Diamond Springs

[Dave McCollum]

Peter,

I think every course/market is different.  In my example of a bent course in a dry, low humidity climate, I really have no idea about how Old Works fares financially.  It is more or less of a hunch, mood, ambiance, guess, or whatever, that seems to be very much like what we experience.  The town leases the course operation out (Troon Golf, I think).  Very nice and friendly local people that do a great job.  I just have the feeling that they really have to keep their focus on making it work as a business.  It’s still very affordable, a good value venue, and about the only attraction to bring tourists to Anaconda.  I’ve played it dozens of times because I have a friend who has a cabin nearby and likes to have his golf buddies come for golf, poker, good grub, fishing, and the usual excesses.  I’ve followed the development of this course from the beginning because it is rather the reverse sociological experiment:  can golf save an old, dying mining town.  There is no freaking way this course will ever be sold off for housing.  Its raison d’etre is to save what’s there.  It appears to be somewhat successful in doing just that for the community, but I doubt it is a cash cow for the little town that owns it.  It certainly is high-end muni golf, especially given its remote village location, but golf is a tough business in a remote, rural market where you have to attract golfers from afar. 

Mike Keiser has the right formula:  remote courses must be extraordinary.  Old Works is a very good course, the front nine especially well conceived, well conditioned, a unique reclamation project worthy of  our support, and perhaps right up there with the best muni courses anywhere, but few well traveled golfers would say it is extraordinary.

[Peter Pallotta]

Thanks, Dave - I appreciate the detailed answer. I think I understand better now what you're saying. Two thoughts occurred to me:

1. I worked for a couple of years supporting the agriculture industry's export development goals in my home province. The way most golf course owners talk about their courses reminds me of the way most farmers spoke about farming: i.e. you better love what your doing for its own sake, because you sure aren't going to get rich doing it...and that's in a *good* year, one without too much rain or too little.

2. I accept that the golf at Bandon is extraordinary, and grant that Mr. K developed the right formula in this regard. But I'd add this: while Mr. K knows that the golf needs to be extraordinary, he also knows that it's actually *not about the golf* at all -- it's about the *story*, the *event*.  I've criticized Mr. K in the past for seeming to make that story all about *him*, about his golden touch; but I know that he was right to do it.  There are a couple of sports talk radio guys I've listened to over the years, and over the years they've talked golf on dozens of occasions. In all those times they hardly ever spoke about "architecture", and when they did - well, let's just say that *their* idea of a great golf course did not align with mine. Well, a couple of months ago one of them was on the air, as excited as a kid in a candy store, talking about his upcoming trip to *Cabot*...and about it being a *great course*...and, get this, a *walking only* course....and about it being *the* place to golf in Canada. Now, maybe I'm wrong, and maybe for countless golfers like this talk radio guy, it is indeed about Tom Doak and Coore&Crenshaw and David Kidd and their magnificent courses; but what I heard was that it's actually about *the story*...*the event*.

Anyway, thanks again.
Peter     

[Mike Schott]

Thanks, Dave - I appreciate the detailed answer. I think I understand better now what you're saying. Two thoughts occurred to me:

1. I worked for a couple of years supporting the agriculture industry's export development goals in my home province. The way most golf course owners talk about their courses reminds me of the way most farmers spoke about farming: i.e. you better love what your doing for its own sake, because you sure aren't going to get rich doing it...and that's in a *good* year, one without too much rain or too little.

2. I accept that the golf at Bandon is extraordinary, and grant that Mr. K developed the right formula in this regard. But I'd add this: while Mr. K knows that the golf needs to be extraordinary, he also knows that it's actually *not about the golf* at all -- it's about the *story*, the *event*.  I've criticized Mr. K in the past for seeming to make that story all about *him*, about his golden touch; but I know that he was right to do it.  There are a couple of sports talk radio guys I've listened to over the years, and over the years they've talked golf on dozens of occasions. In all those times they hardly ever spoke about "architecture", and when they did - well, let's just say that *their* idea of a great golf course did not align with mine. Well, a couple of months ago one of them was on the air, as excited as a kid in a candy store, talking about his upcoming trip to *Cabot*...and about it being a *great course*...and, get this, a *walking only* course....and about it being *the* place to golf in Canada. Now, maybe I'm wrong, and maybe for countless golfers like this talk radio guy, it is indeed about Tom Doak and Coore&Crenshaw and David Kidd and their magnificent courses; but what I heard was that it's actually about *the story*...*the event*.

Anyway, thanks again.
Peter   

I'm not sure what you mean by "the story, the event" but I'm guessing the trip to Cabot or Bandon or Scotland. So what? I'm a serious golf buff and I'd be thrilled to make one of these trips. It's a big deal for most of us. The fact is you make a journey like this to play great courses. No one flies cross country or continent to play Doak 3's.  It is an event. Mr. Keiser knows this. You seem to think this is a bad thing.

[Peter Pallotta]

Mike - I don't think it's a bad thing; I think it seems to have become a necessary thing. Dave noted Mr. K's business model relying on extraordinary golf, and I'm suggesting that the model is actually the golf + the event/story....elements of which include the very high prices golfers are asked to pay and the great distances most are asked to travel.  By the time they get there, they are primed -- the story is set, the curtain is about to rise. It's certainly one way to market golf and to enjoy great golf, but it's not the only way -- though these days it sure seems that way. I may be mistaken, but I believe that if you live in St Andrews, you can play the Old Course for a lot less money than you can if you're travelling from the U.S.  Doesn't that seem a bit strange/counter-intuitive? The golfers who are paying thousands to get there are then asked to pay not the same or less than but exponentially more than those who can just walk across the street. The marketers of great golf seem to have come to the conclusion that it's best to treat the product like a pay-per-view event for an Ali-Frazier fight in their primes. Do I think there is anything wrong with that, that it's a "bad thing" as you say? No, not really. But it is noteworthy, I think -- and the message it sends (to golfers and non golfers alike) about the nature of the game today isn't one that I'm totally comfortable with. I hope that this isn't envy on my part; I can't travel much at all these days in any event, so even if these pay-per-views cost half as much I couldn't enjoy them.
Peter       

[Mike Schott]

Thanks Peter.


It's a dilemma. I come from a marketing background, I always look on the product, price, place, promotion (the 4 P's) when making an evaluation. If there is a market for the product at that price, then the product is successful. It is troublesome that only those of a certain income level can enjoy these great courses and have to make an event of it. I'd love to make a trip to Bandon or Monterey or Streamsong or Nova Scotia or Scotland but for now I'll have to settle for using my disposable income on new clothes for my 6 year old son and his summer camp expenses. But conversely I can play any number of fine local courses for a fraction of the cost of these great tracks and still enjoy the experience.


I guess in the end I agree with you but the concept of the event does not bother me.