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Golf is in crisis despite signs of rebound

bobgeorge

bobgeorge

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Interesting article I found regarding golf in California and how rounds per year are heading slowly back up after 4-5 years of being down.

In the Washington, DC area it seems like most golf courses I play seem pretty busy. Although I will say I do see a lot of people using Groupon coupons...myself included.

My view is that golf..like a lot of extracurricular activities will always be a nitch sport that ebbs and flows in popularity. The cost & time involved to play golf will always make it that way.

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20111219/SPORTS05/112190308/Golf-crisis-despite-small-strides?odyssey=nav%7Chead



 
I noticed over the summer that courses around here weren't nearly as busy as last summer, with the exception of the courses that offered groupon. I've even just been informed that a major course in our area is for sale, one that I, along with others, thought the owner had very deep pockets.
 
Dirtydawg67 said:
I noticed over the summer that courses around here weren't nearly as busy as last summer, with the exception of the courses that offered groupon. I've even just been informed that a major course in our area is for sale, one that I, along with others, thought the owner had very deep pockets.
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I play 99.9% of golf at my practice facility and it's always busy. I don't know how the courses in my area are doing though. Arydolphin and ghase could better answer that.
 
Dirtydawg67: I think companies that run golf courses got caught up like the housing market in general in that too many golf courses were built & courses started raising there prices. Then when the economy turned bad these same courses are forced to offer Groupons to get people to come.

There is a course a few miles from where I live in Woodbridge, VA that went into foreclosure before it was able to be opened a few years ago. I heard the bank sold the course earlier this year so hopefully it might open up soon.

I do know two courses on the MD side of DC that went into foreclosure last year.

Here in the DC area it is hard to play with a cart for under $50 & a lot of courses are charging $75 to $100 on weekends....which is expensive to me.
 
bobgeorge said:
Dirtydawg67:
Here in the DC area it is hard to play with a cart for under $50 & a lot of courses are charging $75 to $100 on weekends....which is expensive to me.
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I know some of those courses you are referring to and the biggest issue is that at $75/round they are still $15 to $50 under the proforma used to underwrite the land, design, construction, and continuing operations. Many courses, like office buildings and home developments were built with the optimism of continued growth. Our fictious economy is built on bubbles, when the bubble bursts pain is felt all around. Now couple that fact with the knowlege that we make nothing and have $15 Trillion dollars in debt (think about it, we pay off $15 Trillion Dollars just to have NOTHING - STILL BROKE!), our opportunities for creating new bubbles and phony periods of growth dissapates. It's not just the golf industry that is teetering, it's far larger.
 
I think people forget two things.

1. Its not just golf.
2. The entire country is in trouble.

Look around at every business and see nothing where stability is in place.
 
JB said:
I think people forget two things.

1. Its not just golf.
2. The entire country is in trouble.

Look around at every business and see nothing where stability is in place.
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The other night Diane Sawyer on ABC News said the economy was experiencing a spirited rebound, or words to that effect. I was wondering where she was getting her information.
 
Sean said:
The other night Diane Sawyer on ABC News said the economy was experiencing a spirited rebound, or words to that effect. I was wondering where she was getting her information.
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Supposedly the unemployment rate has went down slightly over the past few months.
 
bobgeorge said:
Supposedly the unemployment rate has went down slightly over the past few months.
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Seasonal employment can skew that a bit. I'm just tired of this global economy messing up my retirement. Spain or Greece shouldn't effect me but it does, oh the joys of globalization.

--
tapatalk
 
Golf in my area was definately down this year. All of the private clubs are struggling to stay open. One of the clubs I belong to is up for sale. Going to be a hard sell though, it is bleeding money like mad.

The munis are still pretty busy. Munis here are still really affordable.

None of this is surprising. Golf is expensive and the economy is in the dumps. People will cancel golf / gym memberships long before they drop cable, cell phones and $5 coffee.
 
JB said:
I think people forget two things.

1. Its not just golf.
2. The entire country is in trouble.

Look around at every business and see nothing where stability is in place.
Click to expand...

That is the way I see it also. Everything is down. Not just a golf problem. Sad thing is we are only in about year 3 of what I think could be a 7 to 10 year downturn. I hope I'm wrong though.
 
Golf is too expensive, too hard, and takes too long for the newer generations to entirely grip the game.
 
I saw lots of courses around Houston using Groupon this year
 
SW said:
Seasonal employment can skew that a bit. I'm just tired of this global economy messing up my retirement. Spain or Greece shouldn't effect me but it does, oh the joys of globalization.

--
tapatalk
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The rest of the world can say this about the US though, your housing crisis and market crash darn near brought down the world economy.
 
coolbreeze said:
The rest of the world can say this about the US though, your housing crisis and market crash darn near brought down the world economy.
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Greatest country in the world!!! :alien:

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tapatalk
 
Sean said:
The other night Diane Sawyer on ABC News said the economy was experiencing a spirited rebound, or words to that effect. I was wondering where she was getting her information.
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Think about it a little bit and the answer is obvious
 
The course I play in Brigantine, NJ was that way this year. Rounds were down substantially this summer. Sundays with virtually no one one the course! Everybody is suffering from this economic crisis.
 
I agree with the author's point that too many courses have been built. 6 year olds playing golf once a year are counted as golfers, that's stupid.
 
The "premier" golf club around here used to have a 5-6 year waiting list for membership. They are now advertising.
 
Gianna1025 said:
The course I play in Brigantine, NJ was that way this year. Rounds were down substantially this summer. Sundays with virtually no one one the course! Everybody is suffering from this economic crisis.
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Is that Brigantine Golf Links? Back when I lived in NJ I enjoyed playing that course. I remember one day playing #9 it was so windy that a "pured" pitching wedge from 110 yards when up, up, up, up, up into the air only to drop about 25 yards in front of me. I had a lot of fun rounds out there.
 
I think this is pretty much on. No industry, or even sport, is safe these days. Golf would seem to be a little anachronistic -- like my business, the newspaper industry. If you were to design a pastime from scratch for Americans today that you hoped had a chance to catch on, I doubt it would be expensive and take 5 hours to play.

Here in rural northern Ohio, most of the courses are public and have traditionally cost between $600 and $1000 a year to join. Now many of the courses are offering unlimited play for $25 a month. Those courses were pack for much of the season, but I don't see how that is sustainable.

Thainer said:
Golf is too expensive, too hard, and takes too long for the newer generations to entirely grip the game.
Click to expand...
 
Ten yrs ago my club was open for active and retired military only and both courses were packed on the weekends. Now, it's pretty open to the public (about 55bucks) and maybe busy on Sat mornings...several courses have closed in the area over the last few years, most tied to the housing collapse.
 
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