Too many golf courses??

[triguy]

Living up here in the frozen North East of Scotland you can imagine that golf is the last thing we will be playing at the moment - haven't played a golf shot since early November!
Saw in the local paper today that a golf course very near to Aberdeen and very, very near to Trumps new "piece of golfing heaven" is to close come the end of March this year. Thought this was a unusual so asked around and find out that a couple of others in the area appear to be in dire financial straits as well. Is this a symptom of the generally more cautious lending era or is there a more underlying trend (golf being more elitist, less young folk being encouraged to play, too many leisure options nowadays etc), any thoughts?

 

[Guns]

Any business that has to close is normally down to poor management.

So I guess if a golf course closes its down to its over priced for its condition and how its kept. Poor management decsions such as over borrowing, or do not have enough maintenance staff.

Around by me there are 8 courses in a 8 mile radius that range from fees £650 to £1200 pa and they all seem to have good membership levels.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

I haven't heard of any around here closing and we are right in the heart of expensive Surrey (Wentworth Sunningdale etc right on the doorstep). I know we have struggled a little and that Mill Ride in particular have had some big issues. In MR's case they are set up for the big corporate markets (their members seem to take second place to society events) and so have struggled in the economic climate. I think they have also invested heavily on maintenance which if there is no income to offset is not going to help.

In my clubs case it has been a case of a lot of the very old members simply not enjoying the much longer course and leaving plus a number that were unhappy with the relatively high fees. I do think we are expensive but then the course is only 5 years old and the planted young trees are just starting to develop and you can really begin to see the true potential of each hole. I see membership as an investment and givent the number of games I play and practicing I do then I'm still getting value for money.

I agree that any club going bust must have been poorly run although I can see how it is an expensive operation and needs to be well run. Sad though as the land will probably end up as housing

 

[Society_Fan]

Can you have too many golf courses?
I suppose it is not like days gone by when a lot of clubs had joining fees, and waiting lists, with people offering to re-tarmac the car park if they move up the waiting list.
However I agree with the bad management opinion.

 

[Imurg]

Not saying that this is the case but i know that at a lot of clubs in Scotland the yearly fees are extremely low compared to others. Could this be a factor - just not enough money coming in to be able to keep the club going? Would raising the subs have worked?

 

[brendy]

Golf is a luxury and at the start of the recession I'm sure there were A lot of twitching bums that didn't want to pay out 500-1500 per year on a luxury that may become unaffordable should their careers take a nasty bump. Golf isn't elitest just check out the municipals etc to see that. People just don't want to commit to 5-10% of their annual salary before the year has really gotten underway. There will be a boom trend again before long.

 

[CannyFifer]

what course is that triguy? balmedie maybe been bought out by Trump. Cruden Bay cant be struggling but i'm guesing here. My mate plays at ellon.

 

[RGDave]

Any business that has to close is normally down to poor management.

So I guess if a golf course closes its down to its over priced for its condition and how its kept. Poor management decsions such as over borrowing, or do not have enough maintenance staff.

Around by me there are 8 courses in a 8 mile radius that range from fees £650 to £1200 pa and they all seem to have good membership levels.

I think it's where you live. All the course around here are struggling. One will undoubtedly close soon. There's never been enough membership spaces in the B'ham area....that's why your courses are quids in despite the recession. I lived in Tettenhall for a short while, couldn't get in anywhere.

 

[triguy]

Alec, it is East Aberdeenshire that is closing, no word of a buyer, just closing it down. I won't go on record here about any course that is struggling but there are a couple of private (non member owned) clubs which are struggling with their line of credit at the moment, I will leave the rest up to your imagination.
I just think that some of these courses have pitched their business model wrongly and are now struggling to adjust to a different financial climate.

 

[BigBoppa]

You can not have enough golf courses! The more the merrier I say. A bit of competition never hurt anyone

 

[Herbie]

I think any golf course needs to be managed well in order to survive when times are lean, lets face it some golf courses for what they offer have been greedy for a while, and because of the little they offer I would be happy seeing them close, likewise the very poorly maintained courses that take up so much land that could do to be dug up and re-built as a course if not something else. (Im speaking there of the un kept ploughed fields some call courses) but over all I dont think there are enough Golf courses that are worthy of the title, only the title of Golf Club, so I for one would like to see more.