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Country clubs feeling the pinch as golfers abstain

Courses lowering prices to entice more members, but numbers still falling.

Country clubs cut fees to lure more members

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By Bucky Albers, Contributing Writer 11:31 PM Thursday, April 23, 2009

Miami Valley Golf Club head professional Colin Miller is doing more than dealing with course conditions and lessons these days. His story demonstrates how a lingering recession has impacted area country clubs and independent golf course operators.

Asked if Miami Valley has done some belt tightening, Miller replied, “I’m now in charge of the pool and the clubhouse and membership.”

Miami Valley — which had 30,000 annual rounds of golf played on its course 10 years ago — has been averaging 17,000 to 20,000 in recent years, according to Miller. The club once had 360 members; now it has 275.

The proud club on Salem Avenue, which was founded in 1919, has waived its $4,000 initiation fee for new members. When a current member brings in a new member willing to pay monthly dues of $358 for two years, both the current and new member get three months of dues removed during the 24 months.

Miami Valley GC isn’t alone in reducing fees and offering creative ways to attract golfers’ discretionary income. Many country clubs, which have suffered heavy membership losses over the past decade, have reduced or eliminated initiation fees. Some have waived or postponed fees for golfers willing to commit to a year or two of dues for trial memberships. Only Moraine Country Club has raised its initiation fee in the past 10 years, from $30,000 to $35,000.

Ten years ago, Dayton Country Club had 375 members and a waiting list of 25. Now DCC has 279 members — a 26 percent decrease.

Sycamore Creek Country Club, which had 330 members and 16 on a waiting list in 1999, now has 224 fully participating members — a 32 percent decrease. Sycamore has offset the loss somewhat by adding approximately 100 secondary members who do not have voting privileges.

DCC has dropped its initiation fee from $20,000 to $15,000 over three years or $14,000 up front. Sycamore Creek has reduced its initiation fee from $12,000 to $6,000.

Public alternative

There is not a single club in the Dayton area that would not like to have additional members.

NCR Country Club, which has a $20,000 initiation fee for non-NCR employees, offered in March a trial membership with a flexible payment plan for a limited number of applicants.

Jeff Foland, who manages the golf operations at Sugar Valley Country Club, said, “We’re tightening the reins and watching our expenses. It’s probably nothing the members would notice.”

There’s one thing the members would notice: “At one time, I was the second assistant,” Foland said. “We had two assistants, a head pro and a general  manager. Now we have me.”

Why have the country  clubs been hit so hard? There are many reasons, not the least of which are the economy and the loss of corporate jobs and sponsorships.

Steve Jurick, executive director of the Miami Valley Golf Association, attributes some of the decline in country club memberships to a change in culture.

“The younger people don’t appreciate exclusivity,” Jurick said. “People used to belong to a Dayton Country Club for life. The young people don’t have as much of a connection with a club in that they don’t see it as a lifetime commitment. They’re more mobile. And at the end of the day they’re more concerned about how they use their resources.”

After paying the initiation fee, members of a country club have annual obligations ranging from $5,000 to $8,000, which does not include cart fees for golf. While ideal tee times might be a little harder to obtain at public courses, especially on the weekends, golfers can save a lot of money by choosing that route.

High-end municipal courses such as Yankee Trace in Centerville and Heatherwoode in Springboro can offer 18 holes of golf at a well-manicured course for about $50.

“The old adage used to be: ‘If you have to calculate your cost per round at a country club, then you shouldn’t be a member of a private club,’ ” Jurick said. “Now society calculates everything on a per-use basis. At the end of the day, people are more concerned about how they use their resources, and there’s more competition for the dollar.”

Too many courses

Nobody in the golf business questions the fact that the Miami Valley has more golf courses than it needs. During an 11-year period, beginning in 1989, seven 18-hole courses and two nine-hole facilities were built in the Dayton metropolitan area. Clayton’s Moss Creek, built in 1999, is the area’s newest layout.

Jurick studied the population for the area served by the MVGA and compared it to the number of golf courses operating at the time.

“At the beginning of 1990 we had 20,000 people per golf course in the 14-county area including Warren and Butler counties,” he said. “In 2000, that number had gone down to 17,800. The number was 33,000 in the 1960s.”

Resigned to the fact that they will have less money to work with, clubs are reducing expenses. Walnut Grove Country Club jettisoned its kitchen staff and hired a vending company to provide its food services. Greenville Country Club is making its course available for public play.

Many clubs and golf courses rely on the golf outings they host, but in the present economic climate, many of those will not be held for lack of participation of players and sponsors.

Public courses also are seeing less traffic, and some have dropped prices. For example, Shaker Run in Lebanon, which generally has the highest greens fees among area public courses, has reduced them by $10.

The city of Dayton’s three facilities, which hosted 181,267 rounds in 2005, has seen that total slide  7.3 percent to 167,824 over the last three years.

One course has locked its doors. Twelve years ago, Jack Wiley opened a par 3 course called Willow Ponds at Tipp City. The course handled 100 rounds a day when times were good. Wiley died two years ago and his wife and son attempted to keep the course going. It didn’t work.

“I’ve closed it,” Teresa Wiley said recently. “I’m not going to open it. It wasn’t breaking even.”

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Smeech,

Limits to growth will severely limit our ability to ship food all over creation just to feed you, so revenue does not matter when you have nothing in your gut. You'll be one of the people who say "No one saw this coming" I say BS it is coming so deal. No credit, no seeds, no gas, no fertilizer, no shipping = hungry Smeech.

Greg Hunter
1:04 AM, 4/25/2009

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Doc, I don't think golf is a dumb sport at all. I attended Stanford University for two years before dropping out to pursue a career as a professional golfer. I guess you might say I didn't get a "real education," but I'm doing okay for myself.

Tiger Woods
12:52 AM, 4/25/2009

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Doc you are an ignorant a-hole...private clubs are a serious business and those behind the seens are way more educated than you.

docisahomo
11:55 PM, 4/24/2009

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In regards to the comments by joann:
Sorry. The truth is sometimes painful. I stand by my statement. A little education goes a long way. Especially in an always uncertain economy.
And I left my bedside manner at the door...

Doc
7:50 PM, 4/24/2009

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In regards to the comments by Doc:
I would suggest that you show some of your human compassion to people that are trying to find a way to earn a living in a very depressed economy. You should only comment on things that you know or in your case never comment, it only shows a lack of intelligence.

joann
3:42 PM, 4/24/2009

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