Sat by the fire and reread this old thread today. In essence it questions the perceived 'need' for an elite approach to construction and discusses the merit of adopting alternate and more affordable practices.
The golf industry took quite a hit with the gfc. So where do we stand today with regards lessons learned from the big budget era? Have attitudes toward design, construction and maintenance changed sufficiently to have had a meaningful impact on the golf industry? What are we doing differently to six or seven years ago?
Cheers, Lyne
Sometimes the Truth is Shocking to Contemplate
« on: May 08, 2006, 03:28:28 PM »
Tom Doak Quote
I was having dinner with my wife the other night and talking about the state of our business when the truth suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks. We've been dodging around it for months here but never coming to the big conclusion:
The economics of golf course construction in America NO LONGER WORK. New courses depend on people willing to pay a premium for elitist memberships, OR on a housing development to subsidize the costs of construction.
I've heard many golf course management firms say the latter over the past few years ... i.e. a stand-alone golf course can't pay for itself. But I never thought they really meant it! Isn't this nuts? Will someone not react?
This cold hard truth is NOT a cold, hard truth. The truth is that our standards for construction and maintenance have become so costly that THEY don't work ... not the game of golf itself. Yet there are 200 courses being built right now in America, and about 175 of them are being built to a standard that makes no sense.
If we don't come to our senses soon, we deserve to all go out of business.