Cost of a golf course per year to own?

[The Bogey Guy]

Good evening. I am doing research for a project in graduate school. Part of the project is finding out the cost of a golf course. Looking for real world numbers for a standard 18 hole par 72 course. Of course design and location all a part of it as well. If anyone has any information it would be great. The company we are working close with is E-Par. (A environmental management tool for calculating risk. If anyone is interested in that). Thank You.

 

~The Bogey Guy.

[David in FL]

It seems to me that the information would be a matter of public record for any municipal course.  That's where I would start.

[DaveP043]

I'm going to estimate that a low end number in the Washington DC suburbs would be $500,000, and could go way up from there, depending on the level of service and quality of maintenance.  

[newtogolf]

12 hours ago, The Bogey Guy said:

Good evening. I am doing research for a project in graduate school. Part of the project is finding out the cost of a golf course. Looking for real world numbers for a standard 18 hole par 72 course. Of course design and location all a part of it as well. If anyone has any information it would be great. The company we are working close with is E-Par. (A environmental management tool for calculating risk. If anyone is interested in that). Thank You.

 

~The Bogey Guy.

Here's a link that might help; http://www.clubbenchmarking.com/blog/golf-course-maintenance-how-much-should-you-spend

 

[bkuehn1952]

The National Golf Foundation seems to be a source of a lot of research [ http://www.ngf.org/ ]. You may have already started a dialogue with them.  If not, it is something to consider.  Also, if you haven't spoken with the USGA, they probably has information that is useful.

[WUTiger]

Likewise, I would contact one of the professional organizations for greenskeepers.

[gregsandiego]

On 10/5/2016 at 4:44 PM, The Bogey Guy said:

Good evening. I am doing research for a project in graduate school. Part of the project is finding out the cost of a golf course. Looking for real world numbers for a standard 18 hole par 72 course. Of course design and location all a part of it as well. If anyone has any information it would be great. The company we are working close with is E-Par. (A environmental management tool for calculating risk. If anyone is interested in that). Thank You.

 

~The Bogey Guy.

I'd be interested in any conclusions. San Diego has seen a few courses close over the last couple years. Is you goal deciding how to make the investment work?

 

[TourSpoon]

You can do some research with public courses by asking (aka public records request) for their financial statements etc. 

[RussUK]

There is a course called Gotts Park in Leeds UK. Its a former council owned muni and was recently taken over by a memebrs comittee. It said in a news article that at the time of hand over that the coucil were spending £250k per year to maintain the course.

Obviously the cost will differ depending on the course itself. High end course's will cost more than the local muni's and such.

May be worth the OP getting the price of a few different courses and using the average cost for them all?

[Buckeyebowman]

Here's an idea. Why not go out to some golf courses, make an appointment with the owner, and ask them?

What's their fuel cost per year? Fertilizer? Maintenance on equipment and buildings. Salaries. Utilities. Insurances. Improvements.

These folks basically grow grass and mow it, but there's a whole lot more that goes on beneath the surface! Get out there and start digging! Talk to people!

 

[DaveP043]

9 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Here's an idea. Why not go out to some golf courses, make an appointment with the owner, and ask them?

What's their fuel cost per year? Fertilizer? Maintenance on equipment and buildings. Salaries. Utilities. Insurances. Improvements.

These folks basically grow grass and mow it, but there's a whole lot more that goes on beneath the surface! Get out there and start digging! Talk to people!

 

You mean like actual research??  You can't just find out everything by sitting at a computer???

[DaveP043]

I realized that my last response sounded pretty dismissive, I have no idea what additional research @The Bogey Guy is doing.  I too get sucked into thinking that everything I need to know is available on the internet somewhere.  Having said that, I'm surprised that it took 3 weeks from the original post before one of us suggested that the OP actually do some in-person research.

[Kalnoky]

Your state probably has a Golf Association of some kind that can provide some useful info. Water rights are a big thing here in Oregon. My wife's company purchased a golf course last year and that's how they started their research. They also ignored the data and now have a failing business on their hands, but this is a whole other story..

 

 

[WUTiger]

Here's a professional greenskeeper survey on annual maintenance costs, by regions: SurveyGCSAA

This Bplans software sample involved creating a business plan for a public golf course: WillowParkGC.

[sjduffers]

Hint: the biggest cost is normally water, unless somehow the course owns its own water source (like a well, etc...).  A golf course can use $1M or more per year in water costs...  Labor is a big component too, as is the maintenance of the cart fleet (batteries and tires need replacing fairly often) and the other mechanical equipment). The electric bill to recharge all those cart batteries can be expensive too, depending on its source (grid vs. solar panels?), etc...

 

Edited October 28, 2016 by sjduffers

[Buckeyebowman]

On 10/27/2016 at 7:58 AM, DaveP043 said:

You mean like actual research??  You can't just find out everything by sitting at a computer???

Good one, Dave! Reminds me of something a college professor said. "Googling does NOT equal research!"

And I found the comments from Westerners about water costs interesting. Here, in the water rich East, we don't have many worries about that.

And WUTiger's refernce is a good starting point, but there is far more to owning, and running, a golf course than maintenance.

[Valleygolfer]

On 10/27/2016 at 7:58 AM, DaveP043 said:

You mean like actual research??  You can't just find out everything by sitting at a computer???

https://youtu.be/lkKwyjsJGxk