Green Fees Going Up?

[CharlieB]

Green fees in the area where I live seem to just keep going up. Other than company outings and organized events, there seems to less players on the courses.

To play during the week with a cart for a senior run about $35. The weekends are more expensive at about $50. These prices are not for high end country club type courses. This is in the southern part of Wisconsin. What are you seeing in the area where you live?

[dennyjones]

I'm averaging a little over $23 / round.   I have 8 rounds $30 + with the most expensive being $36.  I've played 27 different courses this year and those are $25 or less.   I usually don't play on the weekends because the courses are too crowded, it's a good time to practice.  

It's not like I play cow pastures either although some are better than others.   I've played Westwynd, Boulder Pointe, Flint Golf Club, Fieldstone, Greystone, Paint Creek, Davison Country Club, most of the Metro Park course, Leslie Park and several local municipal courses.  

We search for discount golf.   Group Golfer, Tee time Golf Pass,  Golfnow, and any other discount we can find.  It takes a group effort to find discount golf.   I am a senior so we get discounts but many times in the Tee Time golf Pass we play for free, only paying for the cart.   I'd suggest looking into it.

[Patch]

There's rumblings about our local course raising prices by $5. Right now, with my local, and league discounts,  I walk for $15, and ride for $20.

However, it not due to the lack of golfers. Our local golfers support this course quite well. 

It's operating expenses that are going up. Food, and beversges. Gas, and oil for the various pieces of equipment used on the course are going up. Sand for the bunkers. Grass seed. Electricity prices are going up. Then there are wages. (cola) for employees that are also going up. Can't forget about property taxes. 

So far all they have raised is the costs for small, and large baskets of range balls by a $1 each. The in house swing instructor/club repair guy has raised his prices.

The other nearby course  has raised their green fees by $10. $5 for golf, and $5 for cart fees. ($25 & $35 for locals)This is the one the tourists use the most. 

Both courses are managed by the same group. 

 

 

 

 

[bkuehn1952]

13 hours ago, dennyjones said:

I'm averaging a little over $23 / round....

My experience is similar.  In SE Michigan we are blessed with a large number of good quality courses.  They compete for the mid-week player.  

[DennisMiller]

I'd be thrilled to pay what all you guys mentioned.

Miami is expensive for golf. I play a lot at what many would call a dog track. New ownership put a lot of money into Killian Greens to improve it, but it's about the cheapest place in town at $28 for 9 holes with a cart and $39 for 18. Weekends are about 20% more.

Most city or county owned courses run $50-$100 for 9 or 18 holes. Some, like Key Biscayne, still try to live on their reputation as a one time senior tour course. It's the one place I'd tell you is interesting and beautiful enough to be worth over $100.

Other places like Inverrary, Plantation Preserve, (my personal favorite) and Jacaranda aren't expensive at all compared to paying for the semi private or resort courses. Inverrary and Jacarando each have 36 holes and I feel it's worth the 40 minute drive from my house in South Miami to their locations nearer Ft Lauderdale.

Doral thinks it's Pebble Beach... The Red and Gold courses cost $250 per round. The Silver course is only $195. I personally never liked the Blue course. It's boring, has no personality and it only claim to be a professional tournament site is, it's long enough. The only memorable hole is the 18th, which I happened to birdie the first time I played it. (My claim to fame)

At $450 for 18 holes, the Blue course is only worth bragging rights that you played it.

What's depressing is, somehow golf courses are being built up in the Palm Beach County area, but they are closing in the Miami-Dade area. Two closes near my house closed in the past 5 years and another one is apparently being closed due to politics. They want to build a stadium on the property.

[No Mulligans]

My typical week is one round at Tecolote, an 18 hole executive course, and one round playing twilight at Torrey Pines North where depending on my tee time I'll get between 12 and 18 holes (often stop at 12 as that hole comes back to the clubhouse and I'm a walker and don't have enough light to finish 18).

Tecolote, I belong to a players club and walk for $6 weekdays before 8 am, that was $5 last year.  (Players club is $32 per month and you get free range balls and discounted green fees).

Torrey Pines North twilight is $26 and that is up $1 compared to a couple of years ago.  The $26 is a resident rate, costs $25 to get an annual resident card and of course you have to be a resident.

I'll be 62 in about 6 months and then will get the senior rate which is $30 non twilight, still $26 for twilight as there is no senior discount for twilight.

For me, I usually play with my wife so I pay double.  So, finding a good rate is twice the savings.

Edited August 31, 2019 by No Mulligans

[pganapathy]

I have two credit cards which I pay annual dues on ($150 and $75) which offers me two free rounds a month each at specific courses.  The amount doesn't sound like much but given the average salary in India, it isn't cheap for the average citizen.  But it is genuinely worth the money.  All I have to pay for is caddies/carts depending on the course we play.  I try to pull a trolley whenever possible.

The course I currently play on free would charge me around 30 dollars (I think) as an affiliate member.

Courses in urban areas in India charge between approximately 10 to 75 dollars a round for green fees.  Possibly some private courses are more expensive.

I can definitely see green fees increasing though over the last couple of years.

The better courses have managed to get away with it thanks to the limited supply of golf courses and the latent demand, but as the game gets more time-consuming, I can see youngsters slowly turning away from the game

[gbogey]

I see two trends right now: golf courses continue to be bifurcated. The high end keep pricing up and the low end chasing players. Not much left in the middle.

The other trend is that courses are getting smarter in their pricing segmentation. This means that pricing may not be going up but that there are fewer discounts. I think a lot of courses have learned that filling a tee sheet with too many discounts hurts more than it helps. 

So while it may seem like pricing is up, probably just fewer discounts. 

[David in FL]

Something to remember for those so intent on “growing the game” above all else.

Supply and demand.  The more golfers playing on the same number of courses will tend to drive the price of your round up.  Higher popularity is not always better...  

[billchao]

The courses I play are $31 for registered adults to walk on the weekends, $21 on weekdays. Free replay if spots are available. $17 for 18 holes for cart rental.

Their championship course is $65 cart included on the weekends, $55 on weekdays. I think it's $20 for replay, not entirely sure.

[DennisMiller]

Not totally relevant to the original post...

There's been a bit of a trend among some public courses here not to offer rain checks anymore. They also refuse to charge the difference between 9 and 18, but insist on charging you for 9 holes twice.

When I worked in the shop at a course I frequent, it was enough to cancel the charge from a 9 hole player who wished to continue and charge the difference. It was easy and amazing how well the register balanced at the end fo the day. I don't know if they think they're going to make more money or whether this policy drove away players who now won't play there during the summer when it's the rainy season.

[Double Mocha Man]

1 hour ago, DennisMiller said:

Not totally relevant to the original post...

There's been a bit of a trend among some public courses here not to offer rain checks anymore. They also refuse to charge the difference between 9 and 18, but insist on charging you for 9 holes twice.

When I worked in the shop at a course I frequent, it was enough to cancel the charge from a 9 hole player who wished to continue and charge the difference. It was easy and amazing how well the register balanced at the end fo the day. I don't know if they think they're going to make more money or whether this policy drove away players who now won't play there during the summer when it's the rainy season.

It's a money grab.  If they get you on the course they want to get money from you... whether 9 holes, 18, or rain, or sleet, or snow.

Here's an idea for greedy courses:

1.  Charge for the bucket of range balls.

2.  Charge a "range fee".

3.  Charge a "strike fee" for every ball you hit.

On 9/1/2019 at 7:40 AM, David in FL said:

Something to remember for those so intent on “growing the game” above all else.

Supply and demand.  The more golfers playing on the same number of courses will tend to drive the price of your round up.  Higher popularity is not always better...  

True story.  But, by the same token, fewer golfers means less money for golf course upkeep.  

[cooke119]

Here on Long Island New York we average $40 during the week, $50 on weekends, (18 with a cart). Some course can be up to $60 but rarely. GolfNow.com has 'hot specials' sometimes where you can get in for $35.

I'm a veteran with a 40% disability so here in NY you get a card from the State, after you submit proof from the VA, and you can play State courses for free, including all of Bethpage, even the Black. (No I have never played the Black, I'm not that good and you have to walk it, no carts allowed). At the state courses you do have to pay for the cart which averages around $18. 

Our courses are full almost every day assuming the weather is good. But we did have some courses go out of business, (Tall Grass for one), which really sucks. I don't mind playing their fee if it will keep them in business, keep the course up to standard and earn them a profit. Along that line we always spend some time in the 19th hole as well, LOL.

[mcanadiens]

As I play 80% of my golf on City of Dayton (Ohio) courses with a membership that hasn't increased in price, I can't really be sure about most courses.

But the small sample of other courses I play on occasion are pretty much unchanged over the past few years.

[Buckeyebowman]

We've had kind of the opposite experience here in NE Ohio. We were very "overbuilt" for golf, and we've been losing population for a while. With too many courses for too few golfers, they really couldn't afford to raise prices. They'd lose play to the courses that didn't, and some courses even dropped prices! 

We've had a market correction in that area too, as several courses in this area eventually bit the dust. Plus, the economy had improved around here. It seems like every place is hiring. Things are a bit more in balance, so I've noticed that prices have begun to sneak upward a little bit. 

Of course there are still courses that I consider overpriced and other that I consider bargains. And there are some courses that I like so much I'll pay the going rate and am happy.

[TussinMan]

I live in the DFW area. Green fees haven't changed a ton this decade, mostly because alot of the public courses haven't improved or changed much so they can't realistically ask for substantial green increase (to be honest most of the courses need significant work). 

Because of the public courses being meh at best the biggest money increase has been the tier 2 clubcorp memberships. 

Junior executive memberships where 260 a month at the start of 2016. There now 35% high in 2019 (350 a month) and it's looking like there about to increase again at the end of the year. 

 

[Sixwings86]

I figured we would be on the cheaper-end in Arkansas.

Typical semi-private/public fees in the Little Rock area are between $30-$40, including cart. There aren't many options for walking in my area. My typical semi-private country club type courses are very spread out and don't even give you the option to play without paying for a cart. That's probably an Arkansas/southern thing. We've got lots of space and lots of larger people.

[Bonvivant]

On 9/2/2019 at 6:06 PM, mcanadiens said:

As I play 80% of my golf on City of Dayton (Ohio) courses with a membership that hasn't increased in price, I can't really be sure about most courses.

But the small sample of other courses I play on occasion are pretty much unchanged over the past few years.

I'll be getting that pass next year for sure. But as I only got into it in the later half of summer, the rates are higher than I would expect for the quality (except Madden which seemed to be in really good shape on Thursday). All the prices make me want to do is walk more, although I was glad you guys talked me into riding on Hills yesterday. 36 bucks or so with a cart just seems pricey to me for the quality of the courses. Next year I won't have an issue, and without a cart pass I think I will get more than my money's worth.