Green Fees Going Up?

[mcanadiens]

27 minutes ago, Bonvivant said:

36 bucks or so with a cart just seems pricey to me for the quality of the courses.

It's been so long since I paid rack rate that I tend to forget that, but I think its been pretty steady for past few years. I'd agree though. There are plenty of other nicer courses you can ride for less than that. 

Still, with the card, 450 + (5 X 80) = 850. 850 / 80 = 10.63 per round at any of six courses. It's hard to do better than that if you play that many rounds or more.

[Scmelik]

We are lucky where I live. We have a company that you get charged a monthly membership fee that gives you access to about 22 courses right now and a lot of gyms. I pay 70 bucks a month for all of that since I am a walker. 

 

Its a phenomenal deal, although it does make getting on the course alittle tough at times but I can typically sneak out for a quick practice 9 about 730 during the week and can get paired up on the weekends with some patients 

[JGus]

1 hour ago, Scmelik said:

and can get paired up on the weekends with some patients 

The only way this doesn't sound really really weird is if the patients are Wounded Warriors learning how to golf or playing as part of their rehab.  What kind of patients are we talking about here?

Hmm, so maybe I read that wrong, sounds like you're saying you have patients waiting to get paired up, lol.   OT anyways...

Edited September 10, 2019 by JGus

[mcanadiens]

Just now, Scmelik said:

patients

Must be a doctor.

I definitely know some people at my local courses that ought to be patients. Myself included.

[Scmelik]

24 minutes ago, JGus said:

The only way this doesn't sound really really weird is if the patients are Wounded Warriors learning how to golf or playing as part of their rehab.  What kind of patients are we talking about here?

Hmm, so maybe I read that wrong, sounds like you're saying you have patients waiting to get paired up, lol.   OT anyways...

Haha. Stupid auto correct on my phone thinks it’s smarter than me 

[JxQx]

I play golf in Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo NY and haven't noticed greens fees going up at all. They typically fall between $35-65. I have notice that the quality of the golf courses, specifically in Syracuse, has dropped a lot. It seems like owners are starting to use the courses as cash grabs. Putting no money into the courses and trying to wring them dry.

[phillyk]

Washington State is a little different apparently.  But, that can be mostly attributed to us also having the highest minimum wage.  If labor costs go up, green fees go up.  My course is a higher end public course for the area, and our most expensive rate is $80 Friday - Sunday, 9am - 1pm, which includes cart and tax (so GF is $56). Our least expensive rate is $38 Monday - Thursday after 3pm, which also includes cart and tax (GF is $17).  There are other smaller courses that charge about $20 less than our expensive rate.  With another $1.50 raise in min wage for next year, you can bet every single course is raising rates.  There are a lot of discounts and membership options, so you can find ways to pay less.

[mcanadiens]

Just now, phillyk said:

But, that can be mostly attributed to us also having the highest minimum wage.

Cost living in general can be massively different place to place. 

Ours is pretty darn low in Ohio. Never been out west, but price tags in NYC made me feel ill.

Edited September 10, 2019 by mcanadiens

[geo63]

On 9/10/2019 at 8:57 AM, phillyk said:

Washington State is a little different apparently.  But, that can be mostly attributed to us also having the highest minimum wage.  If labor costs go up, green fees go up.  My course is a higher end public course for the area, and our most expensive rate is $80 Friday - Sunday, 9am - 1pm, which includes cart and tax (so GF is $56). Our least expensive rate is $38 Monday - Thursday after 3pm, which also includes cart and tax (GF is $17).  There are other smaller courses that charge about $20 less than our expensive rate.  With another $1.50 raise in min wage for next year, you can bet every single course is raising rates.  There are a lot of discounts and membership options, so you can find ways to pay less.

Same with us. Green fees are going up 1/1/20 since minimum wage is going up to $12. 

[Buckeyebowman]

On 9/10/2019 at 11:49 AM, Scmelik said:

Haha. Stupid auto correct on my phone thinks it’s smarter than me 

 

On 9/10/2019 at 9:42 AM, Scmelik said:

We are lucky where I live. We have a company that you get charged a monthly membership fee that gives you access to about 22 courses right now and a lot of gyms. I pay 70 bucks a month for all of that since I am a walker. 

 

Its a phenomenal deal, although it does make getting on the course alittle tough at times but I can typically sneak out for a quick practice 9 about 730 during the week and can get paired up on the weekends with some patients 

That explains it! The word you are searching for is patience, not patients! They are two different things! 

And your auto correct just might be! 

Edited September 13, 2019 by Buckeyebowman

[Scmelik]

1 hour ago, Buckeyebowman said:

 

 

And your auto correct just might be! 

I have absolutely no doubt that its smarter than me.  it doesn't take much though 

[shanksalot]

In my area they stay pretty much the same. In fact the course I play just did a play all day fee on Wednesday $40 includes a cart. Bad for those of us who play Wednesday every week. Now it takes 4+ hours to play 18, but good for the course. 

[phan52]

I play at a private club but, sadly, two of the better and more popular public courses in the area have closed and are being developed as residential tracts. I played last week with a friend who owns another very good public course and I asked him how it will impact his business. He says that it is already up. I asked him what he will do with the fees and he said that he has no intention of taking advantage of the circumstance and that his fees will stay the same. That was good to hear. 

[Patch]

I was at my home course yesterday for the first time in a few weeks. 

Before I left on a mini vacation, there was talk of raising the green fees. Raising prices was not a big deal, but the local members wanted to see more than just a fee increase. More bang for our bucks so to speak. 

Fees were increased by $5 across the board. Residents 9/18 holes w/cart are now $28 & $33. Walking is now $15 & $20.  It's a little cheaper in the afternoons. This is the 7 day weekly prices. Non residents are in the $40-$45 range.

The instruction fees increased also. 

Food & beverage prices went up probably 10%-15%. Pitchers of domestic beer went from $5 to $7 which was bit disheartening.

What we members got for the fee increase was an vastly improved driving range, and short game practice area. More sand in all  the bunkers. New positioning of the flag poles, with improved yardage markers on the driving range.  The two size baskets of practice ball prices remained the same. $4 & $6

They also added 3 new pratice greens, which now gives us 7 greens to work on our approach games up to 100 yards. This where we can use our own game balls. The greens are about 8 yards in diameter. They also enlarged the "putting only"  green from 6 to 10 holes. 

As members we have no problems with the fee increases, because we can see improvements in the course itself.  This was a big part of the discussions that took place several months ago. We didn't want the fee increases to only go into management's pockets. We didn't mind wages being increased, but we wanted something for the membership too. 

It worked out pretty well for all involved. 

[Herkimer]

On 8/31/2019 at 5:46 PM, DennisMiller said:

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.

Plantation Preserve is my favorite course in that area as well.  I tell everyone about it.  Absolutely superb fairways and greens....like a country club.  Interesting and varied holes, too.  Inverrary and Jacaranda don't come close to Plantation Preserve.  PGA Qualifying was held there and some of the pros said they couldn't believe that it was a public course.

I don't know if you know that lots of courses have closed, though, in Palm Beach County.  This will, of course, drive prices up.  But if it takes prices to go up in order to prevent courses from closing, then I'm all for it.

[Double Mocha Man]

On 8/31/2019 at 2:46 PM, DennisMiller said:

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.

Mr. Miller... I used to live and play golf in Miami Beach and then Miami Springs when the beach got too expensive in the winter.  Is the Miami Springs Golf Course still there?  And the one by the airport, where if you hit a towering 9 iron you could hit the belly of a 747 that was taking off?

[Herkimer]

I haven't played Miami Shores in a few years (on Biscayne Blvd.), but that's a great course, too.  I hope it's still there -- and I believe it is.  Very well worth playing.

[DennisMiller]

1 hour ago, Herkimer said:

Plantation Preserve is my favorite course in that area as well.

I don't know if you know that lots of courses have closed, though, in Palm Beach County.  This will, of course, drive prices up.  But if it takes prices to go up in order to prevent courses from closing, then I'm all for it.

What I felt when I went to Plantation Preserve was as if I was being treated like a menber of some exclusive country club. The place has that look and the staff treats you like something special.

Down here in SW Dade, (West Kendall), Calusa CC closed a few years ago. It's owned by a member of the Bacardi family, who is trying to build a retirement community on it.

Keys Gate CC closed a number of years ago. I have no idea what plans are for that site.

And now the local politics are saying they want to close Melreese GC to build a soccer stadium on that site.

I also know the Miccusukkee Tribe is unhappy about having bought Kendale Lake CC some years ago. They are trying to sell it because they claim they can't make money there.

Killian Greens has a new owner who has worked hard to improve the dog track conditions that were there while I worked there part time. The covenant with homeowners on the course is apparently supposed to last about 30 more years. I originally heard 11 years. It's the only privately owned course around here that I know is actually being worked on to make it nicer for the clientele.

1 hour ago, Herkimer said:

I haven't played Miami Shores in a few years (on Biscayne Blvd.), but that's a great course, too.  I hope it's still there -- and I believe it is.  Very well worth playing.

I have only played there once and I don't remember much about the course. The reason for that might be because an error with the sprinkler timers cause some to come on just as we were putting on something like 15. I recall having to play a few more holes to finish.