Golf Club Viability Assessment An experienced golf consultant will be able to assess the financial, environmental and physical viability of a golf course, for existing owner/operators or those considering the purchase of a golf facility.
Full Answer
What are the legal challenges to golf course redevelopment?
Legal challenges to golf course redevelopment are common and determining whether a course must stay a course often hinges on the restrictive covenants that apply to the course. Land use covenants restrict what landowners can do with their property.
Which golf courses are the most easily redeveloped?
As a result, Third-Party Courses are the most easily redeveloped because there are no land use restrictions in place that restrict them to use as a golf course and the residents are unlikely to succeed in an action to restrict the course after it has been developed.
Can a golf course be redeveloped?
Often, when rumors that a golf course is being redeveloped begin to swirl, the first reaction is "they can't do that!" Whether the developer can or cannot change the land use of a golf course depends on what type of golf course it is.
What happened to the maintenance budget for golf courses?
Out of necessity, maintenance budgets were frozen or cut at many golf courses while the cost of many inputs – e.g., plant protectants, water, equipment – continued to rise.
Can golf courses be sustainable?
Further, “Golf courses provide green breathing spaces in a concrete landscape and the well-managed turf has many valuable service values — soil protection, water filtering, pollution fixation and biodiversity conservation.
Is building a golf course a good investment?
Profitable golf courses are generally selling for six to eight times EBITDA, while courses that aren't profitable tend to sell at 0.8 to 1.4 times revenue.
What is golf sustainability?
To be considered sustainable, the golf operation (be that a new development, existing facility or golf tournament) should protect nature, benefit communities and conserve resources. Sustainability for golf is relevant to where we play and what we play on.
Are golf courses wasteful?
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. golf courses consume more than 2 billion gallons of water per day, and since one in every 17 of U.S. courses is located in arid and semi-arid California, our 921 courses consume a sizable chunk of that total daily.
How much money can you make owning a golf course?
Golf Course Owners make between $30,000 to several hundred thousand dollars per year. However, golf course owners sometimes will lose money if the course has a bad year. Overall, the golf course industry is very volatile, and there is no guarantee that money will be made.
What percentage of golf courses are profitable?
On an encouraging note, Sageworks' data show that even though golf courses have negative margins, they have strengthened steadily since 2008, when the average net profit margin was about -9%.
Are golf course bad for the environment?
Environmentalists argue that golf course land is not only a waste of space, but also harbors harmful impacts to the earth and environment, such as pesticide use. This negative impact occurs by using large quantities of water and destroying habitats for wildlife species.
How do you make a golf course eco friendly?
Below are our best tips for creating an eco-friendly golf course.Increase the biodiversity of your golf course.Limit your use of pesticides.Source food from local providers.Reduce water usage.Invest in better waste management.
How can golf courses reduce their carbon footprint?
The gray area represents the amount of carbon that the grass is able to store in the soil as organic matter. In this example, as the turfgrass ages, using lower amounts of a slow release nitrogen fertilizer significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the golf course rough.
Is golf becoming less popular?
Since 2003, there has been a consistent annual decline in the number of golf players. There were 6.8 million fewer golfers in 2018 compared to 2003 — a loss of 22 percent.
What sport is worse for the environment?
The worst sports for the environment include skydiving (massive relative carbon footprint), golf (water consumption and chemicals needed), auto-racing and other motor-vehicle sports (absolute carbon emissions), and motorized water-sports (fuel consumption and biosphere interruption).
Why golf is a waste of time?
Remembering that the average round of golf takes 4 hours we can safely assume that 1.824 billion hours or 76 million days are wasted playing golf every year . The average golfer wastes around 76 hours or 3.2 days playing golf every year. For golf enthusiasts that number will be much higher.
Where To Begin?
At this stage, a golf course architect that fits the project needs should have been selected along with a specific site. Development considerations vary greatly depending on whether the proposed golf course is to be a public/municipal course, private course, resort facility or part of a real estate development.
Making an Informed Decision
If the developer is to be able to proceed with a high degree of confidence, he will require Information from market analysis, feasibility studies and the economic impact analysis. Producing these documents is critical to decision making on a potential project.
What is the Cost of a Golf Course?
A key component of any Feasibility Study for golf development is what it will cost to construct the course, clubhouse and other related facilities. Additionally, the cost of ongoing maintenance and operations of the course will be considered in the analysis.
What is the most frequently mowed area of golf courses?
Putting greens are the most frequently mowed area of golf courses and the associated costs are significant. Mower technology has improved to the point where triplex units can produce a quality of cut equivalent to that of walk-behind mowers.
How does failing to invest affect golf?
Failing to invest in improvements and upgrades may also affect how golfers perceive a facility. Golf is a competitive business, and golfers are more likely to play at golf courses that demonstrate a commitment to quality by making improvements.
Why are roughs important?
Even though they usually are not maintained intensively, the mowing and equipment costs associated with roughs add up because of their large size. The cost of maintaining rough areas may be much higher in arid regions where rough requires irrigation and water costs are high. Out of necessity, many courses in the Southwest removed maintained rough in peripheral areas to cut down on water usage and save money.
Why are golf courses removed from the Southwest?
Out of necessity, many courses in the Southwest removed maintained rough in peripheral areas to cut down on water usage and save money. For years, golf courses have also replaced mown rough with naturalized or unmown rough.
How did the recession affect golf?
These effects are not surprising given the challenges created by an oversupply of golf courses that is partially the product of the aging golfer demographic and declining participation rates among younger generations. Furthermore, extended periods of severe drought have increased the price of water and limited its availability for golf courses.
What was the effect of the recession on golf courses?
The good news is that the recession caused golf facilities to re-evaluate maintenance practices, presentation options and course amenities. Many golf courses were forced to differentiate between essential and nonessential maintenance programs so they could focus on what matters most.
Is golf course maintenance competitive?
Golf course maintenance work is demanding and the labor market is very competitive. Recruiting and retaining reliable maintenance staff is currently one of the biggest challenges at golf facilities across the country. Additionally, there are many hidden costs associated with hiring and training new maintenance employees.
How many people will play golf in 2020?
played golf – both on-course and off-course – in 2020. This includes 24.8 million people who played on a golf course and another 12.1 million who participated exclusively in off-course golf activities at places like driving ranges, indoor golf simulators or golf entertainment venues like Topgolf and Drive Shack.
What percentage of golfers are women?
0 %. of on-course golfers are women. Females represent a disproportionately higher percentage of juniors (34%), beginners (36%) and off-course participants (45%) than they do in the overall golf population. Latent Demand.
Why are third party golf courses the most easily redeveloped?
As a result, Third-Party Courses are the most easily redeveloped because there are no land use restrictions in place that restrict them to use as a golf course and the residents are unlikely to succeed in an action to restrict the course after it has been developed .
What is a third party golf course?
Third-Party Courses are distinct from Common Ownership Courses because the golf course developer was different from the planned community developer so there is no reliance argument that can be used to later restrict the course. As a result, Third-Party Courses are the most easily redeveloped because there are no land use restrictions in place that restrict them to use as a golf course and the residents are unlikely to succeed in an action to restrict the course after it has been developed.
Is a golf course a HOA?
In either event, there are times when a golf course appears to be an HOA Course, but the necessary land use restrictions do not exist.
Can a developer restrict golf course use?
For example, a developer of a golf course could restrict the land to only golf course use in perpetuity. Or, the developer could record a restriction requiring that the course be reserved as open green space whether people play golf on it or not. The different kind of land covenants result in three distinct types of golf courses.
