2010

At last…the end of the 2010 season. Well not really the end, but close enough. The golf world is ready to get on with the new year – new season.

On the PGA Tour the number one ranked golfer was a no-show for the first three months, retained his top ranking while playing mediocre at best with no wins and just two top tens. The world’s number two was diagnosed with a debilitating disease, won the Masters and a few youngsters entered the winners circle.

The LPGA Tour despite losing one-third of their scheduled tournaments over the last two years, having the top player quit-the second in two years-and faced with increasing disinterest from American fans did get a big sponsorship from Wegman’s Supermarkets for the LPGA Championship and finally gets an event in Florida – the Tour Championship this Dec. at Grand Cypress Resort in Orlando.

PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem characterized 2010 as “interesting” and “eventful” while LPGA Tour commissioner Michael Whan, as reported on GolfWeek.com, “came in 2010 with significant fear.”

It certainly was an interesting year and no doubt there’s still fear in some quarters.

Private golf clubs are feeling the pinch from the economic hard times faced by members and prospective members with the concensus seemingly being private clubs will survive but that segment will never be the same again. This could also be said for the high-end resort courses however it’s better than evenmoney as business people feel fewer financial constraints (business will eventually improve!), entertaining and travel the biggest drivers of resort golf will return.

Across the board a lot of courses have gone out of business and others while still operating are in bankruptcy. It goes without saying every non-private course is looking hard to cut costs and grab a bigger share of what rounds are being played. The numbers from the National Golf Foundation, which track this kind of thing, are a lagging indicator but show a continued shrinkage of the number of courses.

According to the NGF at the end of 2009 there were 15,979 golf facilities broken down as 11,637 public and 4,342 private. During the year 139.5 courses closed (they calculate everything in 18-hole equivalents) and 49.5 opened for a net decrease of 90 courses. That’s the fourth year in a row the number of courses has gone down. It’s difficult to tell where the bottom is but it is clear there is still an over supply of golf facilities so more golf courses will close and there will be another net loss of golf courses in 2010. One industry veteran figures even after the declines of the last four years there are still 20% to 25% too many golf courses.

A bright spot though is with the long awaited upturn in housing construction perhaps on the horizon, residentail development golf course construction could get a boost. At one time developers felt all they had to do was build a course, stake some lots and the rest was easy and profitable. This part of the industry though will take a few more years to be truly healthly, just like the overall housing business. When residental developments with golf courses as an amenity are started again they are going to need a new business model to sell houses and it probably won’t be at the inflated inflated “golf course frontage” prices of the past 20 years.

Finally and continuing the trend of the of the last several years, the number of rounds played are down. It is significant the loss of players and therefore rounds played has continued and seems to be accelerating. The loss of players – over 5% in 2009 – is bad news not only for golf courses but also for club manufacturers, golf tourism and any of the allied businesses.

So on balance, a lot of golf people will be glad to see the end of 2010 even accepting the old saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Golf needs a big change. Increase the number of players and everything will take care of itself.

About Ed Travis

Advertisement

Digital Issue

Advertisement

Advertisement