What is your course's post-COVID trend, 2.5 years out?

[RoyalMustang]

We all know that golf boomed in most of the world during 2020 and into 2021.  What is happening now that we are getting back to a post-COVID normal world? 

 

Arguments against golf participation: many people are now going into the office at least a few days a week.  The economy is suddenly starting to look shaky; those post-COVID asset value increases (stock market, houses) look to be increasingly unsustainable, and golf is based on disposable income.  

 

Arguments in favor of golf participation: people discovering the sport and sticking with it; people putting on COVID pounds and looking to get some fun exercise and get healthy again.  Lots of kids picking up the sport; probably more than at any time in the past.  

 

In my area, I belong to a cheap private course: I normally play evenings when the humidity is low and there is rarely anyone out there.  But I wasn't here a year ago and can't compare.  

 

The place I have a practice membership as seems like it has had a slower summer than last.  But again, I am there in the evenings and you have to hustle to get a full 18 in after 4:30.  

 

We are coming into prime golf season in TX and that should tell us a bit more about whether the COVID boom has been sustained or not.  

[ChipDriver]

Clubs in my area are still enjoying the burgeoning memberships...but I think the "ebb" is coming.   Golf is the new gym membership.   If you're doing great at it then you'll probably stay; but if you're sucking at it - you'll probably drop it.  With the economy about to take a big poop I think that memberships will recede sooner than later.

 

With a normal world - golf was losing participation - nothing really has changed now that we're going back to normal.   One club I play at has built a waiting list - and they are doing something stupid Imo - waiting for 2 people to leave before they accept 1 person.   My guess is that those on that waiting list will simply drop off.  Other better clubs haven't really noticed any changes and the members will be essentially unaffected by the economy.  

 

[T_Golf_23]

Weekdays are much slower than over the past 2 years. Which I love. I Mostly play during the week. 
 

many more outings. Which helps cash flow, but More abusive on the course though. 
 

membership is really robust. Younger membership too. Clubs are spending tons of the new cash. And spending it fast. Big upgrades… so that is good. 
 

but with all the economic stuff, I worry. Maybe best to see clubs building a cash cushion. 
 

it is going to be interesting to see what happens with dues relative to inflation. I would not be surprised to see hikes of 10-20%. I worry that the younger members, like myself, with kids are not going to digest these hikes well because they are feeling it on daycare costs, food costs… basically it’s more expensive then ever to pay for all the kid stuff. 

has anyone seen any trends yet in that space? My club doesn’t usually announce until November. 

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by T_Golf_23

[Roejye]

The course I'm a member at is having "a very good year." They replaced all of their carts, and I've definitely seen a lot of people on the course. I'm hoping they won't have much of an increase in dues, but haven't heard anything. 

[tips09]

The course I was a “member” at before was insanely packed during covid. It’s a semi private in the sense non members can’t get on until 2-4pm during the summer. I quit my membership after one season considering there is about 700 “members” and the wait list is now close to 300. Before and during covid there was no initiation fee. It is now about to be raised to $10,000. From my understanding they’ve had a lot of members like me who have come in and left after one season. Course conditions are great and the only course within a 30 minutes drive with half decent conditions but the golf holes are very bland aside from the par 3’s. 

[Wonder Bread]

We are a in a resort area so have been insulated so to speak.  Courses are busy Thursday-Sunday from 7am to 2pm from memorial day to Labor Day. Slow in the afternoons and during the week.  
 

 

[Mcgeeno]

2022 was the busiest green fee season by far from what I've been told at my small family owned course.

 

From what I can tell the cash flow generated helped the club buy new tarps for the greens and hire an extra student worker who repaired a couple bridges and also leveled out a couple rough tee boxes.

 

I like that part.

 

What I dont like is having to make a tee time at midnight the week before a weekend round so I can play at a good time like 8 am haha.

 

The wife and I used to have a Friday date night round where the course was typically dead and we ha it to ourselves as people were doing other things.  Friday's are fully packed with beer drinking dudes now. Definitely twice as busy.

 

If the golf boom is over, it hasnt happened in Northern Canada yet. Everywhere is bumper to bumper packed.

[Scooby555]

Some courses i've stopped playing at because they are soooo crowded.  Others have let maintenance go and are very slow.  I'll usually play the run down places without a crowd.

[Abh159]

Private Club 

 

Membership is still fully maxed out with a waitlist of over 100, and that is after we doubled the initiation fee for all new members last summer.

 

It has gotten a little less crowded on the tee sheet compared to this time last year, but it's definitely not slow. 

 

[Soloman1]

In the words of Yogi Berra:

 

“No one goes there nowadays, it’s too crowded.”

 

And . . .

 

”The future ain’t what it used to be.”

[RoyalMustang]

17 hours ago, T_Golf_23 said:

Weekdays are much slower than over the past 2 years. Which I love. I Mostly play during the week. 
 

many more outings. Which helps cash flow, but More abusive on the course though. 
 

membership is really robust. Younger membership too. Clubs are spending tons of the new cash. And spending it fast. Big upgrades… so that is good. 
 

but with all the economic stuff, I worry. Maybe best to see clubs building a cash cushion. 
 

it is going to be interesting to see what happens with dues relative to inflation. I would not be surprised to see hikes of 10-20%. I worry that the younger members, like myself, with kids are not going to digest these hikes well because they are feeling it on daycare costs, food costs… basically it’s more expensive then ever to pay for all the kid stuff. 

has anyone seen any trends yet in that space? My club doesn’t usually announce until November. 

 

 

We just went from $425/month to $500/month.  It is frankly a little shocking: this is not a nice course and wouldn't get more than $50/round from the public. You have to play an awful lot to justify that cost. And I walk: carts are either $150/month or $39/round.  

[T_Golf_23]

3 hours ago, RoyalMustang said:

 

We just went from $425/month to $500/month.  It is frankly a little shocking: this is not a nice course and wouldn't get more than $50/round from the public. You have to play an awful lot to justify that cost. And I walk: carts are either $150/month or $39/round.  

17.6% increase.

 

this is what I am afraid of. 
 

I think A lot do places are going to be seeing this.

 

wonder how this will affect peoples decisions to join private clubs. 

[Krt22]

Corp owned club, dues jumped 10% each year over covid, tee sheet was packed,  no guests, initiation doubled.  Since then...Tee sheet has thinned out dramatically, willy nilly guest policy (more lax now than pre-covid), they have even tried to turn young execs into full members early to drum up capital by threatening another initiation increase (which I doubt will happen at this point), many members have left for lower cost of living areas 

 

Except for the truly elite clubs, I imagine we will see a softening just like we are seeing market wide (the market as a whole, luxury goods, scotty stuff, etc). Golf is a leisure sport and private golf even more so, very much tied to excess passive income. 

[daegyu]

Private club. Monthly dues went up 20% a few months back. Guest fees went up about the same amount. Still a good deal compared to the public courses around here that will charge $100-$150 for a weekend round. Carts were replaced. New refreshments gazebo on the course. Painting/recarpeting all done in the past few weeks. Membership is at capacity and golf course has been packed every time I've been out. 

[Springsteennut]

The course I play at has been just as busy. The parking lot is usually full by the time we finish our 8AM tee time. Last I heard they had well over 100 outings booked for the year.

[Moonlightgrm]

Our semi-private course is a ghost-town during the week, with outings being the exception. It’s packed on most weekends. As we go deeper into the fall, weekend play will diminish, especially on Sunday thanks to the NFL. Our club has flourished with functions booked weekly in our two dinning facilities (weddings, bar mitzvahs, proms, reunions, showers, and various parties). Social distancing seems to be a thing of the past. 🙄

 

[pitchnputt]

I am lucky to have good public and muni courses available year round(San Diego), so not a golf club member. That said, I work in yachting which also had a similar covid boom. No slowdown in either around here because the ones that jumped in are quite affluent. Courses have been packed still with a lot of younger folks who seem to have flexible hours (I love playing during the week as I have to work tons of weekends sailing). Had a nice dude join our threesome today but rare to have the courses I play fill out a full foursome. We walked and still had to wait on 3 millennials in front of us in carts on multiple holes… all my Uber rich clients are nervous about the economic slowdown

[scottaz]

My member owned club has done extremely well the past few years, like most. Little debt and millions spent on renovations on the course and in the club house.    

 

The wait list has dropped down into the low teens, and there are discussions of taking in everyone on the wait list over the winter in preparation for what may be coming. That would weed out any that were planning on dropping off, and balance out the any current members who may be leaving. We cap at 265, and that's likely where we'll end up after the dust settles for next season. 

 

My guess is things will slow down in most places like mine, which is rural area.       

 

[eboettne]

The 2 courses in my town are doing extremely well. I heard the public course just did something like 56k rounds I believe which for a shortened ND summer is an insane number.  The private course I've heard has full membership, which hasn't happened since the early 2000s.

[Is Golf Fun or Work]

I'm hoping with football on TV now, I'm also in TX and fall is definitely prime golf season here, hopefully we'll see some drop off in number of players.....covid golfers might go back to their pre-covid activities which IMO would be great!

 

Our course has shattered their all time rounds per year records for the past couple years running, good for their budgets

[TBD203]

I believe we’re still full at 315 with a waitlist. No increase in price yet, but I wouldn’t be terribly surprised. We did have two assessments this year at $1000 each time. For the caliber of course and restaurant we’re getting at my price point I still can’t imagine anything in my area being comparable. 

[Bonneville85308]

Semi-private course. Weekday play is back to 2019 levels (i. e. dead except for a 2 hour rush of mostly retirees in the morning) and has been since around April or so. Weekend mornings are still a bit busier than 2019, but I think this is because our public rates have stayed pretty steady while other local courses have been jacking them up, so working class locals are playing our course instead. During COVID we also had some weekend afternoon play from a younger/newer golfer heavy drinking bro crowd that seems to have mostly evaporated, thank God because from what I saw they mostly abused the course and played like molasses. 

Edited September 30, 2022 by Bonneville85308

[T_Golf_23]

Anyone on the board at their clubs have any insight into planing for the next year? 
 

is there concern about membership decline? I feel like most clubs have a mentality that this boom will not end and are spending $$ and not stocking cash for a rainy day. 
 

I think 2-3 years out there are going to be quite a few clubs offering incentives to entice new members…. 

[Phreddy]

My home course is a midwest private.  Initiation fees are up.  Dues are up and the we have hit the membership max.  However, by the time we got to August the course was dead.  It was like suddenly everyone discovered that it was safe to move about the country and take vacations.  If you've paid an initiation fee and found like minded people to play with membership will probably be sticky for a while, but it feels like there will be increasing competition for discretionary dollars.

 

Phred

[jdl]

Courses I play are still pretty packed. Some of the higher end public fee courses have raised their weekend rates to the point I'm kinda baffled. Guess they are doing pretty well.

[wy3134]

im not a member of any private club here in indiana as there are plenty of public courses to not justify the expense....felt like this summer there were more golf leagues, but overall i could get out anytime i wanted before 3-4pm through the week.... 

 

with that said, we had crappy weather this year, spring went straight from 55-60* to 90s in may, and then here in the fall its gone from 90 to 60s with a few 80* days sprinkled in. a couple of the courses never even tried to keep them in playable shape, but kept the green fees up and were still getting play (one i drove up, and turned around as you couldnt tell the fairway from the rough, and it used to be one of the nicest courses in the area...now its not worth $20 to play which is a shame as its a fun links style course). next year might be a better tell as things are fully back to normal life activities with travel etc etc and the economy getting shaky.

[sabram]

Public courses in Northern and central NJ and in Central Florida are still packed and green fees are still going up. Conditioning at some of the lower end Florida publics has gotten worse and at others has improved. Not sure why.

[TBone0576]

I play mostly at a county muni with 45 holes.  Usually the first one on the tee sheet every weekend but when we come off the course there are usually 3 or 4 groups waiting on the first tee to go.  Another thing I noticed is that the course booked more outings on the weekends and there were a handful of times where one or both 18 hole courses were closed.   I thought most events like that were on the weekends.  As for the course it has held up well with a new superintendent but I think he is having staffing issues and the roughs are longer than I have ever seen them.  They never brought water coolers back out to the course or the sand/seed mix on the par three tees so the boxes are getting just chewed up beyond belief. 

[Spankapotamus redux]

Checking in from NW Florida. My home course is public but you can buy into various levels of membership. I have an afternoon membership that costs me $60/month with a $100 initiation fee. Play as much as I want after 1pm (noon after the time change) any day of the week. If I want a cart, it's either $9 or $18 depending on the number of holes I play. Seeing how it's the best course in town, in the best shape, and a block from my house... it's a no brainier. I get out 3-4 times a week. Just an insanely good deal. Without membership it's usually $40 a round to ride which is in line with other local courses that range from $30-70.

 

Before COVID, the course was sold. Was in mediocre shape. New owners came in and invested in new greens, other general improvements, and got better staff. While the clubhouse and amenities could always be better, the investment is paying off. Course is very busy. Tee sheet is booked for the weekend by Wednesday/Thursday for anything before 2pm. I usually go out around 4-5 depending on sunset and there are people out, but it's never terrible unless there's a group of kids (like middle school/high school teams out playing. Still not a big deal.

 

Other courses in the area seem to be doing well, at least the relatively affordable ones ($75 or less per round). The pricey resort courses nearby? Who knows. Nobody I know plays there except once a blue moon, but I haven't seen any going under and beach business is always booming.

[Roody]

Member at a mid-tier private club here. We're at a full golfing membership with a wait list to get in, and $10k initiation to boot. When my wife and I joined in 2018 they were hurting for members and initiation was only $1k. 

We got assessed about a year ago, and they used that money to update the interior of our clubhouse, they're performing long-overdue maintenance on the pool, and our course is being renovated. They're removing some of the bunkers, rebuilding the others so they will all be in great shape when done. We've also removed some trees, widened some approach areas leading up to the greens, and put in a couple new tee boxes. The assessment got approved by the members with a 92% yes vote. We're all pretty excited to see the changes to the course when they're done this coming spring. 

The only thing I am curious about is whether or not the others who got in under the same deal I did will stay beyond next year. The discounted price runs out after next season. My wife and I are all in for sure, but I could see some go club-hopping to get another deal.