How to put a golf course out of business

[James Reader]

I’m obviously doing the USGA a disservice but I was (pleasantly) surprised to read this:


http://www.usga.org/content/usga/home-page/course-care/forethegolfer/2019/how-to-put-a-golf-course-out-of-business.html

[jeffwarne]

1.Build USGA green even when far lower cost alternatives would work just fine
2.Run your greens at 15 -like the (ex)"setup guy" talks about targeting for his championships
3.Build super tight "chipping areas" to create "options"
4.Lengthen every hole where possible even though there is no distance issue

[Jaeger Kovich]

thanks for sharing this! I don't generally preach USGA propaganda, but that link definitely got shared instantly!

[Mike_Young]

thanks for sharing this! I don't generally preach USGA propaganda, but that link definitely got shared instantly!

I have been sharing that links since it came out a few days ago.  I would suggest they also mention eliminating Golf Now since it has become a major detriment to courses making it. 
But the entire comment seems against what the USGA is always preaching so let's see if they can abide by such...

[Kalen Braley]

They publish that a week before the Masters?!! 

[Mike_Trenham]

They publish that a week before the Masters?!! 

They preach how to make money when they don’t even cover the costs of their own championships.  Mafia.

[Tom_Doak]

Doesn't seem to be the same advice they gave to Southern Hills or Oakland Hills in their quest to host another USGA event.

[Scott Weersing]

Other items:


Have two tee starts from 8 am to 10 am so rounds take 5.5 hours to play. Oh wait, they do that in Myrtle Beach.
Require golf carts all the time and require them to stay on paths.
Have Rees Jones come in and redesign your course for PGA tournament or USGA event.
Add extra tees to make the course 7,500 yards long.

[Mark Dorman]

Study: Kayak Point Golf Course.
Golf course mismanagement 101.

[Steven Blake]

Also I feel like its worth mentioning that keeping construction and building costs down before a course even opens helps with initial overhead. Many courses fail before they even open. Cart paths, ridiculous irrigation costs, expensive USGA greens and large bloated clubhouses doom a course before a shot is even played.


Steve Blake

[Kevin_Reilly]

Doesn't seem to be the same advice they gave to Southern Hills or Oakland Hills in their quest to host another USGA event.

Which of the points in the article?  None seem obvious to me as applicable to OH or SH.

[John Crowley]

For private clubs:

Build a huge clubhouse.
Plant more trees.
Create a water feature on every hole.
Create extensive cart path system.
Mandatory golf cars.
Fit carts with speakers so loud music can be played at will.
Irrigate/fertilizer for wall to wall deep green turf.
Book tee times every 7 minutes.
Require that all green committee members be scratch golfers.
Green chair term limit of one year and no repeats.

[Jason Topp]

Based on three courses near me that have closed in the last 5 years, the lessons are quite different from those discussed here:

1.  Have the land become much more valuable for housing than it is for a golf course

2.  Be a public facility that is short in distance and mediocre in conditioning so that it can only charge low rates or be an executive 9 hole course that generates little revenue

3.  Be a private facility built on a small piece of boggy land making the drive to other nearby clubs more attractive than having your tee shots plug repeatedly.

4.  Have a lot of competition in the area.

The formula that creates affordable golf is often inconsistent with the formula for a successful business.

[Kalen Braley]

The two that closed here in Salt Lake:

1)  Pressures of a tight budget and where to spend the money.

2)  Course existed on an area of Federal land with limited use otherwise. Previously leased for $1 per year, increased to new amount in the hundreds of thousands per year, supposedly based on FMV .

[Adrian_Stiff]

Biggest reason in the UK is the Clubhouse burden.


Other reasons are simply not taking enough money for the golf itself too many are selling golf for £10 and not realising it is costing £12....they see the empty tee time as money rather than the longer view. Half price Tuesdays just encourage Monday and Wednesday full price players. Tee times, Golf Now, Playmoregolf are all crap ideas.

[Scott Weersing]

"Be a public facility that is short in distance and mediocre in conditioning"
[/size]
[/size]It is too bad that courses such as this do not reinvest and follow the model of Winter Park 9. You can do a lot with a little if you think it through.


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[/size]

[/size]Based on three courses near me that have closed in the last 5 years, the lessons are quite different from those discussed here:1.  Have the land become much more valuable for housing than it is for a golf course2.  Be a public facility that is short in distance and mediocre in conditioning so that it can only charge low rates or be an executive 9 hole course that generates little revenue

3.  Be a private facility built on a small piece of boggy land making the drive to other nearby clubs more attractive than having your tee shots plug repeatedly.[/font]

4.  Have a lot of competition in the area.[/font]

The formula that creates affordable golf is often inconsistent with the formula for a successful business. [/font]