Waveland Golf Course

What Waveland Golf Course does

Waveland Golf Course is a municipally owned 18-hole golf facility located at 4908 University Avenue in Des Moines, Iowa, operated under the ownership of the City of Des Moines Park Department and managed day-to-day by C-Corp Management. Established in 1901 on land deeded to the city in 1894 by Fannie Mae Ingersoll and designed by Warren Dickson, it is recognized as the oldest municipal golf course west of the Mississippi River and plays host to more than 40,000 rounds of golf annually. The course features a classic layout with significant slopes across rolling, wooded terrain and a historic clubhouse with stone fireplace and vaulted ceilings.

The business serves three primary customer groups: general public golfers booking tee times via a third-party online booking system (driverpos.io), youth golfers participating in PGA Junior League and developmental camps delivered in partnership with sister-course Jester Park Golf Course, and event bookers renting the clubhouse for banquets, parties, and corporate gatherings for up to 100 guests. Ancillary revenue is generated through on-site food and beverage at Fat Joe's Pizza, private and group lessons led by Director of Instruction Zach Weets, season passes, and tournament hosting (e.g., the George Turner Individual Tournament; men's and women's city championships; state high school championships). Technologically, the operation is low-stack — a website, a third-party tee-time/Point-of-Sale system, and newsletter capture — with no proprietary technology platform, app, or AI components.

Commercially, the course operates a pay-as-you-go unit-pricing model with publicly posted green-fee rates, season passes, and varying tee-time pricing tiers. Customer acquisition is conducted via digital channels (official website, online booking, newsletter, social/community) and grassroots youth-program partnerships. The business is ownerless in the private-capital sense: it has no funding rounds, no equity backers, no parent corporation, and no subsidiaries, and ownership is held by a government entity under a long-term operating agreement with C-Corp Management.

Name

Waveland Golf Course

Legal name

Waveland Golf Course

Website

https://golfwaveland.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1901

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Waveland Golf Course is a municipally owned 18-hole golf facility in Des Moines, Iowa, founded in 1901 and recognized as the oldest municipal course west of the Mississippi River. It serves recreational public golfers, youth development participants via PGA Junior League, and event bookers hosting gatherings up to 100 guests under management by C-Corp Management.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public Golf Course Operations

NAICS

Golf Courses and Country Clubs (713910)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Golf Courses & Golf Facilities (MPAKAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Athletic Field & Golf Course Groundskeeping (IMAIAIAH), Golf Clubs & Tournament-Host Clubs (Professional/Elite Golf Clubs) (MPAKABAE)

Keywords

• Public golf course
• Municipal golf operations
• Tee time booking
• Youth golf programs
• Golf event venue

Headquarters

HQ city

Des Moines

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Waveland Golf Course operates an 18-hole classic municipal golf course on rolling wooded hillsides in Des Moines, Iowa, offering public tee time access, golf lessons, youth development programs, on-site food and beverage through Fat Joe's Pizza, tournament hosting, and banquet/event space in a clubhouse with seating capacity for up to 100 guests. The facility is owned by the City of Des Moines Park Department and managed by C-Corp Management.

Product overview

Waveland Golf Course is a single-location municipal golf facility offering an 18-hole golf course as its core product, supplemented by ancillary services including tee time bookings, on-site dining at Fat Joe's Pizza, youth development programs in partnership with Jester Park Golf Course, and special event hosting. The company operates as a traditional golf course business rather than a technology platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• 18-Hole Municipal Golf Course An 18-hole classic golf course on rolling wooded hillsides in Des Moines, Iowa, offering public tee time access to recreational golfers, families, and group outings.
• Online Tee Time Booking

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Jester Park Golf CoursecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaveland Golf Course partners with Jester Park Golf Course to offer the PGA Junior League program. This partnership provides an exciting opportunity for local youth to be part of a team, introducing them to the game of golf or helping them enhance their existing skills. Jester Park serves as the practice location for both In-House League and Competitive League practices.
• C-Corp ManagementcoreOthersC-Corp Management team handles day-to-day operations of Waveland Golf Course, including managing inquiries and concerns.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• KemperSports: Golf and hospitality management company managing public, private, and resort courses across the U.S. Comparable to Waveland's third-party managed municipal structure and its mix of green fees, events, and F&B.
• Troon: Largest global golf and club management company, operating hundreds of public and private courses. Comparable as the professional third-party manager model that C-Corp Management performs for Waveland at municipal scale.
• American Golf Corporation: National operator of public and private golf courses with significant municipal-course management history. Comparable as a large-scale public golf operator facing similar revenue mix and seasonality dynamics.

Regional players

• Indianola Country Club: Central Iowa country club offering 18-hole golf and event hosting. Overlaps with Waveland on tournament hosting and event venue competition in the broader Des Moines market.
• Glen Oaks Country Club: Established private country club in the Des Moines area providing golf, events, and dining. Competes for the same local golf events and banquet business as Waveland's clubhouse venue.
• Wakonda Club: Private country club in Des Moines offering 18-hole golf, dining, and event hosting. Competes for corporate outings, tournaments, and event bookings in the same local market, though with a member-based model.
• Echo Valley Country Club: Regional country club with golf, events, and youth programming in Iowa. Comparable product mix (golf + events + lessons) competing for similar Des Moines-area golfers and event bookers.

Direct peers

• Blank Golf Course: Sister municipal golf course in the Des Moines network, linked from Waveland's website. Operates a similar public-access 18-hole model with shared marketing and overlapping customer base in the same metro.
• Bright Grandview Golf Course: Another Des Moines-area sister municipal golf course cross-marketed with Waveland. Closely comparable 18-hole public golf operation serving the same regional customer pool.
• Jester Park Golf Course: Strategic partner of Waveland for PGA Junior League and youth development. Operates as another public golf facility in the Des Moines metro and shares youth programming with Waveland.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/waveland-golf-course

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Waveland Golf Course