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Players aren't teeing it up as much anymore

Sunday, April 07, 2002

By Gerry Dulac, Post-Gazette Sports Writer

The National Golf Foundation and the National Golf Course Owners Association are collaborating on a study to determine the number of rounds played annually in this country. They might not like what they discover. The results of the study, expected this month, likely will report one disturbing trend: Golfers aren't playing as much as they used to play.

At public courses and private clubs, in Western Pennsylvania and across the nation, courses everywhere -- with few exceptions -- noticed a decline in the number of rounds played last year, a trend that began before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

At a time when the number of golfers in the United States is 26.7 million and the number of golf courses topped 17,000 -- both all-time highs -- golfers, it appears, are playing fewer rounds. The main culprit is a sluggish economy. That fact and the opening of new courses have intensified competition, forcing many public courses to slash prices and offer mid-week specials to stimulate play.

The malaise is not just limited to daily-fee courses. Private clubs are having a hard time attracting new members because initiation fees, monthly dues and food minimums are making it penny-foolish for golfers to spend that kind money when they are playing fewer rounds. What's more, many clubs are seeing a decline in the number of Monday corporate and charity outings. Those outings are a primary way country clubs create additional revenues. The result: Clubs that didn't allow non-affiliated organizations to hold events at their courses are now welcoming outside parties.

More competition, fewer bucks

"It's mainly the economy," said Carmen Costa, head professional at Butler's Golf Course in Elizabeth, one of the more popular layouts in the area. "And you have to look at where we're located, too. It's tough in the Mon Valley."

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Butler's had a 9 percent decrease in the number of rounds played in 2001 and is not alone. Even high-end daily-fee courses such as Olde Stonewall ($125 greens fee), Tom's Run ($70) and Quicksilver ($65) saw their rounds decline in 2001. South Park, which does in excess of 90,000 rounds (nine- and 18-holes) a year, had a slight increase of 4 percent in rounds played last year. But that was because Allegheny County's popular senior permit -- $60 for a season pass -- created heavy play Monday through Thursday. On the other three days, play dropped significantly, and South Park charges only $27 with a cart on the weekend.

"There used to be a point where we saw the same guys Saturday and Sunday," said course manager Dave Boal. "Now we just see them on Sunday. I have to say people just don't have the money."

What happened? For starters, the popularity of golf grew rapidly in the 1990s. To keep up, new courses sprouted like crabgrass. Two years ago, 707 courses were under construction and 1,049 were in the planning stages, according to the National Golf Foundation. Last year, 524 golf courses opened, 87 percent of them open to the public.

Locally, at least 12 new daily-fee courses have opened in the area in the past 10 years -- Olde Stonewall, Deer Run, Madison Club, Tom's Run, Glengarry, Mystic Rock, Hickory Heights, Scenic Valley, Indian Run, Blackmoor, Castle Shannon and the Palmer Course at Speidel at Oglebay Park near Wheeling. Three more -- Birdsfoot, Cranberry Highlands and the Links at Firestone Farms in Columbiana, Ohio -- will open this summer. Royal Tartan Golf Club in Washington County will open in 2003.

That does not include nine-hole additions to courses such as Butler's and Pheasant Ridge, or $8 million in renovations to a course such as Avalon Lakes in Warren, Ohio.

There has been a spurt of private club openings in that same period. Nevillewood, Diamond Run, Treesdale, Southpointe and Totteridge have all debuted since 1992.

With an expanded menu, golfers have a greater variety of courses to choose from.

"The competition is so much greater," said Dave Kuhar, head pro at the 36-hole Chestnut Ridge facility in Blairsville. "There are more places to play, so that cuts down on the number of rounds at each course."

"I'm not so sure the number of rounds are down overall, but they'll probably be down at each facility," said Sean Parees, general manager at Quicksilver Golf Club in Midway. "That's because of the competition. There's more to choose from, quite frankly."

Butler's added nine new holes last year to increase its total to 36. The main reason for the expansion was to accommodate the heavy play the course has enjoyed for years. But Costa said he had to cut back weekday rates from $36 to $34 when play dipped last summer. Other courses in the Mon Valley, such as Cedarbrook and Riverview, did the same thing.

"On the weekend, we're typically white-collar in the people we see coming out to play," Costa said. "But during the week, we noticed fewer players. In our area, the economy is a big factor."

But why? In the past 15 years, overall spending in the U.S. on greens fees, dues and equipment rose from $7.8 billion in 1986 to $22.2 billion in 1999, according to the NGF. The national average price of greens fees at a daily-fee course rose to $40.

Pressure to upgrade

The price for playing golf at a public course increased for a curious reason -- improved course conditions.

Quicksilver started the trend, back in the early 1990s, when the course played host to Nike Tour and Senior PGA Tour events. Behind the deep pockets of owner Bob Murphy, Quicksilver was transformed into a challenging 18-hole layout that featured silky smooth greens, country-club-like fairways and a renovated clubhouse that looked majestically over the ninth and 18th holes.

With that came a big bump in the price to play -- $75, and eventually $80 -- per round.

"I think we raised the bar for the level of public golf," Parees said. "I think we had a better-conditioned course and the clubhouse amenities than what was around at the time. It was a positive thing in that we gave the golfer more options that were different than what they were used to. I think we set the standard for other clubs."

Other courses, looking to be an attractive daily-fee alternative to country clubs, followed the lead. Upscale facilities such as Tom's Run, Deer Run, Hickory Heights and Madison Club soon were built and opened with greens fees typically hovering around $45 to $50 or more.

Older courses began working diligently to improve their turf conditions -- striping and contouring fairways, increasing their greens speed, building new, wider tee boxes. Others built new clubhouses and practice ranges.

With that came an increase in greens fees.

"I think we had to [improve conditions] to keep up with everyone else," Costa said. "I think everybody had to do that to keep attracting golfers."

But, as those fees began to rise, the economy began to spiral downward. Golfers became reluctant to spend $70 to $80 -- the average cost of two rounds -- to play each week. On the other end, private clubs began to watch a similar decline, but for different reasons.

The federal government's cutbacks in business expenses meant less corporate play on the golf course. Also, private clubs saw some of their weekend play dwindle because their core golfers -- ages 38 to 45 -- were busy taking children to soccer, baseball or basketball games.

Nonetheless, the golf industry, as a whole, remains encouraged. The number of junior players is on the rise, fueled by the rapid development of young players such as 17-year-old high-schooler Ty Tryon, the youngest player to qualify for the PGA Tour, and 13-year-old Morgan Pressel, who competed in last year's U.S. Women's Open. Since 1986, the number of junior players (ages 12-17) has grown 43 percent to 2.1 million.

"I look for a bit of an upswing this year," Parees said. "I think everybody is over the shock of what happened to the economy. Everyone is back on an even keel. Last year, compared to 2000, was a big shock for a lot of companies."

Including golf.