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No clue but that wasn't the intention of this threadIs the game really in trouble or is it just media bs?
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No clue but that wasn't the intention of this threadIs the game really in trouble or is it just media bs?
I think that if courses would have a "Play 9" and offer a 9 hole rate throughout the day including making it less than their twilight rate it would help a lot. $25 for 18 holes at twilight rate after 5 pm is ridiculous considering you're not going to get in more than 9 holes anyway before it gets dark... unless you're racing around in a cart with an open course in front of you (lol) and the cart costs another $8.
Many courses around here charge $33 or more for regular green fees, and $20 or no rate for 9 holes until 3:00 in the summer and drop to $24 after 3:00 for 18 with no 9 hole rate. But some people don't have time to play 18 but would play 9.
Also drop the "no denim" code. If people want to wear that hot fabric in the summer on the course, fine.
So my question is: What grows the game? What brings in more players and gets those players to stick around?
Is the game really in trouble or is it just media bs?
This is a topic I'll be very interested in following. I attended a membership meeting at my club last night to listen to club management explain the condition of the golf industry (clubs) in the Pensacola area and it wasn't very encouraging. Their main objective, of course, was to explain to the members why membership fees went up for 2016 by about 20%. The club is losing money and has been for several years. Memberships in 2009 were at about 500, and today 150, and they fully expect to lose several more with the new rate increases. Chief in the list of reasons is that the number of younger golfers coming into the game is being far outpaced by the number of oldsters that are leaving. Those in the younger generations that are coming into the game do not value club membership as much as before, and are more prone to compare cost of a round, the time invested and so forth, in choosing where they play. Even with the number of courses that have closed, there is very stiff competition in our area and the market will only tolerate a rate of around $40 per round. Many are below that rate. Our club is semi-private, as are most around here, because they cannot survive as private. Obviously, our 150 or so members cannot sustain a full service, private club.
The one thing that struck me during the meeting was that outside of listing all the challenges facing the golf industry, at least in our area, not one thought was put forward on what to do about it. Obviously, reversing the trend and beginning to grow the game again would be one solution, but no real ideas have come forth on how to do that.
Sorry for the rant and ramble, but, as you can see, it's a topic that is weighing on my mind at the moment.
Ken I have a friend I play golf with who is a member at a great private course and is close to your age. Talking with him about his club memberships, I was shocked they were below what they needed members wise.
On thought I shared with him and maybe helps you gain perspective, was I consider myself "young". I have a family who are into different activities and the golf club or country club mentality, while great, isn't the thing to do as a family anymore. There are way more entertainment outlets competing for our disposable income. I mentioned that because most "junior executive" memberships expire at 35 or 40 depending on the club. Why not make it 45? Given that my thought process is that "40 is the new 30". IMO the clubs are antiquated a bit in the membership model and a slight adjustment might generate more members. I know having to pay full price right now at any private course Is the only thing keeping me from joining somewhere.
Thanks, Mike. Yes, we discussed this last night. Kids in school are into many activities, multiple sports, and the like which draw the parents into those activities as spectators, transporters, etc., and rightly so. There isn't much time left over for the club experience for many during those years. We have a lot of young families in our community that are not members, largely for that reason, as well as, perhaps, economics. One of the things I suggested last night to our management group was to offer free clinics to kids, as well as low cost clinics and lessons aimed at wives/mothers. If you want the parents to come to the club, get the kids interested and they will come.
In the U.S. About 4,500 new courses opened from 1990-2005. By my count there has been a net change of approximately -600 golf courses since 2011. Two thirds of the courses closed were low end public courses that charged under $40 per round during peak times. 97% of all course closures in that time were public courses.
IMO a net increase of 3,900 courses in 25+ years (avg of 150+ new courses per year) is nothing short of remarkable.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook...ng-middle-class-is-killing-golf/#3c4fb5ad524f
As an entire entity the game is, or at least was, shrinking.
Locally the game is doing just fine and selfishly I have no desire to see it grow.
Look at that compared to the stock market in the last 25 years. I see very little remarkable about the growth of golf compared to the growth of the stock market in the same time frame.
pace, is something far more concerning to us that already play it than it ever is to those who don't play and imo is far from the reasons a much higher percentage of people don't play, or never took up golf. Golf always took a significant amount of time to play. Even 4 hours plus travel time is a lot and always was.
The 2 biggest factors imo are
#1, a plane and simple general interest (or lack of one) for playing the game.
And the other is economics.
those two same things that cause a decline are also imo what will help grow the game. A better general interest in playing and a better financial situation for many who would like to.
And on another note I agree with another poster who made reference we are simply on the downside of a major influx that was never the norm anyway. The decline is only magnified or even falsified by the great influx we went through. I would bet my left arm there is still a much greater amount of people playing today vs what there was before the influx. Had that major influx never taken place, we would probably be viewing this as though the game has grown considerably since the 80's. But the great influx plays with the logic of that. Its a misleading stat in a big way. We simply compare to an all time high and its really imo not a fair comparison.
IndySC, that is a very insightful and well stated post.
This is an interesting topic. I write this as a 30, soon to be 31 year old. I think $$ is up there and can't be overstated but I want to take a different route. This post is meant to discuss the movement of getting more youth into the game, not adults.
There's no denying that today's youth are very tech oriented(social media et al), and I think attention spans have also greatly reduced. If a kid can hook up to a game console and hit a 300 yard drive right down the pipe, stick a wedge from 90, and sink a birdie, what motivates them to try and do it in real life? They've already identified they can do it. It's a generation of instant feedback and answers available at the click of a link. How does that fit into golf? I think golf is extremely frustrating and uninteresting to a lot of youth. It's a game that takes a ton of time, money, and practice to hit basic shots that allow you to perform average. Golf is a sport that takes time to develop, completely opposite of what inundates kids of today who can access what they want, when they want it, and then find something else when those things don't meet their needs. While most sports are in a similar mold, they are practicing and being motivated by their friends in groups of 5, 10, 30, 60 kids in a team environment. As the husband of a 6th grade teaching wife, they constantly have to modify their curriculum to keep students interested. Golf is completely singular most of the time, and that takes a ton of mental dedication to continue pushing yourself when no one's there to push you along.
That being said, how does it get fixed? If I had that answer I would probably be out implementing the solution rather than typing my thoughts on a message board. Parents who are currently golfers will obviously teach their kids the way of the game, and perhaps a friend or two along the way. I'm not sure how to corral the masses and teach them the same. Perhaps it will never be a mainstream event the way football and basketball have taken hold. It's probably dependent on past generations pass along appropriately. As someone who picked up basketball, baseball, and football with relative ease, golf has been one of the most difficult and rewarding opportunities i've had a chance to become interested in. And it started from my grandfather and father.
Totally agree with that. Pretty sure owner occupied homes have out paced golf by a good amount as well. Was looking pretty ugly in 2009 though. I think our family house in Carlsbad was about 220k when we bought in 94 or 95. Was 770K or so last year. Will be 1.05M once the remodel is done but that isn't a good comparison since we are adding sq feet and improving ocean view. If you bought a house in 2007 you might still be in the red on it.Owner occupied homes is a better comparison as many of the courses built in the past 25 years are part of real estate projects.