Golf Courses of the Future

[Ole_Tom_Morris]

What future trends do you see for golf course design?
To start discussion, I offer three thoughts.
1. Population Increase : Population in North America will increase, from immigration even if birth rates decline; as population increases, so will land values and taxes; marginally viable golf courses will be sold and subdivided for development; greens fees and club memberships will skyrocket at the remaining courses; eventually, in the "greener" parts of the U.S., the situation will approach that current in Japan, where golf is a pastime of the very wealthy, and the golfing public rarely play at a real course, but stand in line to hit balls at a multistory driving range.
2. Jack Nicklaus' "Cayman" Ball : Nicklaus and others invented a golf ball adapted to ultra-short courses in the Cayman Islands; when struck with a driver, the ball would travel 150 yards, max; this enables a complete 18 hole course to be built on, maybe, one-fourth the land area of a standard course; investment, maintenance costs, greens fees, and time required for a round of golf are all reduced; this may save the day for ordinary golfers.
3. Water Shortage : In the old days, golf courses had no sprinkler system; when it rained, the course was green; otherwise, the grass was brown, and the turf hard and dusty; it may be so again in places, because in the Southwest -- Southern California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas -- fresh water is in critically short supply; the City of Phoenix does not allow homeowners to plant lawns, yet the playgrounds of the prosperous in the Valley of the Sun are well-watered; I forsee a popular revolt in which the common people arm themselves with shovels and hoes and march on the golf courses, digging up the greens and multilating the fairways; one alternative is to irrigate with treated sewage, but of course we are going to have to use that for drinking and washing.

[Rafcin]

What future trends do you see for golf course design?

Did you ever fly across US? It's amazing, for hours and hours you see nothing... I don't think our grand-grand-grand children have to worry about lack of land. Concentration around big metro areas is an issue, I'd predict we will have to drive longer and longer to get to a course...

2.

IMHO will never happen. Once there will be no need (see #1 response), second - industry will die (who cares for technology if 150 is max), there is no fun, competition will disappear... I do hope that'll never go anyway. Otherwise I'm switchng to another sport.

3.

I think with the genetic research progress we'll soon be able to grow grass w/o water (or using salt water). You can continuosly read about "new generation of grass" being implemented on golf courses, to handle specific local conditions better. Trust our scientists

[Jeepthrills]

I live in Michigan, which I believe has the third highest number of courses behind Florida and California. There are three courses within 10 miles of my office that are closing at the end of the season to be turned into residential and commercial realestate with a major road running through them. Many of the upscale courses are hurting because there is too much competition. I was at the course Sunday morning for my normal nine and the place was relatively empty. It was a beautiful morning and I had an 8:00 tee time. I remember just a few years ago there were people waiting arround just to squeeze into an opening. Now my group could walk up without a tee time and easily get out and this is at a county park where it's only $14 to walk nine on the weekend.

The other thing I have seen is that the local country clubs are hurting for members and are basically giving it away. The ecconomy has hit the Detroit area very hard and many of the second tier clubs are feeling the pinch. There are 12 country clubs within a 10 minute drive of my office with at least 20 more if you expand that to 30 minutes. The automotive industry is obviously huge here and much of the money in this area comes from companies who work with/produce things for the Big 3 (GM, Ford and Chrysler not Woods, Singh and Els). During these times, people have to cut back on extras and that means playing at a local muni instead of their club. There is no question that the future of golf will be largely dictated by the ecconomy. Some of the course owners realize that they could dig up there courses and build sub divisions and shopping centers and make a lot more money than they can in the highly compettetive golf industry.

[Rafcin]

I agree with the economy/golf relationship, however I don't buy that at least in NJ area. Sales of homes are sky high, townhouses selling for 700K+, houses over a million not staying on market for longer than a month.... Where the heck is that economy slowdown? Are we all in a debt over our heads, just because mortgate rates are at 4%? I think it's not that straight forward. The "small" private clubs and semi's priced at about 8K a year are struggling for members, that's true. The "big" guys, with 20K++ a year - still have the waiting lists full. Looks to me, like the current economy created a hole in the middle of the pack... We've either people with sh$%t load of money or people getting by... Not as much upper-middle-class, which used to fill the golf courses.