Phoenix City Tour - good deals?

[scooterhd2]

Just played my first Nextgen City Tour event out at Legacy Golf Resort. Tied for the low round thank you very much. There's team format if you are interested, but I just joined a random team playing best ball so I could play my own ball. There's not much beyond the tournament. You get a sleeve of Srixon Z Star balls and some random junk, the usual long drive and 2 KP holes for giftcards, but nothing to sway you. The winners get some giftcards as well. But the rates for the tournament were slightly below rates on golfnow and with a 10 AM tee time on a Sunday during peak season so I went for it. That being said, I was surprised with the turn out. Only a few groups out there. Seemed like this event at Legacy should have be more popular considering it was cheaper than a standard tee time. 

 

Not sure about the summer rates on the rest of the schedule. Eagle Mountain is going for $115 on the their website so maybe scratch that. What about the rest of these? How cheap does Troon North get during the summer? I might sign up for a few more of these. I imagine a WRX team could win some of these as well. 

 

 

 

https://nextgengolf.org/app/regions/phoenix-golf-tournaments

 

[puttnforthe8]

In normal years, each one of those would be 1/3 or 1/4 of the price.

[scooterhd2]

1 hour ago, puttnforthe8 said:

In normal years, each one of those would be 1/3 or 1/4 of the price.

 

I understand that, but I also live in the east valley and if you are only willing to pay 1/3 of $130 for a round, then you are probably not playing golf right now. Just curious, if given the current climate, any of these seem like decent deals. Its nice to play a little tournament golf as well. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by scooterhd2

[Soloman1]

I don’t think those prices will be sustainable after the Canadians and other part-time residents head back north in about a month. The “current climate” is not going to last here when the tee sheets get lean when the retired people and full-time residents cut back on golf at those rates.

 

The wishful thinking by the courses is just that, in my opinion. It’s opportunistic price gouging because operating costs of a golf course are not skyrocketing. The workers aren’t getting paid more and the only variable cost is gasoline for mowers and that isn’t enough to justify 3-4 times the retail price of a round.

 

The pendulum will swing, eventually, but I think quite a few golfers in the valley have more pent up anger than demand.

[Bonneville85308]

16 hours ago, scooterhd2 said:

Just played my first Nextgen City Tour event out at Legacy Golf Resort. Tied for the low round thank you very much. There's team format if you are interested, but I just joined a random team playing best ball so I could play my own ball. There's not much beyond the tournament. You get a sleeve of Srixon Z Star balls and some random junk, the usual long drive and 2 KP holes for giftcards, but nothing to sway you. The winners get some giftcards as well. But the rates for the tournament were slightly below rates on golfnow and with a 10 AM tee time on a Sunday during peak season so I went for it. That being said, I was surprised with the turn out. Only a few groups out there. Seemed like this event at Legacy should have be more popular considering it was cheaper than a standard tee time. 

 

Not sure about the summer rates on the rest of the schedule. Eagle Mountain is going for $115 on the their website so maybe scratch that. What about the rest of these? How cheap does Troon North get during the summer? I might sign up for a few more of these. I imagine a WRX team could win some of these as well. 

 

 

 

https://nextgengolf.org/app/regions/phoenix-golf-tournaments

 

 

McCormick Ranch is the biggest ripoff listed, pre-COVID that was like a $35 course at 11am in July and it's not worth $111 even in winter IMO. The TPC is probably Champions and not Stadium, I already have a tee time booked for an early morning round on Champions in May for like $64. 

[scooterhd2]

2 minutes ago, Bonneville85308 said:

 

McCormick Ranch is the biggest ripoff listed, pre-COVID that was like a $35 course at 11am in July and it's not worth $111 even in winter IMO. The TPC is probably Champions and not Stadium, I already have a tee time booked for an early morning round on Champions in May for like $64. 

 

Good feedback there. Thank you. I havent played McCormick Range but had largely heard the same. 

[Bonneville85308]

32 minutes ago, Soloman1 said:

I don’t think those prices will be sustainable after the Canadians and other part-time residents head back north in about a month. The “current climate” is not going to last here when the tee sheets get lean when the retired people and full-time residents cut back on golf at those rates.

 

The wishful thinking by the courses is just that, in my opinion. It’s opportunistic price gouging because operating costs of a golf course are not skyrocketing. The workers aren’t getting paid more and the only variable cost is gasoline for mowers and that isn’t enough to justify 3-4 times the retail price of a round.

 

The pendulum will swing, eventually, but I think quite a few golfers in the valley have more pent up anger than demand.

 

Grass seed prices are way up, but I would agree that the cost increase to the course is not proportional to the increases in the greens' fees in many cases, it is just a COVID money grab. Most full-time working locals I know who aren't wealthy but like to play golf do have a lot of pent-up anger towards the situation. They are playing a lot less often, have downgraded to bottom-barrel courses, or are staying up to midnight to desperately fight everyone else trying to make weekend morning tee times at the city courses.

Edited April 7, 2022 by Bonneville85308

[Bonneville85308]

7 minutes ago, scooterhd2 said:

 

Good feedback there. Thank you. I havent played McCormick Range but had largely heard the same. 

 

You may want to find out for sure what course at TPC they are playing. If it's Stadium, and you want to play it, $119 in June is about as good as you are going to do now unless you want to play at 4pm on a Tuesday.  I'm pretty sure that they were charging at least $100 for summer morning tee times on Stadium in 2018-2019. That's why I'm thinking it's probably Champions, which is a course that I really enjoy, but if you are only concerned about price then you can definitely get it cheaper outside of this tournament. 

[scooterhd2]

59 minutes ago, Bonneville85308 said:

 

You may want to find out for sure what course at TPC they are playing. If it's Stadium, and you want to play it, $119 in June is about as good as you are going to do now unless you want to play at 4pm on a Tuesday.  I'm pretty sure that they were charging at least $100 for summer morning tee times on Stadium in 2018-2019. That's why I'm thinking it's probably Champions, which is a course that I really enjoy, but if you are only concerned about price then you can definitely get it cheaper outside of this tournament. 

 

Yes, confirmed Champions although they played Stadium last year. So maybe I'll lay off and reevaluate Troon and Camelback in the summer to see what those rates look like. I havent played either of those. 

[puttnforthe8]

2 hours ago, scooterhd2 said:

 

I understand that, but I also live in the east valley and if you are only willing to pay 1/3 of $130 for a round, then you are probably not playing golf right now. Just curious, if given the current climate, any of these seem like decent deals. Its nice to play a little tournament golf as well. 

You're misunderstanding my post; my fault for not being clear -  The dates for these events will see the price of golf 1/3 to 1/4 of that price.  I am certainly not talking about now - but those events are not now; they are in the summer months.  So none of those are "good deals".

Edited April 7, 2022 by puttnforthe8

[Soloman1]

Yes, grass seed has gone up substantially. If you spend $100,000 more on seed, that’s no more than $8 more per person over the 6 months for a lightly played course. But what added value does a customer have paying $50 or more per round?

 

Nothing.