How much does it cost to maintain a course?

[OGputtnfool]

Good read here, I think. I agree the greens are where the money is at. Am I wrong to think money could be saved by eliminating sand and putting in grass bunkers?

Here's how much it costs to maintain a golf course for a year

Immaculate putting surfaces. Lush carpets of Bermuda, bent grass and poa. These perks of golf courses come with a price tag — and it can be steep.

golf.com

 

[ntanygd760]

No you are not wrong. Even sand bottoms with grass faces are easier to maintain as the faces don't wash out and require extra hours to fix. Most high volume course use a sand pro which alson speeds it up.

 

[gkeller813]

Interesting thoughts on how to save some money, and increase pace of play too. I knew it was expensive, but really had no idea on a $ figure.

 

[-CRW-]

I’m curious if money could be saved with links style designs or desert style where you have targeted landing areas in the fairways. There is much less to maintain. But maybe the play is slowed and ends up losing money due to less players on the course?

 

[Nappy]

Our course went strictly to pot bunkers because maintaining the old bunkers wasn't cost effective. Every heavy rain washed them out turned them in just mud pits.

It seems to be working out better for them.

 

[Junkyard]

Very interesting statistic on the pace of play impact by adding speed to the greens. It makes sense, especially for 90% of golfers who are not used to putting on pool tables.

 

[Flipit]

In my area they seem to save money by not doing bunker work. Lack of sand in some. One day I hit out of the bunker and coated the green with rocks. I no longer hit out of the bunkers at that course.

 

[Buckeyegolfnut]

Good read here, I think. I agree the greens are where the money is at. Am I wrong to think money could be saved by eliminating sand and putting in grass bunkers?

Here's how much it costs to maintain a golf course for a year

Immaculate putting surfaces. Lush carpets of Bermuda, bent grass and poa. These perks of golf courses come with a price tag — and it can be steep.

golf.com

The bunkers are usually the first things to suffer when a course has money problems! The local Donald Ross 36 holer just spend a half a million dollars over the past 2 years to redo all the bunkers!

I used to know the greenkeeper there. He wanted to thin some trees to get additional light and air on a green that was suffering. The course is part of the country metropark system. He complained that the park board wanted the place to be like a wilderness! Cut down trees? Heaven forbid. Never mind that they have to cut trees every year that fall across the roads! He went to one of their meetings, and asked if they were prepared to spend 40 to 50 thousand dollars to rebuild the green if it was lost! Want to clear some trees? Go ahead, clear some trees!

 

[Maric]

Great Read. Also meets my goal of learning something new every day.

 

[Paladin]

The bunkers are usually the first things to suffer when a course has money problems! The local Donald Ross 36 holer just spend a half a million dollars over the past 2 years to redo all the bunkers!

I used to know the greenkeeper there. He wanted to thin some trees to get additional light and air on a green that was suffering. The course is part of the country metropark system. He complained that the park board wanted the place to be like a wilderness! Cut down trees? Heaven forbid. Never mind that they have to cut trees every year that fall across the roads! He went to one of their meetings, and asked if they were prepared to spend 40 to 50 thousand dollars to rebuild the green if it was lost! Want to clear some trees? Go ahead, clear some trees!

When the quarantine started and the fort basically closed, they shut down the golf course but continued to maintain it, which made a lot of people very upset. Why spend all that money maintaining the course if no one is playing on it? Then it was explained how much it would cost to restore the course rather than maintaining it, and how those costs would increase over time, because this month it means clearing out all the bunkers, next month it means scouring the greens, next month it means reseeding the fairways, etc.

Maintaining a golf course it expensive. Getting a course back into usable condition after months of disuse is much more expensive.

 

[Scorp]

Thanks! I never really thought about it.

 

[YukonLiving]

Home course replaced sand with grass in most bunkers a number of years ago. Changes the dynamic a little bit, but it’s still playable.

 

[OGputtnfool]

Home course replaced sand with grass in most bunkers a number of years ago. Changes the dynamic a little bit, but it’s still playable.

Oh, yeah, very playable, I'd imagine. My first thought is that it'd make it easier for the beginners, but harder for the better players.

 

[Midman03]

Very interesting statistic on the pace of play impact by adding speed to the greens. It makes sense, especially for 90% of golfers who are not used to putting on pool tables.

I found this very interesting as well. This stat makes sense when I think from my skill stand point. Slower greens should mean players as less likely to over shoot the hole and make fewer putts. Hmm, I may keep an eye out for this next round.

 

[captaincaution]

When the quarantine started and the fort basically closed, they shut down the golf course but continued to maintain it, which made a lot of people very upset. Why spend all that money maintaining the course if no one is playing on it? Then it was explained how much it would cost to restore the course rather than maintaining it, and how those costs would increase over time, because this month it means clearing out all the bunkers, next month it means scouring the greens, next month it means reseeding the fairways, etc.

Maintaining a golf course it expensive. Getting a course back into usable condition after months of disuse is much more expensive.

The course I frequent now that I live 5 minutes away is owned by the city of Cleveland, but was being managed by a third party. A couple years ago the management company opted out of its contract and the course was closed for a while, with no maintenance at all. It took a couple years to get the courses back to what I would call acceptable shape, even for the low fees being charged. I can't imagine how much it cost to get the course back to playable.

 

[ntanygd760]

In my area they seem to save money by not doing bunker work. Lack of sand in some. One day I hit out of the bunker and coated the green with rocks. I no longer hit out of the bunkers at that course.

Great thing about NE Ohio is the largest supplier of high quality sand in the country is right near Cleveland so it doesn't cost nearly as much as if you got it shipped a 1000 miles.

 

[captaincaution]

Great thing about NE Ohio is the largest supplier of high quality sand in the country is right near Cleveland so it doesn't cost nearly as much as if you got it shipped a 1000 miles.

A large source of freshwater doesn't hurt either.