
  I love my job too, is I want to give back to the community
• 14:16
  and give others
• 14:16
  the opportunity that I had to grow up and play at municipal golf courses.
• 14:20
  How long ago was that?
• 14:22
  The came into the city? Long time, 2008.
• 14:25
  And so I know that, you know, this is kind of a weird question
• 14:28
  because you're still here, but people often think of like, legacy.
• 14:32
  What what do you want your legacy to be when it comes to, you know, like you said,
• 14:36
  it's your dream to make these six courses better.
• 14:40
  What is your legacy going to be once you people here.
• 14:42
  You know, actually, my for me, my legacy is actually
• 14:46
  is person like I, want to be known as more of a family man first,
• 14:49
  but for on a professional level,
• 14:52
  I just want to make sure our golf courses are sustainable, you know,
• 14:54
  for the next generation and the generation after that, because,
• 14:58
  you know, a lot of people did start playing municipal golf,
• 15:01
  and they've made their way to college ranks and even the professional levels
• 15:04
  too. So, you know, I just want to make sure
• 15:06
  we do our part to keep it sustainable so that next generation
• 15:10
  of like the Michelle we can start here and make a career
• 15:14
  and a living out of it as well to. Your kids, play.
• 15:17
  No, no they don't.
• 15:20
  I took them once to the draft range and.
• 15:22
  Yeah that's okay.
• 15:24
  No, that's.
• 15:24
  Yeah, I, I've told you that's that's my story as well.
• 15:26
  Yeah.
• 15:27
  Definitely not their, their passion.
• 15:29
  But hopefully one day, one day.
• 15:31
  What was the best round you've ever shot and where was it.
• 15:35
  You know I can't remember the best, but I can tell you when I played
• 15:38
  in high school, we played, we had a tournament poly.
• 15:41
  And like I said, poly is a beast.
• 15:43
  It's one of the toughest courses.
• 15:45
  And I think I shot like two over par 74.
• 15:48
  I always remember that because like I said, poly is a hard course.
• 15:52
  Right.
• 15:52
  So I would say poly.
• 15:54
  And this was when you're at Holy Baptist Academy.
• 15:57
  Yes. Everyone sing.
• 15:58
  These are two proud Eagles. Yeah, yeah. In this podcast.
• 16:02
  Jordan, is there anything that we missed?
• 16:05
  You know, I think to summarize
• 16:08
  what we discuss is just, you know, municipal golf courses
• 16:11
  is is a great place for residents, even nonresidents to,
• 16:17
  you know, partake in.
• 16:18
  Right. And,
• 16:20
  you know, recreation opportunities like, like our golf courses are few and far
• 16:25
  and I just think, you know, golf courses are such a great place for you
• 16:28
  to, you know, get out, get fresh air.
• 16:31
  It's also a great place to get back to our roots of
• 16:34
  just having a normal conversation without distractions.
• 16:36
  Right. For technology and whatnot.
• 16:39
  And I think golf provides a lot of those opportunities,
• 16:42
  but also to golf, what we try to teach with the juniors is, you know, the,
• 16:47
  the character building stuff that you have in golf, right, with, ethics,
• 16:52
  you know, character building and whatnot.
• 16:54
  So I just think golf is just great.
• 16:57
  And I know I'm a hypocrite because I don't play, but as much.
• 17:00
  But I just think golf is great.
• 17:02
  I mean, from juniors all the way to the seniors and,
• 17:04
  you know, if you look outside brand new,
• 17:06
  all those seniors that are sitting outside,
• 17:08
  you know, I realize how important our jobs are in providing,
• 17:12
  you know, these outlets for them, for for them
• 17:14
  so they can continue being social, physical, active out there.
• 17:17
  And, you know, it's nice to see see our familiar faces out there too.
• 17:21
  And because you are based here at all the way and it's proximity to Waikiki,
• 17:26
  I know it's not like while you're calling about
• 17:28
  who is the most famous person you seen pass through here?
• 17:30
  Most famous,
• 17:32
  you know, when you came to visit me that we have the Hoya Golf Hall of Fame?
• 17:37
  There's a lot of famous faces up there.
• 17:39
  I would say pretty much everyone up there comes to play here.
• 17:44
  Famous.
• 17:44
  I think the last.
• 17:46
  They like, you know, starstruck, awestruck, anything like that.
• 17:48
  I'd say the last one was Brian McKnight.
• 17:50
  I think he did a concert and I like R&B music.
• 17:53
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. When he came here, I was like,
• 17:56
  he lost.
• 17:58
  Yeah. Did you did you go say hi? I took a picture with him.
• 18:00
  Yeah. Yeah.
• 18:01
  I'm not ashamed to say that.
• 18:04
  Well, Jordan, thank you so much for your time.
• 18:06
  And mahalo to you for listening.
• 18:08
  We'll be taking a break next week of bye week for the One or Who podcast,
• 18:12
  but I hope you have a safe and enjoyable 4th of July.
• 18:15
  And until next time, Aloha!