Golfing is getting pretty expensive these days

[dropkicked]

Toronto/GTHA

I've actually seen a return to spring/early season pricing at some of the extremely nice pubs in our area this spring. I haven't seen that since 2019.

While the golf boom is still apparent, it's no longer pandemic levels around here...

 

Golf is hard. lol

[dubbelbogey]

On 5/3/2024 at 9:50 AM, jda said:

Maybe we are really lucky in Colorado.  These are not dog tracks.  

We are. Now shut up about it, OK? 😎

[Bad9]

On 4/20/2024 at 12:09 AM, kwcsports said:

In Nova Scotia it's a hundred pretty much anywhere. Some a little less some more. 

Our courses are not worth 100 IMO.

Here in the Annapolis Valley the only course with a peak season rate over $70 is Ken Wo at $85 and its not an $85 course.

[kwcsports]

1 hour ago, Bad9 said:

Here in the Annapolis Valley the only course with a peak season rate over $70 is Ken Wo at $85 and its not an $85 course.

Agree about Ken Wo, played a few hundred rounds there over the last 35 years. My bad knee puts me in a power cart these days, increasing my per round price everywhere to near or over 100. Too damn expensive for the quality of the courses IMHO. 

[ShortGolfer]

On 5/23/2024 at 8:04 PM, dropkicked said:

Toronto/GTHA

I've actually seen a return to spring/early season pricing at some of the extremely nice pubs in our area this spring. I haven't seen that since 2019.

While the golf boom is still apparent, it's no longer pandemic levels around here...

I've seen that as well around the Tri-State corner of NY, CT, and MA.  It is a popular summer tourism destination.

I saw some early season discount pricing.  I'll have to remember that for next year.  This year I had a ton of gardening chores that needed to be done now.

I missed cutting a back a tree for a few years and is now a 30ft Tartarian Maple tree that is too massive for me to cut down on my own.

But, it doesn't shade any of my rose beds so I it can stay.  The Internet says it shouldn't get much bigger.  30 ft is a nice size

Edited May 25 by ShortGolfer

[vernon]

My wife and I pay $4200 a year plus a $350 trail fee for our cart for unlimited golf Monday thru Thursday and after 3:00 Friday thru Sunday and holidays.

 

That's about a $1200 increase compared to pre covid price.

 

People have been raising holy hell about the prices but the range and the golf course are both packed virtually all day everyday and a 1:00 tee time on a weekday needs to be made at least a week in advance and typically two weeks so they obviously aren't overcharging.

 

Prior to covid weekend greens fees were $60 and now they're $85.

 

A small bucket of balls is $9 and a large is $16 and, again, the range is full more often than not.

 

A friend of mine came up last weekend and said that $85 dollars was ridiculous especially with all of the winter kill that our fairways suffered this past winter and that he won't be back.

 

He also won't be missed as there's a long list of folks anxious to take his place.

[Pepperturbo]

Golf this weekend costs are $210 for 2 Sunday and $220+ Monday for 2.  Neither course is considered high end.  Nobody can say golf, least in SOCAL isn't expensive. 

[MtlJeff]

I mean i know i'll sound like captain obvious here but so much of it just comes down to supply / demand and average income in the area. 

 

In Montreal golf is very cheap compared to many places. My membership costs 5000$ a year and there was no initiation. And my club is one of the top 100 courses in the province and hosts many Golf Quebec events. There's only a couple of clubs with 30-35K (canadian) initiations and they are the big name ones like Royal Montreal

 

But Montreal has quite a few courses and simply not enough wealthy people who play. 

 

I'm considering moving to Austin, which is the newest tech hub of the US so there's tons of money there. Basically every private club within an hour of the city is 35K USD minimum to join, and many are 50K or even 100K+

 

If people will pay it, you can charge it. 

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

Wait, golf is just now "getting" expensive?

What planet do you all live on when you ever thought golf was cheap?

[JoshBro]

8 hours ago, Mikey_HACKilroy said:

Wait, golf is just now "getting" expensive?

What planet do you all live on when you ever thought golf was cheap?

I mean for me at least, a large bucket a few years ago would have run me 8-12 depending on the range. Today a large bucket runs me 14-22 at those exact same ranges, with zero appreciable difference or upgrades made in the same time frame.

[farmer]

Jeff, I know nothing about the climate in Montreal, but Austin has a season called "Hell's Back Porch".

[MtlJeff]

1 hour ago, farmer said:

Jeff, I know nothing about the climate in Montreal, but Austin has a season called "Hell's Back Porch".

 

It was 37C when i was there second week of May. I have friends who live there who referred to this as "just warming up" haha.

 

No winters though!

[nsxguy]

30 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

 

It was 37C when i was there second week of May. I have friends who live there who referred to this as "just warming up" haha.

 

No winters though!

 

 

No, no, no, I'm not buying that. 37C ??? That's just shy of 99*F. It doesn't get that hot in July in South Florida. Or Thailand for that matter.

 

I've been to Montreal a number of times. 

 

One beautiful July day I was hanging out in that park a bit north of St Catherine(?) St.

 

Hangin' out around 2 PM or so, sun was out, some wispy white clouds and a beautiful, mild 80*F or so ('bout 25 in that thingie you call centigrade). 

 

Shirt sleeve weather. Then along comes one of those larger white clouds. It blocks out the sun and it felt like the temp dropped about 20 degrees. Ok, not exactly freezing, but,,,,,,, brrrrrrrr,,,,,,

 

And you're saying it was 97* F in MAY ???  

 

[st1800e]

5 hours ago, JoshBro said:

with zero appreciable difference or upgrades made in the same time frame.

It’s called inflation.   Why something costs more today than it used to.  
 

[Nickb333]

And again. What causes inflation? 

[JoshBro]

2 hours ago, st1800e said:

It’s called inflation.   Why something costs more today than it used to.  

If they truly followed inflation, they'd all be charging around 2-4 less than they currently do. 

All the ranges in my area had a massive surge of golfers when COVID restrictions listed, and prices adjusted to demand accordingly.

I just think its unfortunate that none of them took the extra cut they added on top of inflation to actually do anything about their range conditions.

[Soloman1]

you want hot? i’ll give you hot.

 

and it’s just starting to warm up… 🙂

 

 

 

[Mikey_HACKilroy]

13 hours ago, JoshBro said:

I mean for me at least, a large bucket a few years ago would have run me 8-12 depending on the range. Today a large bucket runs me 14-22 at those exact same ranges, with zero appreciable difference or upgrades made in the same time frame.

Some things will go up more than others, but in general here in CLT a lot of the courses have been at least fairly stable in pricing as compared to 10 years ago. Some will have gone up more than others, but it's not like I am paying double today. In fact, I'm barely paying 10-15% more at most courses.

 

Ranges that are just driving ranges are tough to operate at a profit to stay open, so they saw more price increases because they have less ability to cover their fixed costs after variable costs.

But golf itself has never been inexpensive.

[MtlJeff]

10 hours ago, nsxguy said:

 

 

No, no, no, I'm not buying that. 37C ??? That's just shy of 99*F. It doesn't get that hot in July in South Florida. Or Thailand for that matter.

 

I've been to Montreal a number of times. 

 

One beautiful July day I was hanging out in that park a bit north of St Catherine(?) St.

 

Hangin' out around 2 PM or so, sun was out, some wispy white clouds and a beautiful, mild 80*F or so ('bout 25 in that thingie you call centigrade). 

 

Shirt sleeve weather. Then along comes one of those larger white clouds. It blocks out the sun and it felt like the temp dropped about 20 degrees. Ok, not exactly freezing, but,,,,,,, brrrrrrrr,,,,,,

 

And you're saying it was 97* F in MAY ???  

 

 

In Austin it was yeah! Though that was with a slight humidex. 

 

Montreal is great in a lot of ways, but there's a lot going on here with businesses leaving, and it doesn't look like our 2 big universities (Concordia/Mcgill) have a great future either. With the work i'm in Austin makes a lot of sense. 

 

Just , the golf is expensive!

[I'_rather_be_golfing]

Golf is only expensive as you make it to be. If you play multiple times a week. That will for sure put a dent in your wallet. Things are definitely expensive nowadays. But if you take the time to research. Im sure major cities offer discount rate passes or punches. I know Salt Lake City courses offers that. I just bought the San Antonio Alamo city golf trail pass. and will be buying the Phoenix city golf pass next. 

[nsxguy]

1 hour ago, MtlJeff said:

 

In Austin it was yeah! Though that was with a slight humidex. 

 

Montreal is great in a lot of ways, but there's a lot going on here with businesses leaving, and it doesn't look like our 2 big universities (Concordia/Mcgill) have a great future either. With the work i'm in Austin makes a lot of sense. 

 

Just , the golf is expensive!

 

 I guess it was me that was 

 

Austin, sure. That I can believe. Have you moved there (yet) ?Good luck if you have, or are going to make, the move. 👍

[MtlJeff]

5 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

 

 I guess it was me that was 

 

Austin, sure. That I can believe. Have you moved there (yet) ?Good luck if you have, or are going to make, the move. 👍

 

We're still working through all of it, it's a big move plus there's Visa considerations that impact family etc. I think right now we're also looking at me maybe just staying there a week every month. I would imagine i'll move there at some point within 3-4 years but maybe not as imminent as i thought

[JetSpeed79]

15 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

 

We're still working through all of it, it's a big move plus there's Visa considerations that impact family etc. I think right now we're also looking at me maybe just staying there a week every month. I would imagine i'll move there at some point within 3-4 years but maybe not as imminent as i thought

Interesting development. You and your family would get a better feel for the area this way. Then progress towards a natural decision without all the time pressure and artificial deadlines. Could be a great move. 

[nsxguy]

41 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

 

We're still working through all of it, it's a big move plus there's Visa considerations that impact family etc. I think right now we're also looking at me maybe just staying there a week every month. I would imagine i'll move there at some point within 3-4 years but maybe not as imminent as i thought

 

Recently I've been thinking of moving myself. I'm in SoFla and just almost constant threats of hurricanes every summer begin to wear on you.

 

Was thinking of moving a bit north; maybe North or South Carolina, maybe Georgia. I'd actually considered Texas, Austin in the mix in fact, but thought about the excessive heat. Probably less severe weather threat than SoFla but just as oppressive half of the year.

 

As jetspeed suggested, I was thinking of taking a week or 2 "vacation" to those 3 places and the surrounding areas,,,,,, just to get a feel.

 

Good luck however it works out for you.

[MtlJeff]

6 minutes ago, nsxguy said:

 

Recently I've been thinking of moving myself. I'm in SoFla and just almost constant threats of hurricanes every summer begin to wear on you.

 

Was thinking of moving a bit north; maybe North or South Carolina, maybe Georgia. I'd actually considered Texas, Austin in the mix in fact, but thought about the excessive heat. Probably less severe weather threat than SoFla but just as oppressive half of the year.

 

As jetspeed suggested, I was thinking of taking a week or 2 "vacation" to those 3 places and the surrounding areas,,,,,, just to get a feel.

 

Good luck however it works out for you.

 

Weather's been weird but it's like that everywhere it seems. We've had ice storms here , and just 2 days ago a tornado about 15 minutes from where i live. When i was in Austin there was a tornado warning for the area like 45 minutes northwest of the city....I was like "That's not good".....and then i come home and there's one here LOL

 

So i don't know.....

 

But yeah places really on the coast it's a different threat. Some parts of Houston were underwater again same time i was in Texas

[nsxguy]

6 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

 

Weather's been weird but it's like that everywhere it seems. We've had ice storms here , and just 2 days ago a tornado about 15 minutes from where i live. When i was in Austin there was a tornado warning for the area like 45 minutes northwest of the city....I was like "That's not good".....and then i come home and there's one here LOL

 

So i don't know.....

 

But yeah places really on the coast it's a different threat. Some parts of Houston were underwater again same time i was in Texas

 

Some strange times for sure.

 

Live on the coast and the ocean threatens you. Live in the heartland and it's tornado threats.

 

Live to the north and it's a 6-week golf season.  

[dropkicked]

4 hours ago, MtlJeff said:

 

In Austin it was yeah! Though that was with a slight humidex. 

 

Montreal is great in a lot of ways, but there's a lot going on here with businesses leaving, and it doesn't look like our 2 big universities (Concordia/Mcgill) have a great future either. With the work i'm in Austin makes a lot of sense. 

 

Just , the golf is expensive!

If TECH is your motive, move to the Waterloo and surrounding areas in Ontario.. Lots of great golf.. Then be a snowbird!

I was considering the US, but my wife has ties in the Bahamas so I am investing there with snowbird plans.. I love Summer & Fall in Ontario, but I despise the winter and spring.

[MtlJeff]

10 minutes ago, dropkicked said:

If TECH is your motive, move to the Waterloo and surrounding areas in Ontario.. Lots of great golf.. Then be a snowbird!

I was considering the US, but my wife has ties in the Bahamas so I am investing there with snowbird plans.. I love Summer & Fall in Ontario, but I despise the winter and spring.

 

I am in tech but unfortunately there's only 3 places in North America you can really be for certain roles. I like Ontario though!

[JetSpeed79]

7 minutes ago, MtlJeff said:

 

I am in tech but unfortunately there's only 3 places in North America you can really be for certain roles. I like Ontario though!

Converting your college films to digital counts as being in tech? This feels like a stretch. 
 

And yes, that is one of the titles. 

[MtlJeff]

10 minutes ago, JetSpeed79 said:

Converting your college films to digital counts as being in tech? This feels like a stretch. 
 

And yes, that is one of the titles. 

 

They gave me a choice, i could move to Austin or to the Weinstein Studio in Hollywood!