Bill- Your questions are passionate enough to wonder the reason behind them. You must be looking to build?
If that's so, you will sorely miss Pinon Hills next monday because the mistakes made there, in regard to the facility, are textbook. You would learn alot on what not to do. (as it relates to the facility)

No, Adam, I'm just a GCA junkie, the worst sort!    I've played enough overpriced CFADs to really admire affordable Rustic Canyon, and know I would enjoy Wild Horse and also certainly Pinon Hills, just wish I had time to get up there.  I've been off on too many golf trips this year and need to get home Tuesday early.

Slag, nothing said about publisher etc, I think the book was a sidelight to a brief interview with new ASGCA pres.  The equipment issue was more important than affordability to the interviewer, I think.

It's published by ASGCA.  You can order at ASGCA.org or by calling 312.372.7090.  I think Mike Hurdzan did the writing, and Clyde is simply promoting it as President of the ASGCA.

And, yes, I would say affordable golf is a priority of the ASGCA, and for the most part, always has been.

Don- Reading between the lines, the cost of maintenance seems to be the only suspect, that eats into those returns on investment. What has the GCSAA done recently to combat this obvious "catch22"?
 Plus, a 10% R.O.I. is huge. Back in the old days, when I was in college, a 3% annual R.O.I. was huge. Have expectations been raised that much? or is there a semantic issue here?

   

Adam,
Insurance costs have doubled, any products derived from petroleum (fertilizers, chemicals) are way up, and government regulation such as OSHA, pesticide application, water use are ever increasing adding to the cost of doing business. It's not quite as simple as saying watch your maintenance costs. Most markets are very competitive and not investing in the care of the course has proven to be a very poor business decision. The margins are thin, if not negative, and as with any high risk investment, the return is measured against the risk. 10% ROI is less then most investors are looking for. What does it all mean? IMHO, until the golf industry under goes further correction (contraction, slower growth), it will not be an industry with large amounts of investment opportunity.

Insurance costs have doubled, any products derived from petroleum (fertilizers, chemicals) are way up, and government regulation such as OSHA, pesticide application, water use are ever increasing adding to the cost of doing business. It's not quite as simple as saying watch your maintenance costs.

Sadly, if you told this to any politician, he would simply say "Just charge more."

That's the govt solution to everything.

JV:

are there any other full 18-hole courses from CA on the list?  I'm guessing no...

TH

Seeing Pete's name makes me think Pajaro Valley might be on the list... if it's not, it ought to be... and I was way exaggerating before, there have to be a at least a few more in CA.  Spring Hills fairly near Pete's course ought to qualify...

I'm really curious what's here.  Do tell....

TH

Thanks, JV.  Of those, I can say this:

Buchanan Fields - Concord - 9holes only, pretty basic and boring - cheap though

Country Club of the Desert - La Quinta - haven't played

Deepcliff - Cupertino - executive course (par 60), fairly interesting, Gib likes it.  

Diablo Hills - Walnut Creek - 9holes, par 34, somewhat interesting but no great shakes.

Lone Tree - Antioch - definitely worthwhile, fun course, cheap.

Pleasanton Fairways - Pleasanton - inside the race track at fairgrounds - 9holes, par 30 - not worth every going to unless for practice - decent facility for that.

River Park Golf Center - Fresno - haven't been to

Rustic Canyon - Thousand Oaks - best on here by so far it's a joke it's on this list.

The Reserve at Spanos Creek - Stockton - have yet to see - supposed to be ok - can't see that this is inexpensive though - it's app. $75 on weekends...

Willow Park - Castro Valley - most dangerous course in CA, bring your hardhat.  Some decent holes, cheap.

So OK, there are at least a few here that exist, but it's as I expected, those that do, outside Rustic and maybe Lone Tree, ain't worth getting out of one's car for really.  Oh well.

TH
 

Kevin - the sick thing is I have played that course and used that range, and I live in San Jose.  

TH

Tom, nobody said that these are great facilities, but that they are affordable, accessible, sustainable and fill a need in the community.  

These are success stories in that they have been built with the idea of being a resource for the community while being a successful business venture.

Another feature is that they frequently took land that might not be usable for anything else and were able to make a golf facility of some kind.  This has a benefit in that the land was frequently acquired or leased very inexpensively which keeps costs to a minimum.

While some courses such as Spanos Creek might not be inexpensive, they can still be practical if they meet a community need.

Buchanan Fields is one of the case studies and there is a discussion of how the constraints on the land usage might have deterred other developers, but the people behind it saw the oppotunities and worked within the FAA regulations and built a successful facility.  Water issues were also overcome creatively.  The way that recent improvements were made is also a success story.

Tom I agree completely that great and cheap is the ultimate goal.  But you immediately reviewed the ones you'd seen and said that many weren't worth getting out of the car for.  Well, if they are meeting a need for enough people in their community to stay in business then they are worth getting out of the car for, unless you are an elitist.  I've gone and hit balls at some pretty crappy ranges just because they were close to home.  I grew up playing golf at Deep Cliff, Pruneridge, Sunken Gardens and Blackberry Farms because they let a kid come out and play for a decent price.  We need more of those courses that any young or old golfer can get around a lot more than we need more high-end difficult courses like the kind many of us played last weekend.  Not that I don't enjoy playing those high-end courses, I do (even when I'm hacking it like I did), but because the future survival of the game requires that people can find affordable, accessible and sustainable facilities.  If they happen to be great, then I'm even happier.