More Americans Are Giving Up Golf

[kurth]

More Americans Are Giving Up Golf
By PAUL VITELLO
Published: February 21, 2008

HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. — The men gathered in a new golf clubhouse here a couple of weeks ago circled the problem from every angle, like caddies lining up a shot out of the rough. “We have to change our mentality,” said Richard Rocchio, a public relations consultant. “The problem is time,” offered Walter Hurney, a real estate developer. “There just isn’t enough time. Men won’t spend a whole day away from their family anymore.”

William A. Gatz, owner of the Long Island National Golf Club in Riverhead, said the problem was fundamental economics: too much supply, not enough demand. The problem was not a game of golf. It was the game of golf itself. Over the past decade, the leisure activity most closely associated with corporate success in America has been in a kind of recession.

The total number of people who play has declined or remained flat each year since 2000, dropping to about 26 million from 30 million, according to the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. More troubling to golf boosters, the number of people who play 25 times a year or more fell to 4.6 million in 2005 from 6.9 million in 2000, a loss of about a third.

The industry now counts its core players as those who golf eight or more times a year. That number, too, has fallen, but more slowly: to 15 million in 2006 from 17.7 million in 2000, according to the National Golf Foundation. The five men who met here at the Wind Watch Golf Club a couple of weeks ago, golf aficionados all, wondered out loud about the reasons. Was it the economy? Changing family dynamics? A glut of golf courses? A surfeit of etiquette rules — like not letting people use their cellphones for the four hours it typically takes to play a round of 18 holes? Or was it just the four hours?

Here on Long Island, where there are more than 100 private courses, golf course owners have tried various strategies: coupons and trial memberships, aggressive marketing for corporate and charity tournaments, and even some forays into the wedding business...

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/21/nyregion/21golf.html

[Auggie]

1. It's not so much the equipment expenses but the greens fees.

Anywhere from $40-60 a round on average? I don't think people can afford it.

[ProfessorGAC]

5. That's Why I Play Where I Play

It's cheap! And, once i've paid my annual fee, i don't play other places but a few times per year. Keeps the unit cost WAY down. Where i live, i only pay $500 for the year and that's unlimited golf. That brings my cost, at the end of the year, to $5 per round or less. (Yeah, i play a lot!)

But, i sure understand your point.
The Professor

[PRETZEL]

2. The problem is that it's become too damn expensive

Well at least it is for me. I would love to be able to play a couple times a month. But where I live it's not a shortage of courses (public that is), it's that I can't afford to spend the 50-75 bucks a round. That's on the weekend. Of course I could play during the week but that means taking a day off work.

[Awsi Dooger]

3. No way I'm paying the average green fees in Las Vegas

Nevada is the 2nd most pricey state, behind Hawaii. Mediocre courses in Las Vegas cost in the $100 range. I only play regularly in summer, when I'm out of Nevada and can find decent courses for 25-35 bucks. Last summer in Saratoga and Miami I played at least 40 times, compared to perhaps a dozen times the remainder of the year. Maybe 10 years ago I would spit out the high prices to play in Las Vegas if I was on a sports betting roll. Two friends of mine will pay anything. But luckily I wised up and started directing that cash elsewhere.

[Rocinante]

4. Try this link

www.ezlinks.com If you can book a tee time in advance you can name your own price. Within reason.

I can play a round at Ross Creek Landing in Clifton TN, designed by Jack Nicklaus, for nine dollars on weekdays. I haven't had a chance to play there on a weekend, but I've been told it's only a couple of dollars more.

Bummer thing about ezlinks is the limited amount of courses available.