Vital Signs, november 15, 2013

     The largest owner/operator of golf properties in the United Kingdom gives a free introductory golf lesson to women, after which it hands them a brochure that outlines “8 Reasons Why Women Should Play Golf.” Crown Golf’s argument boils down to this: Golf is good exercise that offers women opportunities to socialize and build relationships, wear cool clothes, and get out into the sun and breathe fresh air. Such a pitch may not resonate deeply with men, but women appear to be listening. Crown Golf claims that most of its 25 golf properties have “a higher-than-average percentage of lady members” and that some have a female membership that approaches 20 percent. This is an achievement worth noting, because only about 14 percent of the club members in the U.K. are women.

     The San Diego Union-Tribune has documented the incredible shrinking initiation fees at some of Southern California’s premier private clubs. The Bridges in Rancho Santa Fe, which opened in the late 1990s with an initiation fee of $350,000, has cut its entry fee by nearly two-thirds, to $125,000. The levy at the Santaluz Club in San Diego, which charged $140,000 when it opened in 2002, is now $50,000. And the Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe, where members once paid more than $100,000, attracts just $20,000 today. “We’re out of the recession, really, but we’ve still got the over-saturation,” said Bruce Bennetts, the general manager of the Farms. “We’ve just got too many golf clubs. We need more of them to close, and then everybody would be healthier.” Of course, it’s important to note that lower prices attract members, and the name of the game in golf these days is monthly dues, not initiation fees.

     As a result of “the economic downturn, bad weather, and the long-term decline of the sport of golf,” the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports, city-owned courses in Minnesota “are hitting a rough patch.” Citing 2011 figures provided by the state auditor -- the most recent data available, believe it or not -- the newspaper says that only six of the state’s 40 city-owned tracks managed to turn a profit. Collectively, the courses lost $4.7 million in 2011, 20 percent more than they lost in 2009. “It’s a labor of love, not a labor of making money,” notes Tom Ryan, the director of the Minnesota Golf Association. Despite all the red ink, however, at least some of the state’s city-owned golf properties have reason to be optimistic. Because the recession has claimed so many privately owned properties, the municipals expect to benefit from decreased competition.

     On a golf course, a little rough goes a long way. Golfers get peeved when they have to waste time plodding through rough in search of their balls, according to a survey of golfers in the United Kingdom by Syngenta. More than 70 percent of the respondents to the survey, which was conducted in 2011, said that it was of “high importance” to find balls quickly, and 56 percent said that the rough on the courses they play is too thick. Syngenta has also determined that slow play is “a frustration for many players,” and that “discontent” begins to set in when rounds last more than three and a half hours.

     As well-heeled golfers show a greater willingness to travel, the people who organize and market golf tours are ringing up sales. Tour operators’ revenues grew by 9.3 percent in 2012, their second straight year of growth, and the International Association of Golf Tour Operators expects another increase in 2013. “I believe we can all look forward to a third consecutive year of golf tourism growth,” the group’s CEO said at a recent industry get-together.

     The growth of golf in China hasn’t only benefited U.S. designers and builders. E-Z-GO believes that it controls 40 percent of the market for golf cars in the People’s Republic, which has become one of its top five sales territories. “I think there are 500 golf courses in China right now, and we are working with more of them than anyone else,” Kevin Holleran, the company’s president, told China Daily earlier this year. E-Z-GO’s first Chinese customer was Mission Hills Shenzhen, which was an ideal place to start. In China, the average E-Z-GO car reportedly sells for about $7,200.

     In Fort Worth, Texas, the future of municipal golf is being debated. The city’s golf operations have been losing money since 2001, reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and today the system is $8 million in the hole. What’s more, in 2012 the city’s golf properties -- now down to four, after the closing of Z Boaz Golf Course -- attracted just 142,000 rounds, down by nearly 50 percent from the 274,000 recorded in 1998. So city officials are asking themselves a question familiar to their counterparts from coast to coast: Should we invest in necessary improvements that might generate more play, or should we cut our losses by closing courses or finding private-sector operators for them? We could learn the answer to that question by the end of the year.

     Do nine-hole courses sell themselves short? Of the roughly 16,000 golf facilities in the United States, the National Golf Foundation counts about 4,230 nine-hole facilities, 27 percent of the total. On average, the nine-hole layouts charge $23 a round during their peak seasons, less than half of what 18-hole courses charge ($52).