LYNN — The city of Lynn is seeking an experienced company to construct a new irrigation system for the Gannon Municipal Golf Course, a project that carries an estimated price tag of $2.1 million.
The city, which leases the property to Golf Facilities Management Inc., started soliciting bids this week, a process that will remain open until March 25 at 2 p.m. The project is expected to start next fall.
Chris Carter and Steve Murphy, co-owners of Golf Facilities Management Inc. (GFMI), have operated the golf course for eight years. The company is currently operating under a $2.38 million contract that was approved by the Lynn Park Commission in 2019.
The city has a five-year plan to update and restore Gannon, which includes a 190-acre golf course, banquet/restaurant facilities, bar concession, function hall, pro shop and snack shop. Massive tree jobs have already been completed throughout the course, along with work on holes one through five and holes 11 through 13. The installation of a new irrigation system is a large part of that plan, according to Murphy.
The current irrigation system at Gannon is more than 50 years old, which far exceeds the average life expectancy of a golf course irrigation system, which is between 20 to 30 years.
“It’s a compliment to the city workers that put it in,” Carter said. “They did it very uniquely, putting it in so that the pipes don’t freeze or break around the rocks.”
The team at Gannon has worked hard to keep the current irrigation system in good condition and has been planning to replace it for about 10 years, but saving money for funding and having an irrigation architect design the plans has taken time, according to GFMI.
Murphy said that the plan is to add a computer-driven sprinkler system so that there are sprinklers on both sides of the fairways. The current sprinkler system, given its age, is worked on and repaired almost every day.
He said the new system will not only save water and please his greens worker and mechanic, but will provide better coverage, reaching the fairways and the brush surrounding it.
“There will be sprinklers from the tee to the fairway. In my opinion, this is a game changer,” Murphy said.
Although the project will disrupt play in the fall season, Carter said the fall is the quietest time of year and they plan to work around that obstacle by closing one hole down at a time, allowing golfers the opportunity to continue to play during construction.
“We’re trying to make this as least disruptive as possible,” Carter said.
Their goal is to find a contractor to install the irrigation system beginning in the fall, and have it completed by spring. There are only a handful of contractors in the country that do this kind of work, so bidding has to be released at least six months to a year in advance to secure a reliable and trustworthy company.
Murphy is worried that they may not be able to get a contractor, as many of the good contractors are already booked up. If that is the case, he recommends that bidding be reopened right away, pushing the project back a year.
If a contractor is secured, they plan to begin the project in September so that most of the project is completed before the freezing temperatures in the winter.
Carter referred to Gannon as a rocky area, making it more difficult to install pipes into the ground. There will be a pre-bid conference on March 16 where a walk-through of the course will be available, offering bidders the opportunity to examine what kind of terrain and soils they are working with.
Gannon pays about $480,000 a year for rent to the city of Lynn, so that accumulation over the years was entered into a capital improvement fund and will assist with the cost of the irrigation project, which is estimated to be approximately $2.1 million. Michael Bertino, the city’s chief financial officer, told GFMI that Gannon has an approximately $3 million bond to work with, according to Murphy.
Carter hopes that the new irrigation system will last for another 50 years.
“The irrigation system is the bloodstream of the golf course. Without it, the golf course wouldn’t be viable,” he said.
Qualified contractors must demonstrate successful experience at similar golf course irrigation system projects. Any contractor interested in bidding must be engaged primarily in the business of irrigation system construction with a minimum of five years experience installing golf course irrigation systems.
They must prove that they have successfully completed the installation of five or more complete automatic golf course irrigation projects, each with a minimum of nine holes, in the past five years. Interested candidates that satisfy all of the documented requirements must accompany their bid with a 5 percent bid deposit.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the bidding will be video recorded in front of a witness and results will be available by email. However, emailed bids will not be accepted.
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected]
