How bad are the economics for a golf course that growing corn at a likely loss looks like a better long term option?
Abandoned Golf Course in Newton
- Thread starter JVAR
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How bad are the economics for a golf course that growing corn at a likely loss looks like a better long term option?
Oakland Acres is East of Newton 15 or so miles near Grinnell. It’s still around and pretty cheap to play.
It's still open. It's east of Newton, closer to Grinnell on HWY 6. They have a really nice bar/clubhouse too.
I work for a company that does lending to golf courses and stuff. Most golf courses break even at best, even the really nice ones. Many of them go past due in the fall before they start getting people's dues for the next year.
People play golf a lot less than they did at the height of Tiger. Millions less Americans play now, and those that do play play fewer rounds. The honest truth is there is less demand for golf and there really don't need to be as many courses out there as there are.
Not a golfer. Would rather go fishing or hiking. For all of the golfers on here, were your parents into golf? Or is it more due to your circle of friends? Work related? Just curious.
COVID has had a huge impact for sure in a positive way for golf, because it's one of the few things you can actually do. I've even played a few rounds this year. Whether that is sustainable after this year or not remains to be seen. However, as of 2019 there is no denying that rounds played, number of golfers, equipment sales, etc. have been crashing over the last 15 years.
My parents are super into golf, have been my whole life, and still play to this day and my dad is almost 80. That part of it appeals to me.
I have a friend that is really into it, so I'll play with him when he wants to. But I'd be perfectly happy never playing again ever. It's just more money than I ever want to spend and more time than I ever want to spend especially on something I don't particularly enjoy.
Close circle of friends all enjoy playing. I am good enough, around 10 handicap, that the golf is usually fun no matter where I play. To me, that isnt the aspect I enjoy the most though. It's getting to spend 3 to 4 hours with friends, not working, kot worrying about other things, drinking a bunch of beers, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.
Local course was offering "COVID Special" memberships from June 1 when they opened to the end of season for just $180. I like to play at different places so it wasn't for me, but that is just a steal if you can golf once every couple weeks during the summer.
Picked it up by myself in Junior High.
Probably only get out 10 or so times each summer with some friends. As someone stated earlier, finding tee times during COVID were hard back in June. Had to call on Tuesday to get decent tee times lined up for Saturday.
My parents didn't golf. I just started playing the game right after Tiger won the 1997 Masters. It was right around my birthday so I spent my birthday money on some cheap clubs and started hitting balls in an empty field by my house. My brother, who is only 16 months younger than me, joined in. Since we were pretty much joined at the hip as kids and super competitive with each other, we just kept playing and upgrading clubs. We both eventually caddied in the Waterloo Open (which allowed us to upgrade clubs faster due to the money you made) and started playing junior golf. We eventually played on the golf team in high school and played casually through college.
Eventually we got my Dad hooked and now he plays (albeit, very horrible). Now its become more of a family/bonding thing.
I play right around at a 10 handicap so golf is fun for me no matter what, but I can see why people would get frustrated with it. It takes a lot of grinding to get decent at it. What's fun about it now is getting my wife into the sport or work friends. It's fun to see how much they improve when I give them tips. I'm not a golf teacher, but I can help newbies with certain things since I literally had to figure everything out on my own.
There is no place for casual golfers. There used to be. Tiger ushered in the era of 350 yd drives and professional players whining about every little imperfection of the golf course. The fans followed suit (prodded by the way golf was marketed), which killed off a good deal of the small courses. Then, a bunch of those fans decided that they couldn't afford the money to play on pristine golf courses, or the 4-5 hours of time takes to play one. Since there were no small courses left to go back to, they left golf.
I don't know where iowa stands now, but 15 or so years ago, iowa had the most golf courses per capita. I found an article from 10 years ago that had iowa at 3rd most courses per capita with 1 course for every 7000 people. 441 courses total. North and South dakota had more courses per capita but also about 1/4 the total number of courses. With so many courses to choose from and fewer people golfing, some courses are bound to struggle. https://www.google.com/amp/s/golfblogger.com/golf_courses_per_capita/amp/
I was talking with the managers of the local golf course, owned by the town, last year and was told they make enough just from memberships and the bar to pay the bills. But there isn't much extra money to be able to major improvements to the course. The crazy part was they only would need about 10 more family memberships a year to get to this point. I think they have been doing quite well this year on non members coming to play for a day. As has been stated golf is one of the few things people can do to get out of the house and many are taking advantage.
This spring when iowa allowed golf courses to open but minnesota hadn't, they had a crazy number of people come down from minnesota to play as they are located very close to the state line. And only 30 minutes from a minnesota city.
I was talking with the managers of the local golf course, owned by the town, last year and was told they make enough just from memberships and the bar to pay the bills. But there isn't much extra money to be able to major improvements to the course. The crazy part was they only would need about 10 more family memberships a year to get to this point. I think they have been doing quite well this year on non members coming to play for a day. As has been stated golf is one of the few things people can do to get out of the house and many are taking advantage.
This spring when iowa allowed golf courses to open but minnesota hadn't, they had a crazy number of people come down from minnesota to play as they are located very close to the state line. And only 30 minutes from a minnesota city.
My dad played some when I was young kid. I think mostly to get out of the house. He and my mom tried a couples twilight outing a few times at Woodland Hills back in the day, and my mom didn’t pick it up very easily. She was a real good bowler in her day...just naturally good for some reason...and I think she just thought everything was like that. She found out quickly golf was a different animal.
Anyway...she decided she wanted to try to get better, so she would go to Toad Valley by herself until she asked me if I wanted to go with her. I was 8, and fell in love with it immediately. The smells, the grass and scenery. I remember walking on the 1st green that first time and it blew my mind.
My mom, quickly, ended up losing all interest in it, but I couldn’t get enough. When I was a kid, a city pass was available to anyone under 18 for $180. Could play any of the city courses (Blank, Grandview, Waveland) any day, any time. Just had to play a $2 water fee each time. Begged my parents to get me one, and they finally did. My mom would drop me off at Grandview at dawn every morning, and pick me up when it was dark. The rest, as they say, is history.
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This is where I'm at as well. There are some very nice courses near me, but it's rough to get a tee time. There are some executive courses, but if I'm taking the time to golf, I'd rather play a traditional course.
