Premier Golf Centers will manage Lake Wilderness Golf Course after the Maple Valley City Council approved a $3.84 million contract with the Seattle-based company, extending the contract to 2016.

The current contract golf course management contract with Premier was approved in 2011 and is set to expire at the end of the year. Rather than a one-year contract, the new contract will last four years.

As part of the contract, Premier Golf will receive a monthly $8,000 management fee, a total of $96,000 per year.

Premier Golf Centers has managed the day-to-day affairs at the golf course since May 2007 after Maple Valley purchased the course in November 2006.

According to City Manager David Johnston, during the past two years the city staff initiated a request for qualifications (RFQ) in order to find a vendor willing to take over the food and beverage elements of the golf course operation. City staff concluded that the golf course facility would require the city to spend more money to renovate the clubhouse and update the kitchen based on the response to the RFQ.

Although city officials had previously hoped the golf course would break even this year and be financially self-sufficient, estimates indicate it will require $36,000 from the city. It is a far cry, however, from the $227,045 the city put into the golf course in 2010.