As TD mentions earlier...some have gotten wealthy in this golf development business while knowing the projects could not make a profit. It was always justified by saying that RE sales could pay for the course. Well in a few cases that may have happened but for most it did not. BUT there are two issues a golf course must face to make it...one is the initial construction cost and the other is the annual maintenance cost and operating cost. Presently there are so many that could not operate at a profit if they were given to you. So it's not complicated.....it's like any other business...figure out how to operate at a profit or go away....
Jeff says "I wonder just how much bankers will get involved in those decisions moving forward as in my $x.xx per round example above? I think lots of those things are driven by non practical supers (not Don!) who recommend over doing just to be sure they can keep up, and of course, the salesmen of such products. Maybe the gca's trying to keep up with the Jones. "
well I think he is onto something here and it will probably piss a few supts off but it is true....so often people are more concerned with how they look at the annual meeting than how they operate for the owner....I have seen several seminars on how to justify larger budgets and how to sell your committee etc....and as a former salesman....trust me , salesmen know this stuff and know which supts bite.....the time has come to make this stuff work or it will go away..
as for China....just a matter of time and it will implode...
When an industry is based on putting a product in the market place that does not profit and has to be subsidized then how long should one expect it to survive....AND when that same industry promotes the very experts (architects, devlopers, supts) that have created these overpriced budgets as the industry experts then we have a problem....they have laughed and scorned for years at some of the smaller mom and pops cpourses that were actually solid businesses while they stood in fornt of an audience an blasted their methods etc....just read those KPMG golf summit ads....oh well....