Quote:
Originally Posted by westhoff
The cost and pace of play is what's driving people away.
It is more than the pace of play and cost.
It is time itself and time value of money.
The economy has rebounded the last 5 years and the demographic group golf targets, the "1%", have done phenomenally.
Why isn't golf booming like the housing market? It certainly shouldn't be free-falling.
The 6-hour window is gone. Maybe not forever, but it certainly feels that way.
There are a lot of golf courses that don't allow cell phones and use is frowned upon.
Who in 6 hours of a day:
-Not check and respond to work emails/texts
-Not listen to voicemails or make calls
-Not receive a text from a friend/family member
-Not send a text to a friend/family member
-Not check the news
-Not have another event for a family member on the weekends at the same time
-Not need to just relax for themselves
You need to find THREE other people who fit this criteria at the same exact time and all have to stay for the full time. It isn't like a party where you can show up 30 minutes late or leave 30 minutes early.
Pick any profession and imagine that person being able to be radio silent for 6 hours. Golf is a game. You can't make a 20-minute phone call.
Think golf is stressful. Being on a golf course when you have other duties is much more stressful. That are usually much more important and less self-serving activities than putting a tiny ball into 18 holes over hours.
The money is also gone. If you put that money into a house, you invest in yourself. And you find cheaper substitutes to feel the void of golf that gives you almost near same satisfaction levels.
As someone said, golf is a 4-hour activity in a 4-second world. We really do live in a world of outside information being constantly soaked up and dished out. Golf is a hindrance to the new world order we live with our cell phones. Even if we don't want it, the world expects it. That new client doesn't want to wait 6 hours because you are on the golf course. He will find someone available immediately.
If a recession hits, goodbye whatever fragments of golf are remaining. The golf courses that are closing aren't the ones that just opened. They are 50 to 100 year old courses. 95% of country clubs are struggling. The only one who care are a few hundred members of the club. The rest of the city citizens are happy when a club closes. There is no sadness. The majority were excluded from playing there their whole lives. Real estate developers salivate to take over land.
There is no golf rebound. It is not economy improving. Economy has improved and it has gotten much worse. Golf courses closing in the Bay Area is all you need to know.