NY Times - More Americans are Giving Up Golf

[Richie3Jack]

However, as far as sports and hobbies go, golf is relatively cheap, even if you go first class.

LOL.

I used to bowl a lot when I was a kid and got pretty good at it. Now bowling is far more expensive as in order to stay competitive you have to purchase new bowling balls quite often (from what I'm told). Sure, you can purchase new golf clubs all of the time if you want to, but I think even the biggest golf club enthusiast will tell you that they really don't *need* to change clubs. I've also been thinking of moving to San Diego and one of the reasons is for the beaches and the water sport activities. Like fishing, they are far more expensive than one would think. So I'll stick with golf. 3JACK

[golf_junkie27]

Golf is only as expensive as you want to make it. Aside from club memberships, I don't see why it's seen as an expensive sport. There are so many avenues you can use to purchase clubs, balls, shoes, etc at a fraction of what they normally cost. Tee times, as well, can be fairly priced, too. In Westchester, most of the courses I play are $18-$24. To me, that's a steal. (Working in NYC, most days, I'll spend $18 on breakfast and lunch) Some of the higher end courses have great deals as Twilight rates are really reasonable-$40 with a cart at Hudson Hills, for example.

http://www.hudsonhillsgolf.com/view.asp?id=99&page;=1373

Personally, I think what drives people away is slow play, inconsiderate golfers and watching people who should be walking use carts. Nothing is more frustrating that watching a guy pull up to a ball, watch his buddy hit, his friend gets in, they drive to another ball and repeat process. Your pal can't walk to the cart after hitting his ball? You can't watch his ball from your location?

[nevets88]

Golf is only as expensive as you want to make it. Aside from club memberships, I don't see why it's seen as an expensive sport.

I'm an exception, but for those who live in urban areas, transportation can be a prohibitive cost - keeping a car in a city or renting can be costly.

Slow play is one of the major reasons I quit awhile back, along with lack of good instruction. Eventually, I figured things out and I tolerate slow play now. The iPhone is an especially great tool for making use of that downtime between holes.

[packerfan1]

Quick question...how does a person in a large city who has no car get to the course? Do you take the subway, bus and/or train with your clubs in tow? Not that there is a problem with that, just curious, that is all.

[KIDDEREK]

Quick question...how does a person in a large city who has no car get to the course? Do you take the subway, bus and/or train with your clubs in tow? Not that there is a problem with that, just curious, that is all.

NYC . . .

I have a few friends who trek on the subway then LIRR to my place and we drive from there. When I went to Dyker Beach (brooklyn), I saw many people coming off the bus with their clubs. It's not something you see everyday, but it's not a rarity either.

[rudygu]

When was the last time you saw a course ranger speed up play or reprimand truly slow play? You remember (if you are old enough) those rangers you feared as a kid, the ones that patrolled a course and actually kept things moving and kept wayward golfers' behavior in line? They no longer exist.

I see two types of rangers now: Type 1 goes from hole to hole harassing every group whether they are slowing anyone down or not and Type 2 does nothing.

[Johstan]

Golfing is no picnic on Long Island, NY as I remember. I left Missouri about 1973 and move to Huntington, LI. My golf clubs sat idle for the three or four years that I lived there. To play golf on a public course was not impossible but typically required getting out very early (like 4 am) and dropping your ball in a slot to get at tee time.

I am back in Missouri now and have no difficulty getting on our either of our club courses at Terre du Lac.

[golf_junkie27]

Quick question...how does a person in a large city who has no car get to the course? Do you take the subway, bus and/or train with your clubs in tow? Not that there is a problem with that, just curious, that is all.

We have only one car. When I'm playing in the city, I take my clubs on Metro North and then carry them on the subway. Luckily, the course is a five minute walk from the subway station.

I did not think about transportation when I made my original post. Rather, I only focused on equipment and green fees. It's very true. Not having transportation to out of the way courses can be cost prohibitive.

[Jeepthrills]

Living in the Detroit area where our ecconomy is as bad as any in the country I would site finances as the largest reason. There is no doubt that play is down here. I remember having to squeeze in on Sundays some mornings to get out. Now we go some weekends without seeing other groups. If I look at what I spend in a typical month on golf it is as follows:

Sunday AM Round walking 9: $14
Breakfast: $6
Pop or coffee: $2
Wednesday League walking 9: $22 ($11 each wife and me)
2 beers on course: $7 w/tip
2 waters: $3
Dinner: $40 w/ tip and drinks

That is almost $400 per month that is directly attributed to golf for my wife and me. That does not include any equipment purchases.

[nevets88]

I personally rent or LIRR it (Suburban train) to Long Island. If you split the rental car cost with friends, it's not that bad. Lots of people take the LIRR to Bethpage.

For example (for 1): Cab to LIRR $15, LIRR $7, Cab to course $7 -$29 one way.

If you keep a car in a garage, it's about $450 a month in NYC. For that money, I can rent a car 4-6 times a month.

[Craig Mac]

I read this the other day and didn't really feel personally that this is the case in my area, so I guess I didn't realize that this was happening. I can see where recession would thin the courses out. In my area all of our public courses are crowded, I haven't played a round in under 4.5 to 5 hours it seems like in forever, unless I got out during the week and the weather was less than desirable. We usually just go to a semi-private and still get hemmed up, but the pace is a little bit better. I admit that sometimes I won't play because the pace burns up a whole day that I could be getting other things accomplished. Would be nice to see more available tee times!

[Raidermatt]

When you talk about cost you have to look at what alternative sports/activities cost. $25 twilight greens fees might not sound like too much, but it's $20-25 more than it costs in most cases to play basketball, tennis or go hiking. Plus, that's twilight rates (and pretty darn good ones for this area), and it's per person. And if twilight doesn't fit your schedule, you're out a lot more.

There's ways to get cheap clubs and balls, but most thinking of taking up golf don't know about those "tricks of the trade". Further, even cheap clubs aren't really cheap when you consider a basketball can be bought for $10. Sure, if you play tennis you have to buy tennis balls, but you aren't likely to lose any either, so you only need 1 or 2.

Then, what does everybody tell a new golfer who wants to be able to play without embarassing him/herself? Get some lessons and practice. There's more money.

When you break it down, golf is pretty expensive when you compare it to a lot of other activities. This becomes even more true when you consider how difficult a game it can be for a beginner.

[nevets88]

There's also location as well. It sure is much cheaper to take up golf in say Florida, North Carolina or New Mexico than say New York or California.

I can't imagine getting 30 balls for $3 in New York and hitting off good grass. In Florida, yes,

[KIDDEREK]

I see two types of rangers now: Type 1 goes from hole to hole harassing every group whether they are slowing anyone down or not and Type 2 does nothing.

Ain't that the truth.