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Golf is in a good place

dbigstick

dbigstick

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Standing room only at the range o. 12/18/2020 @ 1445 hours.

A wide mix of folks young and old
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Good to see!!
 
:ROFLMAO: We have members threatening to quit. That’s how busy it is. Waited in every hole but still under 5 hours.
 
Our two local courses are doing well, but both have said they had it much better before the virus showed up.

Luckily our little city has a decent population of older, retired golfers who play more than one round a week.......year around

Another plus is that even non golfers help with revenue to keep both courses open, and in great shape. This through local city taxes.
 
I am firmly on the #shrinkthegame bandwagon.
At least where I live there simply isn't enough golf courses to accommodate all the golfers...despite the rain and cold. It's insane. Even the Private and semi-private courses are having massive problems because suddenly everyone wants to play all the time. Lots of upset members everywhere.
 
Snowman said:
Good to see as long as I don't have to deal with it! :LOL:
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x2...but that’s the story here as well...even during my beloved, later twilight hours :cautious:, more people out playing
 
Our little muni is the same way, everyone and there brother wants to play. Even now that is has gotten cold they till want to play.
 
Pretty tough to get a tee time anywhere around here, unless you're okay with paying full price and not being able to finish before dark. Lots of those late tee times available, but no real twilight rates. :banghead:
 
Since we're not getting our normal influx of golfers this year and we have a plethora of courses we're not facing the overcrowding other areas are getting. Actually quite a few of the courses are offering locals specials through Feb. I am seeing more golfers at the Par 3 and executive courses.
 
Maric said:
Since we're not getting our normal influx of golfers this year and we have a plethora of courses we're not facing the overcrowding other areas are getting. Actually quite a few of the courses are offering locals specials through Feb. I am seeing more golfers at the Par 3 and executive courses.
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Nice. I'm jealous. Our ranges and courses are much more crowded than normal this year.
 
CROWDED! And since they put in Top Tracer on the range at my club the range is almost unbearable. It is hard to just hit 10-15 balls to warm up before the round.


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Golf is blowing up here too. I love it and am happy more of my friends are getting into the game. Definitely making tee times tough but manageable if you book more than a week out.

I wonder how long this market has to hold before Investors feel comfortable building more courses? Seems like there is definitely demand for it at least in San Diego though land here is very expensive. We are actually losing one of our favorite courses next year as there’s a massive housing/commercial project breaking ground there.
 
ArmyGolf said:
I am firmly on the #shrinkthegame bandwagon.
At least where I live there simply isn't enough golf courses to accommodate all the golfers...despite the rain and cold. It's insane. Even the Private and semi-private courses are having massive problems because suddenly everyone wants to play all the time. Lots of upset members everywhere.
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I’m right there with you. Courses are abundant around me, but the population is always growing. Three or four years ago I could play the course closest to me for $25 during the week, and now I can’t get on there for less than $60. That’d the extreme example, but almost every local course has gone up $20 or so this year. Unfortunately those increased costs have been accompanied by longer rounds.

I know demand is necessary to keep courses in business, but there’s plenty of demand in my neck of the woods. I could stand a little less.
 
The muni course here is always crowded - last minute tee times are mid afternoon. ANd it's up to 57 with cart. But they did have to more than double the number of carts to comply with Covid rules. Strangely the course in the next town (not as nice in terms of maintenance) you can get next day tee times except 8-10:30 the day before. I don't think we will see many new courses unless they get support from the homes on fairways or are built as a gated community.
 
Golf has definitely been a reprieve for people who want to get out and be active but I do question for how long post pandemic.
Nonetheless, is great to see so many people out playing
 
I think once things are somewhat back to normal some of it will die down.

Our local course is not all that popular, however they did a lot better this year since more folks are out golfing. Here is the part I don't understand, they increased membership fee this year by 200 more dollars...ugghh. They have a horrible driving range, the course is not the best maintained, no chipping/pitching practice area, and the practice green is only so so.

A lot of us already felt it was overpriced in light of what other similar courses were charging for membership. The bad thing for me is it is convenient as it is only 15 minutes from me verses the next closest course is about 30 minutes away. I kept thinking because they had a lot more golfers playing, the membership price would hold tight.
 
In combination with Covid, a local 18 hole course closed its doors for good and we had a big run on memberships at my private course. Many of us are not too happy. I had the course to myself many afternoons and now with the influx of new members and the tee time requirement, It was much harder to get out this year. I too, hope it calms down.

I got paired with one new member and we were chatting as I welcomed him to the club. I asked him if he had secured sponsors. He replied, no, I just talked with the head of the membership committee for about 20 minutes. That kind of burned my a** a bit. I like to think that I exacted a bit of a favor from my sponsors. I understand revenues but I'd prefer my dues go up instead of just letting the place get run over.
 
Same here in metro Atlanta where there is no shortage of courses and driving ranges. The course I am a players club member at stays busy. They have capped the membership and raised the price for new members. The driving range is often full. I’ve never seen anything like it.


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It’s a double edged sword. the resurgence is good economically for the courses....it’s not so good for the players with crowded ranges and 5 hr rounds
 
I'm pretty lucky. The golf course has a range but not very big. But most people are on the course so its rarely full. By far though, my favorite range is just a range and no course. Its huge. 3 or 4 football fields wide and at least 400 yards long. The 325 sign is probably close to 100 yards from the fence. It could easily accommodate 50 at a time. Half the side has mats with ten spots that have monitors to monitor your swing.

The other half is grass. I'd say the grass can accommodate at least 25-30. There are around 20 mat spots total. Ten with monitors. 10 without. The monitors cost $20 an hour. Not to mention I buy a range card for $45. I get 11 buckets that cost $10 each by themselves. I go there all the time so they know me. When I walk up there the guy has a bucket waiting for me. I enjoy my range time just as much as the course time.
 
I'm literally surrounded by golf courses. So much so that I find myself discovering new ones, when driving about, I never knew were there. I've mentioned it before, but I probably have at least a dozen public courses w/in a half-hour or so drive. Perhaps double that amount. I don't know how many private courses are around, but I believe quite a few of those, too.

When my wife first moved here she noted "Sure are a lot of churches around here." "Yup," I replied, "churches and gun stores" :) Lately I spotted a sign for another golf course I had never known was there. "Remember how, when you first came here, we talked about there being a church or gun store every time you turned around?" I asked my wife. "Yeah," she replied. "Well, looks like you can add golf courses to that list."

But, even with that: When my one next-door-neighbor was at a friend's, who had a nephew visiting from Columbia, and the young man expressed an interest in playing a game: My friend called every course of which he knew around here and couldn't get a tee time to save his soul. One place just laughed and told him to forget about it. They were booked solid until past when they thought the weather would hold.
 
dbigstick said:
Standing room only at the range o. 12/18/2020 @ 1445 hours.

A wide mix of folks young and old
508394c52e7864576ef00329ed7b046d.jpg
Click to expand...
Love love love love this.

I agree, it’s in a position to be healthier than it’s been in decades....if the ruling bodies don’t eff it up.
 
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