Meadowbrook At Clayton: Is it a hidden gem?

“We have another loss this year. It has been for eight years straight that Meadowbrook has been in the red since it was donated to our city in 2015. Should the City take Meadowbrook’s operation more seriously to stop it from continuing to drain the city funds? Dayton, a city just a 19-mile drive away, closed two municipal golf courses in 2020 for financial reasons. Would it be better if we also close our own?” This may have been one of the expectations of Clayton residents when they saw Meadowbrook’s 2022 financial performance in the City of Clayton’s annual report. By the end of that year, Meadowbrook had a cumulative accounting loss of over two million dollars. A study found that Dayton could generate enormous savings by going solar on their closed municipality-owned golf courses. Given the financial and marketing challenges faced by Clayton, would the City be better off by following suit? This case examines the financials of Meadowbrook At Clayton, explores possible ways to overcome its marketing and promotion challenges, and proposes a brief business plan for the municipal golf course to follow in the near future.