[David Kelly]

This is the only substantial mention I could find in the WSJ about the RTJ Trail and its ROI over the years. 

From 9/13/2002

""Amid a storm of controversy, Dr. Bronner (as everybody calls him; he has a Ph.D. in higher education and administration) spent $145 million in public retirement funds to build 21 courses at eight sites stretching from the Appalachians in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. His reasoning: ''The stronger the Retirement Systems of Alabama can make Alabama, the stronger the retirement systems will be.''

If strengthening Alabama with public golf courses seems an odd tactic -- especially for a pension fund manager -- it's hard to find fault with the results so far. Having pulled in a profit of just $6 million last year, the golf courses themselves are only marginally profitable for the $25 billion retirement system. But they serve as the centerpiece of a roundly successful effort to bolster tourism and attract industry to Alabama over the last decade. They've even spawned state-financed imitators in Tennessee and Louisiana. Besides, Dr. Bronner said, they've done a ''lot better than the stock market recently.'' "

[Bill_McBride]

Bill Jason nailed it. Our trail is an adhoc collection of average to poor daily fee courses which use the state ad budget for promostion. Peter it took all the pension funds being under one czar and politically independent to make this happen. I do not know the facts in Oregon. You might note there are no Alabama course in the Gulf Shores area where they would compete with the resort area daily fees. There is a state park course there but it is closer to what one finds anywhere and not a real threat to cash flow of the upscale daily fees in the area like the trail courses would be. It was a work of a wise committed man who I respect more and more as I discover how many have tried to build the same and all have failed to come close.

Damn Tiger....I think I have a couple of courses on that trail.....oh well.....you win some and lose some.....

Lou,
I think you are on track with your analysis of the RTJ courses....they may have an operating profit but I don't think they have been able to cover debt etc.....the same year the courses were catching it for the initial losses etc ,  the Pension fund had also purchased an asbestos problem building in Manhattan which sort of took the heat off of the golf courses because it was a BIGGER faux paux.......but overall both of these projects were a small blip in the Retirement fund from what I am told.....

Mike, which ones?

Does development revenue from lots sales count in the RTJ Trail profit?  There has been some pretty nice development around some of those courses.

On an operating basis it would be tough to make it on their relatively low green fees.

[Mike_Cirba]

The three men who did the most to advance public golf historically to me were Thomas Bendelow, who took over as pro at Van Cortlandt and expanded the course to 18 holes, Robert Lesley of Merion and President of the Golf Association of Philadelphia, who essentially hounded and shamed the city of Philly into building a public course at Cobb's Creek, which until Robert Moses built Bethpage in the latter part of the 30s, stood as the finest and most popular (120,000+ rounds in 1929!!) course in the country.

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