Is Golf in trouble?

[Lihu]

I don't think it's All the Rich people. There are 100's of thousands of middle class, i.e. working class folks that probably throw more money at muni courses than the rich do. I can't speak to the private courses, on account of i never had that kind of cash to join, or even play one..

Millions. Beer and golf kind of go together too!

[RH31]

"I've seen some (but still a select few) clubs adopt this policy and am a huge fan of this. I hope some clubs wisen up in my area and start thinking about this soon. It allows you to have the benefit of a private club but keeps the costs low when usage is low. If I'm playing a lot, I don't mind paying a lot, but there's nothing worse than paying hefty monthly dues when other life stuff gets in the way and prevents you from playing" The potential problem with this is the impact from members who are already paying for a full membership, that maybe don't play a lot, wanting to switch to a cheaper membership. Clubs could end up with the same revenue and just more members.

[CarlSpackler]

"I've seen some (but still a select few) clubs adopt this policy and am a huge fan of this. I hope some clubs wisen up in my area and start thinking about this soon. It allows you to have the benefit of a private club but keeps the costs low when usage is low. If I'm playing a lot, I don't mind paying a lot, but there's nothing worse than paying hefty monthly dues when other life stuff gets in the way and prevents you from playing"

The potential problem with this is the impact from members who are already paying for a full membership, that maybe don't play a lot, wanting to switch to a cheaper membership. Clubs could end up with the same revenue and just more members.

True, but if they aren't playing much, then they aren't taking up tee times, etc. I've only had time to go out once so far this year. It's killing me BTW, but I would not have spent the money if this membership wasn't available. We'll see how well it works out, but it seems to be working so far.

[wils5150]

Another angle is many clubs look like they are doing good based on amount of rounds but they have had to discount the price so much they are getting killed because of lack of revenue.