I had to read the following ‘blip’ of an article in the NGF Newsletter twice to make sure I understood what Jim Koppenhaver was saying. Raise Green fees to become more profitable??? Geesh, does he want to kill golf all together?
New Golf Lingo
Golf Industry Has Got to Change to Survive a Recession
The good ol boys of golf who have been heard saying in the back rooms of the top private golf clubs in this country that the price of golf at their facilities will remain high to keep out the people who cannot afford to play at their facilities will probably not change. That is they will probably not change, but there is a chance they will be pressured to change from the economy within the club. They will wish they had changed when after a few long hard months that extra cash flow coming from the golfer who would splurge to pay their over the top green fees all dry’s up after they evaluate the value of that experience. The same for the golf resorts and golf travel industry…all of them are going to have to drop their prices. It is just as simple as that.
Private Golf Clubs: Where Change Has to Be Made
The show on this issue has just begun. There will be more thoughts given to what can be done and there will hopefully be the meeting of minds in some kind of summit of people to hammer out what needs to be done in the Private Golf Club and Country Club arena to keep this very important part of the golf economy going.