Optimal Number of Rounds per year vs greens fees vs maintenance cost

[Carl Rogers]

Is there a way to complete this circle?

Don't a high number of rounds, at some point, add to maintenance costs?

[Adrian_Stiff]

This 'number' kinda changes with location, temperature, climate, soils and type of maintenance procedures. So this is My UK 'take'. Southern turfgrass behaviour is entirely different.

In the UK a busy golf course does 35,000 - 40,000 rounds per year. Statistically an average member plays 35-40 times.
Very few golf courses do 50,000, the ones that do tend to be in poor condition. Bearing mind we play ALL YEAR ROUND IN THE UK so in the winter the amount of damage to a green is about twenty times the amount of a summer round.....so in principle conditions are generally poorer at courses that do a lot of winter traffic. The same applies around tees, bottle neck fairway areas. Many high profile courses that do a lot of traffic (especially going North) restrict play to mats for fairways. Quite a lot of courses play of mats for 6 months on their tees.
Golf green design in the UK takes far more account of traffic movements to and from the green largely because of our winter problems.

So in our situation the high number of rounds heal okay summertime, but wintertime can add significantly to higher the maintenance costs.
Size of greens and tees will also play in part in working out each individual capacity before conditions deteriorate.

[Tom_Doak]

It is different for different climates and different grass types.

However, on links courses in particular, the fertility has to be increased along with the number of rounds played, once a course moves beyond 20,000 or 25,000 rounds.  Also, tees have to get dramatically bigger to handle increased traffic.  Neither of these is a huge add to the maintenance budget, but it does go up marginally.

[Steve Okula]

Busy courses tend to struggle with conditions not so much due to increased costs but rather time constraints. If there is a full sheet from 7AM to early afternoon seven days a week it doesn't leave much time to do maintenance, whatever the budget, and greenkeepers can't do everything in the dark. Usually staff can work around the golf for daily tasks like mowing, raking bunkers, and irrigation. The real conflicts arise when it's time for core aerations, topdressing, and spraying.

Yes, the traffic takes its toll too, and that the winter is worse is equally true for southern courses, at least in the sub-tropical climates where the bermuda or Paspalum goes dormant.