We”ve had quite a week of winter weather in Lake County. Area courses were blanketed in snow in the middle of the week and heavy rain and wind have made being out of doors nothing short of unpleasant. With spring just around the corner, it should be just a short amount of time before the weather takes a good turn and people start flocking to the course to tee it up.
Meanwhile, the nation”s economy continues to struggle, to put it mildly. While spring-like weather might make golf more enticing next month, not all linksters will be able to plunk down their money on the pro shop counter and head to the first tee. Golf is a niche sport. On top of that, for the average American, it”s part of the family budget entertainment dollar. In tough times, you”ve still got to pay the rent and the electric bill. You don”t have to play golf or take a vacation or buy adult toys.
Of principal concern is the fact that in today”s economy, there are simply too many golf courses. A lot of golf course projects were completed during the past two decades, often following the formula of selling residential property adjacent to the proposed golf course. The developers used the home sale profits to build a championship golf course of note.
With too many golf courses in existence, some will obviously have to close their doors, as Adobe Creek in Petaluma has done. Others will have to market themselves in such a way that they can not only survive but also even make a profit of sorts. The key is that you want to have a full tee sheet card and also want to expand your physical plant for things such as weddings, banquets and business gatherings.
My son and I are two of those golfers who upscale, daily fee and semi-private courses are trying to attract. Now that Nick is in college, we usually meet up once a month, typically on Sunday, and play a golf course that is new to him. In the past year or so, I”ve ponied up my money and we”ve teed it up at Pasatiempo, Sharp Park, Wildhorse, Dark Horse, Ancil Hoffman, Hiddenbrooke, Haggin Oaks, Roddy Ranch, Poppy Ridge, Half Moon Bay and Wildhawk. I may have missed a few, but those courses I mentioned popped into my head right away.
Some of the courses are decidedly public, such as Sharp Park, Ancil Hoffman and Haggin Oaks. Others take on a country-club-for-a-day flavor such as Dark Horse, Half Moon Bay and Pasatiempo. All of these courses have one economic thing in common, namely they are fighting one another for the daily fee golfer and his money. One of the ways they try to distance themselves from the pack is to constantly get their name and their brand out to the golfing public. In our modern age, the desired method of promotion is the worldwide web.
All the courses I”ve played outside Lake County in the past year have sent me promotional e-mails on a weekly basis. I”ve even heard from courses that I haven”t played in more than a decade. I also get frequent e-mails from courses I”ve never played although they happen to be part of a package group with courses I have played.
During a 48-hour period earlier this week, I heard from a myriad of courses with a wide variety of promotional pitches. To be deadly accurate, I received unsolicited e-mails from 55 courses.
For instance, Napa Golf Course offered a $24 walking rate this weekend. Teal Bend, located near the Sacramento Airport, offers a Friday clinic, golf and a cart for $39. Pebble Beach is all mine for just $395, which represents a 32-percent discount. Oakmont in Santa Rosa”s Valley of the Moon appealed to my golfing instincts. They claim their greens are rolling close to 11 on the stimpmeter and you can also drive your cart onto the fairway. They didn”t promote any special rates, but they did let me know that I can play for free on my up-and-coming birthday. Alas, I think I”m coaching hoops in Crescent City on that day.
I received a newsletter from Stevinson Ranch, an outstanding track outside Turlock. I got something similar from Eagle Vines in Napa. I could get a monthly membership there for a monthly rate of $299. Half Moon Bay offered me a monthly rate that would get me reduced green fees of $95 per round. Then again, if I lived near Half Moon Bay, I could easily want to play the Ocean Course every day and would willingly pay $95.
Metropolitan Golf Links, located on the Bay just south of the Oakland Airport, informs me that it is the best-draining course in the Bay Area. Of course, if you know the history of Metropolitan, you”re aware that it sits on a landfill site atop the old Lew Galbraith Golf Course. I have no doubt that it drains really well. By the way, I hear from Metropolitan each week, and yet I”ve never played there. But I am intrigued, so someday I will go there and tee it up.
If food were to be the deal breaker, then I do have some great choices. Poppy Ridge in Livermore offers Tuesday and Thursday golf along with lunch for $32. At Oakmont, I can partake in the Thursday night buffet featuring tri-tip and salmon for $19.95. Of course, I will be avoiding Oakmont on Friday evenings because that doubles as karaoke night. Empire Ranch has a $49.95-per-couple dinner with crab-stuffed shrimp, rolled stuffed pork loin, roasted garlic potatoes, fresh green beans with almond slices and bacon, cake and champagne. I was thinking I”d ask for the bacon without the green beans and almond slices, but I better take a pass. It turns out Empire Ranch has karaoke, too.
And so it goes, whether I hear from Alister Mackenzie”s masterpiece in Santa Cruz, Pasatiempo, or from Alabama”s Robert Trent Jones Trail. It”s a new era and times are tough for golf course operators. It”s a buyer”s market and there are lots of good deals out there on the Internet. It”s also what has to be done for golf course operators to promote and to ultimately survive in this business climate.
