Despite some early setbacks in the procurement process, Georgia is continuing down the path of getting out of the golf course business, at least on the operations side. According to the Atlanta Business Chronicle:
The Georgia Department of Natural Resources is starting over in its effort to privatize the state’s system of taxpayer-funded golf courses.
The DNR rejected all four bids it received this month from golf course operators, Becky Kelley, director of the agency�s parks division, said Thursday.
She said one bid was late, two companies failed to answer mandatory questions contained in the DNR’s request for proposals and a fourth was unresponsive to a request for follow-up information.
Kelley said the DNR will put together another request for proposals this fall. But this time, the agency will seek to privatize only the operation of the golf courses while keeping maintenance in-house, she said.
Two of the stateââ?¬â?¢s golf courses, the Wallace Adams course at Little Ocmulgee State Park and Arrowhead Pointe at Lake Richard B. Russell, already are running successfully with operations in private hands and the state doing the maintenance work, she said.[…]
The DNR board voted more than a year ago to consider privatizing the golf courses.
Supporters have long argued that it makes no sense for the state to compete with private golf-course operators. State-run parks, which lack such a thriving private sector equivalent, are considered more of a core mission for the DNR.
That’s exactly right, as I’ve written here, here and here.
Ã?” Reason Foundation’s Annual Privatization Report 2009
Ã?” Reason Foundation’s Privatization Research and Commentary