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MCirba

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Some Optimistic Golf Course Statistics
« on: October 26, 2023, 01:53:29 PM »
Prior to the Covid resurgence, golf and golf courses seemed to be in decline since the economic downturn of 2008 and any number of notable golf courses went the way of the dinosaur, with even darker forecasts on the horizon. 


I've been fortunate to have played golf for the past 52+ years and over that time I've played 1,266 courses and counting.   Recently I went back through them all to see how many are still in existence and was happily surprised to see that less than 12% (149) of them have disappeared.   Even among those, some like Cobb's Creek, The Pit, High Pointe, World Woods, etc., are in process of being resurrected, albeit in a somewhat revised form in most cases.   Other courses I have listed as still existing have already gone through a transformation such as Belmont in VA, or the Concord Monster in upstate NY.   It's not an exact science in terms of how to classify them but I'm generally satisfied with the results.


Of the courses that have been turned over to wilderness or housing just over 5% of them were 27 hole courses, another 18% were nine hole courses with the remainder being 18 hole courses.   12 courses were "Executive" courses less than 5,000 yards and 11 of them were "Par 3 courses" of varying yardages.


I'm not business economist but it seems to me that a failure rate of less than 12% over a 50 year span would compare favorably to most other industries.   
« Last Edit: October 26, 2023, 01:55:03 PM by MCirba »
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

Mark Kiely

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Some Optimistic Golf Course Statistics
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2023, 03:24:06 PM »
Made me curious about my own stats... and my "NLE" percentage is nearly identical at 11.8%.


323 courses played. 38 are NLE. ~35 years playing.
My golf course photo albums on Flickr: https://goo.gl/dWPF9z

Tommy Williamsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Some Optimistic Golf Course Statistics
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2023, 04:49:45 PM »
Holy smokes, that seems like a time consuming process. I have scorecards from all the courses I have played, but have no clue if some of them are still open without a little advice from Google.
Where there is no love, put love; there you will find love.
St. John of the Cross

"Deep within your soul-space is a magnificent cathedral where you are sweet beyond telling." Rumi

Jeff_Brauer

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Some Optimistic Golf Course Statistics
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2023, 05:09:08 PM »
Even with all the closures post-2008, while 170 courses closed for the year sounded like a lot, in reality, it was 1% of the courses.  And, I recall one story relating the "big losses in the golf biz" as the headline, but in reality, revenues per course had dropped about 3%.


News outlets aren't generally known for presenting things in an even handed way.....it all needs to be outrage or exaggeration, at least lately.
Jeff Brauer, ASGCA Director of Outreach

Mark_Fine

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Re: Some Optimistic Golf Course Statistics
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2023, 06:59:48 AM »
Lot of work Mike to put those numbers together.  Impressive!  In my other industry as in most, it is not so much how many businesses close to determine if the industry is growing, but is the net output going up or down.  If for example there were only 100 golf courses and five closed but the 95 remaining are doing more rounds than the 100 were, then the game is still growing.  [/size]

BHoover

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Re: Some Optimistic Golf Course Statistics
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2023, 07:27:45 AM »
This is only anecdotal, but virtually all the public courses in NE Ohio where I grew up playing and learned to play the game have recently closed — sold for redevelopment of the land for either housing developments or commercial use, such as an Amazon distribution center.


I’m sure the course and property owners were able to get more money from the land than operation if the course. It’s their right as owners to maximize the return on their investment/asset. But without public golf courses, I (and my friends) would never have had an opportunity to learn the game of golf.


When I was 13, my mom purchased a summer golf pass for me to play the local course. It was, at the time, a 36-hole facility. Nothing to speak of architecturally, but it was a place to play golf with my friends. We each had a pass, which for something like $200 entitled us to unlimited play during the week before 5:00pm when league play began. Our parents would drop us off each morning and we would play at least 27 holes before lunch. Then we would have a burger or sandwich at the clubhouse lunch counter. The afternoon would entail another 27 holes or so until our parents came to pick us up for dinner. Looking back, it was unbelievable how fortunate we were to have a place we could play golf virtually all day, every day (and that we were not made to get summer jobs!). We each probably got at least 10 times the value out of that pass than it cost.


Just two weeks ago, I learned that course closed for good. The land is set to be turned into yet another residential neighborhood. One of the courses had closed about 20+ years ago, but the second course had been completely renovated and was continuing as a seemingly successful operation. But over the summer the property was sold and it finally closed October 15th. An old friend played it with his dad the final week. He texted a group of us who grew up playing together that it felt like a piece of our childhood was ending, and he was absolutely right.


I worry that golf, particularly here in the US, is quickly becoming (if it already has not) a game solely for the wealthy. We already see the growth of high-end destination golf resorts. Even public golf has become prohibitively expensive at many courses. But where are the options for kids and those who want to learn the game? In my own case, unless my parents had been members at a private club, which certainly was not realistic when I was a kid, there no longer is that opportunity to conveniently (or affordably) have an opportunity to learn the game.

MCirba

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Some Optimistic Golf Course Statistics
« Reply #6 on: October 27, 2023, 09:07:06 AM »
BHoover,


I hear you and it seems we had very similar fortunate childhoods.   I was exposed to golf 9 days before turning 13 on a nine-hole farm course that cost all of $35 for an annual membership and many a burger did I eat on that shack-of-a-clubhouse lunch counter!   One day we went around 9 times for 81 holes!   Great memories and exposure to a game that I still love all these years later...


The questions you asked and the fears you voiced are much the same reasons I did this count in the first place.   Very recently, the nearest course to my house (also public) closed and each time a course shutters a part of not only my memories but also my options gets erased to a degree.


Then, you have media stories like this today from CNN, ironically sponsored in part by Rolex, who spend a lot on golf advertising.   Having been through something similar that I won't go into, let's just say those in favor of turning golf courses back into wilderness in urban and suburban areas like to sell the idyllic, Jungle-book dream but the reality is almost the opposite outcome.


Abandoned golf courses are being reclaimed by nature | CNN
« Last Edit: October 27, 2023, 09:09:03 AM by MCirba »
"Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent" - Calvin Coolidge

https://cobbscreek.org/

Wayne_Kozun

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Some Optimistic Golf Course Statistics
« Reply #7 on: October 27, 2023, 11:02:27 AM »
I worry that golf, particularly here in the US, is quickly becoming (if it already has not) a game solely for the wealthy. We already see the growth of high-end destination golf resorts. Even public golf has become prohibitively expensive at many courses. But where are the options for kids and those who want to learn the game? In my own case, unless my parents had been members at a private club, which certainly was not realistic when I was a kid, there no longer is that opportunity to conveniently (or affordably) have an opportunity to learn the game.
This is also true in Canada, especially in Toronto and Vancouver where housing prices are INSANE.  It isn't just the low to mid range public courses that are being developed, it is also happening to good quality private courses.  And even some of the top courses in the country have had very high offers from developers and are at-risk.  Beacon Hall, in Aurora - North of Toronto, is one example, it came very close to being sold a couple of years ago, and each of the members would have walked away with something like $500k.

Peter Sayegh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Some Optimistic Golf Course Statistics New
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2023, 01:22:33 PM »
deleted.


« Last Edit: October 28, 2023, 12:39:17 PM by Peter Sayegh »

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