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Rick Sides

  • Karma: +0/-0
Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« on: March 09, 2023, 03:10:58 PM »
Just saw TPC Sawgrass is up to 840 to play a round this month . Have some courses jumped the shark with prices that are now some peoples month mortgage for a round ?

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #1 on: March 09, 2023, 03:23:44 PM »
Not a lot of $840 mortgages in Florida. Don’t you feel better about Pebble now?

Stephen Smith

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #2 on: March 09, 2023, 03:41:14 PM »
I see this across the board. We have average public courses here in central Ohio that are charging $80 a round. 

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #3 on: March 09, 2023, 04:03:12 PM »
Have you guys been to the grocery store lately?

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #4 on: March 09, 2023, 04:10:51 PM »
Have you guys been to the grocery store lately?


Things are bad, but I'm pretty taken aback by paying $840 for anything other than maybe Pebble Beach.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #5 on: March 09, 2023, 04:14:55 PM »
Have you guys been to the grocery store lately?


Things are bad, but I'm pretty taken aback by paying $840 for anything other than maybe Pebble Beach.


I live two hours away and have never played the course. Not so much because of the price but the thought of spending 6 hours with someone who would. Is there a full time marshall on 17 to force people to stop hitting balls?
« Last Edit: March 09, 2023, 04:16:44 PM by John Kavanaugh »

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #6 on: March 09, 2023, 04:15:26 PM »
Have you guys been to the grocery store lately?


Things are bad, but I'm pretty taken aback by paying $840 for anything other than maybe Pebble Beach.


Well, that's an easy one:  don't pay it.  I can remember when it opened the TPC was $100 to belong to as a national member and $25 or something like that per round, for arguably a more interesting course than they have now!


I'm guessing they don't want a lot of visitor play the month of the tournament so they raise the price to where only a few people will want to play.  But they might make just as much $$$ that way, with half the traffic.  There are lots of UK clubs ratcheting down the number of visitor rounds and ratcheting up the price to make the same $.

Mike_Clayton

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #7 on: March 09, 2023, 04:31:11 PM »
You can always come to Barnbougle for $85:)
10 rounds for the price of one!



Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #8 on: March 09, 2023, 04:42:58 PM »
You can always come to Barnbougle for $85:)
10 rounds for the price of one!


Have you bought an overseas air ticket in the past few months?  I just did and I could have played the TPC at Sawgrass about a dozen times for what it cost me to get to Australia and New Zealand!

Charlie Goerges

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #9 on: March 09, 2023, 04:51:52 PM »
Have you guys been to the grocery store lately?


Things are bad, but I'm pretty taken aback by paying $840 for anything other than maybe Pebble Beach.


Not so much because of the price but the thought of spending 6 hours with someone who would.




I mean... yeah.


Tom mentioned that it may be because of wanting to limit play and keep revenue up, so in a sense it's understandable, but man. I could probably fly to Scotland and play Ladybank with FBD for that price.
Severally on the occasion of everything that thou doest, pause and ask thyself, if death is a dreadful thing because it deprives thee of this. - Marcus Aurelius

Ira Fishman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #10 on: March 09, 2023, 05:02:19 PM »
You can always come to Barnbougle for $85:)
10 rounds for the price of one!


Have you bought an overseas air ticket in the past few months?  I just did and I could have played the TPC at Sawgrass about a dozen times for what it cost me to get to Australia and New Zealand!


Betting that you flew First or at least Business and that you built it into your contract somehow.


First world problem.


Ira

Rick Sides

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #11 on: March 09, 2023, 05:17:14 PM »
Tom you’re right about everything going up but most of our salaries ! I have a friend who has some money and doesn’t mind slinging crazy cash for rounds all over , however the average person will not be able to sniff a lot of nice courses soon. I just wonder if/when the golf bubble will burst because eventually with inflation the extra/recreational stuff has to go first.

Tom_Doak

  • Karma: +3/-1
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #12 on: March 09, 2023, 05:57:06 PM »
You can always come to Barnbougle for $85:)
10 rounds for the price of one!


Have you bought an overseas air ticket in the past few months?  I just did and I could have played the TPC at Sawgrass about a dozen times for what it cost me to get to Australia and New Zealand!


Betting that you flew First or at least Business and that you built it into your contract somehow.

First world problem.



Indeed, and luckily I had four clients to split the bill.  Even so, there have been several suggestions here about flying overseas to play golf, and the cost of flying, just like golf, is markedly higher nowadays, even in coach.

John Kavanaugh

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #13 on: March 09, 2023, 06:05:37 PM »
Funny thing. I just started drinking wine and it seems moderately priced. A new golfer would feel the same way. There has never been more opportunity for interesting travel than we are experiencing today. Or did you forget the pandemic?

Tommy Williamsen

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #14 on: March 09, 2023, 06:09:37 PM »
It makes Vail look cheap at $260 for a lift ticket.
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

Rick Sides

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #15 on: March 09, 2023, 07:17:13 PM »
Taylor Swift ticket for my daughter makes TPC look cheap !!

Matt_Cohn

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #16 on: March 09, 2023, 07:49:41 PM »
This definitely has a "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded" vibe to it!

Steve Lang

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #17 on: March 09, 2023, 08:40:44 PM »
Its an experience you won't find elsewhere?  You can always play the knock-off #17 at Tour 18... with a bunch of other famous holes for $86 tomorrow.


Inflation is a bitch be it milk and eggs or tee times...  one can just say no, as has been mentioned



https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/inflation/current-inflation-rates/

Inverness (Toledo, OH) cathedral clock inscription: "God measures men by what they are. Not what they in wealth possess.  That vibrant message chimes afar.
The voice of Inverness"

Kevin_Reilly

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #18 on: March 09, 2023, 08:59:46 PM »
It makes Vail look cheap at $260 for a lift ticket.


The break-even for my season pass at Homewood (Tahoe) is about three or four days!  Ikon (Squaw/Alpine) is about the same.  The b/e years ago on a season pass used to be six or seven days.
"GOLF COURSES SHOULD BE ENJOYED RATHER THAN RATED" - Tom Watson

David_Tepper

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #19 on: March 09, 2023, 09:24:15 PM »
"The break-even for my season pass at Homewood (Tahoe) is about three or four days!"

Kevin -

That is an interesting "breakeven" ratio. At some of the golf clubs in Scotland I know, the cost of annual membership dues is 3-4 times the costs of a visitor green fee.

DT

Mike_Clayton

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #20 on: March 09, 2023, 11:09:33 PM »
You can always come to Barnbougle for $85:)
10 rounds for the price of one!


Have you bought an overseas air ticket in the past few months?  I just did and I could have played the TPC at Sawgrass about a dozen times for what it cost me to get to Australia and New Zealand!


Sadly I have - it's madness. Australia to London, I suspect, is even worse.

Jim_Coleman

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #21 on: March 09, 2023, 11:36:23 PM »
   Too much money is when people stop paying the number. And when that happens, the number will come down. That’s how the system works.

Michael Morandi

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #22 on: March 10, 2023, 12:34:18 AM »
I like To say that Vail is the Pebble Beach of skiing at a fraction of the cost. It’s even better value when compared to TPC Sawgrass, especially if you buy a season pass. This isn’t about inflation. This is about what the market will bear after 15 years of speculative asset gains. Pure and simple.

Sean_A

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #23 on: March 10, 2023, 01:31:27 AM »
Tom you’re right about everything going up but most of our salaries ! I have a friend who has some money and doesn’t mind slinging crazy cash for rounds all over , however the average person will not be able to sniff a lot of nice courses soon. I just wonder if/when the golf bubble will burst because eventually with inflation the extra/recreational stuff has to go first.

I have been a no goer for about 10 years now. With some exceptions, Just about everything to do with high quality golf tourism and equipment is a scam. If I took up the game now I wouldn't play a ton of courses I did in the past.

BTW I played North Berwick yesterday with my brother. He plays a few times a year and had never seen a links...First game in Scotland as well. He smiled a few times because of the walls and 16 green, but his main take aways were it's cool not to look for balls, bouncy fairways, good walk and a pretty location. Didn't mention scratchy greens, imperfect fairways, no carts or brown tinged grass. He liked NB and would play it again.

Ciao
« Last Edit: March 10, 2023, 01:37:38 AM by Sean_A »
New plays planned for 2025: Ludlow, Machrihanish Dunes, Dunaverty and Carradale

Jake McCarty

  • Karma: +0/-0
Re: Have Some Courses Jumped the Shark
« Reply #24 on: March 10, 2023, 07:39:54 AM »
Used to be a charter member, e.g. one of 100 at this public resort and have hundreds of rounds. For the public, it's a 6-8 hour round, cart path only filled with drunkards berating caddies over missed 20 footers to save quadruple bogey. Or 15 handicappers playing from the back tees. Don't forget the forecaddy tip, or should you upgrade to walking, another $200 because the base rate of $100 per bag goes mostly goes to charity (e.g. clubhouse).

As a charity, it's strictly a money making machine and members can't get times themselves. With an infinity long waitlist and high initiation it still remains en vogue because it's cool to be in Ponte Vedra and say you're a charter member, or it was for me. They have a valley pass on the other course, but that is entirely different and doesn't really allow Stadium access, except with an irrelevant 7 day booking window and discounted $500 greens fees.

I was out of town before we left, but my wife and son made the mistake of teeing off in the afternoon and didn't finish hole two in 75 minutes and just left. I have heard reports of 9-10 hour rounds on occasion. And shark logos are banned onsite--it's for the children.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2023, 07:45:34 AM by Jake McCarty »