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Are course in your area jacking the prices because more people are playing golf?

Haven't noticed but depending on the state they might have lost some tee time slots per hour so it makes sense. I have to make a tee time for a single on a weekday just to get on if the weather is nice so supply and demand isuues I could see it as well. I would never expect lower prices either.
 
My course is $50 to walk on the weekend which I believe is about $2 more than last year. That's after the purchase of the $200 frequent player pass, which gets you two rounds with cart, and 20% off fees afterwards.

We have a new assistant pro this year, and there were grumblings about the course trying to limit the number of rounds available with a full membership (I heard a limit of 50) but that got shot down pretty quick.

Overall I would say the course appears slightly busier than normal, but it's not exactly standing room only. We will suffer most from loss of tournament revenues.
 
Yeah but not sure if its because there are people that want to play & willing to pay it. Or because tee times being 10 minutes apart there are fewer time slots thru the day. And everyone riding separate has to be more expensive as well...
 
Bayonet Blackhorse now charge $190 to ride. I don’t remember it being that expensive before lockdown. The courses aren’t worth anywhere near that IMO either. Laguna Seca were quoting $90 a round which again, is completely ridiculous. My home course hasn’t increased rates though.
 
I know of one local course that bumped weekday rates up $20 and weekends up $30. Owner said they reduced the number of tee times and he needed to make up for 2 mos. lost income
 
Luckily things have stayed about the same here - courses were able to open and neither have restaurants. Still seeing beverage carts out, just can’t sit around afterwards.
 
There are a couple that are increasing prices a little bit, nothing that feels like price gouging. I would imagine they are trying to recoup some of the money that they are losing due to the increase in gaps between starting times more than anything since the costs of running the course are higher now that there is play on them.
 
They haven't changed the prices, but there is a lot more people playing so they are making money.
 
Some courses are. Some courses aren't.
 
Not as far as I can see. And as a matter of fact, some are actually lowering prices. At least those that are a bit out of the way and further out on Long Island. A couple are charging weekday rates all the time.
Still working through “Phase 1”, so there still are limited amenities available. Shortage of carts, no bar, etc... That should start easing up this week as they head to “Phase 2”. I see weekday pricing sticking for awhile until things “normalize”. Are the prices the OP is seeing straight from course, or third party tee-time sellers like Golfnow or Teeoff, or whatever?
 
I wonder if the courses with inflated prices are still using more time in between tee times. To me, that would make sense. If the course is back to 8-min tee times and still inflating prices, I can understand the need to make up any lost revenue from the past few months.

I was studying for my license test (which I passed!), then Corona, then sprained shoulder so I haven’t been able to play since my birthday in January. My brother has mentioned to me he has noticed the prices go up. Especially on twilight rounds
 
Not that I have noticed. They shouldnt need to around here with the huge increase in volume Im seeing. I cant remember the last time Ive seen golf course parking lots so packed on the weekends.
 
One course actually lowered prices to make up for 2 slow months and they were open.. but they are extremely busy now and have been and their running their special the rest of the summer.
Its $25 + tax for 18 and a cart! I stopped going there, it’s like a free for all, people have come out of the fing woodworks.
 
I don't think there is any pricing change around here. I haven't seen or heard of anything like that.

I do know that courses are extra busy, even the private ones. I played today on a course that is allowing 5-somes. They only have 500 memberships but people are simply playing more rounds of golf. I think the 5-some option simply helps them meet demand.
 
One of the nicer courses in my area raises peak weekend rate $35.... most other courses raised rates $5-10
 
wubears71 said:
Yep. And I don’t mind it one bit. Some courses went over 2 months with zero revenue and if demand is there and people are willing to pay then so it. My ho,e course is getting $85-$100 for peak weekend tee times where they normally were $60-$75. For a lot of courses, the pricier tee times is the only way they were going to survive. As soon as demand dies off, the rates will go down.
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Exactly, sounds like they found what the marker will bear & adjusted accordingly.More revenue = more money potentially re-invested in the course.
 
The course we played this afternoon had raised their prices. By about 30% compared to a couple months ago.
 
Luchnia said:
I watch prices closely In my area and notice that many courses are jacking the prices for a round big time, especially weekend prices and some simply are not worth it at all. I am guessing they jack the prices simply because they can. Even my local course has gone up slightly in price while it has crowds I have never imagined.

There are only a small percentage of courses in the area that have not jacked the prices. I have noticed price changes on average that go from 5-20 dollar increase per person for a round. For instance one course that charges around 59.00 went to 70.00 and another that charges around 64.00 went to 84.00. I am thinking why? - I suppose because they can as most are booked to capacity right now on the weekends.

I was thinking that during hard times such as covid courses would have lowered prices, but that is not the case at all around here. Only one muni 9 hole in a nearby town (well kept and with nice quality clean carts) actually lowered their price 3.00 a round due to covid hardships knowing that many are struggling with jobs, which the price was already dirt cheap at 28.00 for 18 holes with a cart, and now they charge 25.00 for 18 with a cart.

Golf is not the only industry to increase prices to take advantage of hard times. We see it all around. I guess it just "bugs" me (for lack of a better word) how some take advantage of hard times. Of course, no one has to play golf, but it is an opportunity to get others involved especially due to social distancing.

I don't like it when businesses do that to the consumer, yet I do realize they are trying to make the cha-ching while they can. I don't know what the answers are and there is always more to the story. I was mainly putting this out there to see what others are experiencing and what your thoughts are about it.
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I have not seen that, but I'd guess it's simply a business decision. One course that I played often during the COVID-19 shutdown had $9 walking greens fees on Monday and Tues-Thur from 1-3pm. That was hard to pass up.

I guess as long as they're making more money at the higher rate, they're not pressed to lower their rates. Supply and demand will win in the end. Maybe they'll thrive and maybe they'll lose enough customers that they be forced to lower the prices.
 
No price increases that I can recall, however, I would say that some courses let their conditions go...which I assume is due to some staff limitations. I'm not talking about bunkers since they are basically GUR with no rakes. I'm talking about tee boxes that looked more like heavy fringe/light rough and greens that were in poor shape--and we've had a ton of rain north TX too, so can't blame hot or dry weather.

The other thing I have noticed is people trying to jump tee times... At 2 different courses I've encountered this and both times the "offenders" seemed to get pissed off when they were called out.

Not the topic of thread, but definitely some interesting things in these times...

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
No, and yet they have every reason to do so. The COVID-19 orders here have added HUGE costs to the golf courses. They have to have extra staff hours to police social distancing, they can't use volunteer marshalls, had to do all the social distancing striping, remove benches, change the cups, all the special signage, one cart per player, extra sanitizing, added plexiglass, and so on. Then they reduce their ability to make revenue by closing the pro shop, the restaurant, the snack shack, lengthening the time between tee times, reducing in half the number of range stalls, and reducing operating hours.

So, I think they are being more than fair maintaining the existing rates. They don't even charge more for the carts, even though they can't be shared.
 
Our courses have stayed the same. Rates have dropped to the normal summer rates (summer is our offseason) and are the same as they've been in past years.
 
in dfw the prices have skyrocket on muni courses. last year i would pay $12-$22 depending the the track on weekdays. now around $25-$39. no more good deals on golfnow as before either. also ive notice the good tee time are booked 4-5 days in advance. use to be i could just book any time i wanted M-Th the day before.
 
wubears71 said:
Yep. And I don’t mind it one bit. Some courses went over 2 months with zero revenue and if demand is there and people are willing to pay then so it. My ho,e course is getting $85-$100 for peak weekend tee times where they normally were $60-$75. For a lot of courses, the pricier tee times is the only way they were going to survive. As soon as demand dies off, the rates will go down.
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Seems that those complaining about this lack an understanding of supply and demand.

I have no issue with the local courses here raising prices. They’re trying to stay open.
 
5150 said:
Seems that those complaining about this lack an understanding of supply and demand.

I have no issue with the local courses here raising prices. They’re trying to stay open.
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The majority of courses around here never closed during the winter or covid, so it wasn't a matter of trying to stay open and doing without revenue as it was in your area.

Because of the mild winter we had, I played through the winter this year and a lot of others were on the courses playing. Often courses were crowded and now more than ever. I am sure some courses that had to close are trying to do all they can to stay open in some areas of the country and I understand that.

I understand supply and demand, yet that does not make overcharging the right thing to do. If I know a course is well managed and struggling, I don't mind at all helping them out to get back on track.

The bottom line for the consumer is they can choose where they want to play and whether or not they want to pay the higher prices that some courses are charging.
 
Luchnia said:
. If I know a course is well managed and struggling, I don't mind at all helping them out to get back on track.
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Struggling unfortunately is just about every golf course out there - especially if you have no banquet business. A good year for a golf course is breaking even. Raising prices is not being greedy. It’s trying to stay in business.
 
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