L'Amour Municipal Golf Course posts 12% rise in rounds; operator cites upgrades and new programs

Dan Boccia, who represents Sierra Golf Management, told the Lemoore City Council on Feb. 4 that the city-owned L'Amour Municipal Golf Course recorded 36,977 rounds in 2024, a 12% increase from the previous year.

“That’s almost 37,000 rounds a year,” Boccia said, adding that the operator’s goal is to reach 40,000 rounds annually. He told council members that general daily-fee rounds made up about 41% of play, seniors and military comprised about 22%, members (frequent-player programs) roughly 18% and juniors and school teams about 6.9%.

The rounds increase came alongside higher revenues in several categories, Boccia said: green fees rose about 14.3%, cart fees 12.7%, driving-range revenue 8.4%, food and beverage 17.8% and membership/frequent-player income nearly 19.8%. “My managers wanted me to tell you how great their food is,” he added, noting more non-golfer visits to the café.

Boccia described facility and equipment work completed since last year’s report: replacement of the irrigation pump station components, repairs to a L'Amour Canal concrete weir that had eroded on private property access, a new fleet of 60 lithium golf carts, slurry and restriping of the parking lot and kitchen equipment upgrades in the café. He said netting between the first tee and the senior center had been purchased and was scheduled for installation by city staff and the fire department the day after the meeting.

He also outlined community programs the operator plans to start: 15 fundraising tournaments scheduled as of Feb. 1, a PGA HOPE program to provide free golf instruction for disabled veterans (staff training and certification expected by March, with classes starting this summer), and a planned local satellite of First Tee of Fresno to bring junior instruction to Lemoore and Hanford-area youth.

Council members asked about capacity and membership breakdowns. Boccia said there is no fixed “capacity” number but noted regional examples to benchmark success; he also said the frequent-player program data were not split by age, so the exact number of senior members was “not tracked.” He said Sierra Golf is exploring solar and driving-range lighting with TrackMan technology but that those ideas would require collaboration with the city and additional investment.

Councilmember Gornick praised the report and asked whether Boccia was satisfied with current operations; Boccia replied, “It’s been a good few years.” The council received the report; no formal action was required.

The council and Boccia acknowledged that tournaments and community outreach help promote the course and that continued improvements and partnerships (including potential water-source reuse and the pending netting installation) remain priorities.