Understanding golf rate increases better...

Great catch Eyesopen and thanks for posting. What a super article to help market Sun City. And to help sell houses! I looked for this article, but wasn’t able to find it.

 

What’s interesting about the article is that nowhere does it address the cost for a round of golf. It talks about the cost of real estate in relation to national average and the availability of golf courses in the immediate area. The people who will be bitching, as Bill mentioned, will be the 500 annual pass holders. Let’s eliminate all full pay annual passes and charge the same $800 as now plus an $8 to $10 In season fee. That alone will bring in additional revenue.

 

I agree 100% Larry. This has always been the solution that would solve every woe. In fact, i suggested they leave the rates the same for the surcharge and for the walk-on golfers. Raise the non-resident walk-on and let the full play pass buyers pay for the current rate surcharge ($800 and $6/$8). that way, the more you play, the more you pay. The current full play pass is simply too cheap. It's why Sun City West is $3600 and the Grand is over $4000, they don't want to sell cheap golf and lose money to those willing to pay the higher price for it. The current structure will never pay the freight for golf; $5 and $10 rounds breaks the bank.

I also had not seen the article thanks eyesopen. Sun City should be the Mecca for the average golfer who just wants to play golf, not be challenged by some of the modern courses that are killers with water features, monster sand traps and ridiculously long par 3's and par 4's. When we wanted a challenge, we went out and paid to play on those courses, but honestly it was never much fun having the course beat the snot out of me. Best of all, we can still beat every other course rate wise selling surcharge passes, even at the current prices it would raise revenue and open more tee times.

 

I get it, everybody wants cheap golf rates, but something that's not been mentioned is the fact that those who are now 55 years old, thinking, and getting ready to retire have been working their entire careers at a significantly higher salary than we were making 20 years ago, so a modest increase isn't a big factor for them!

It is what it is. Nothing is getting cheaper. As people make more, prices go up! A vicious cycle.

Just my opinion!

 

Yes indeed, inflation. Good call. Works both ways for certain situations.

 

Bump

 

We care simply trapped in a doom loop of cheap golf with horrible outcomes for the courses.

 

I guess the good news is golf is in play.

 

I just reread the Golf Advisory Committee minutes from their June meeting. I was surprised to discover that RCSC staff can golf free if they are employed full time and pay only $2 if they are part time. I am not making a judgement whether this is good or bad but it was information I did not know previously. This has probably been the case for a number of years. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to suggest changes at this time because our pay is below other courses and we have a pretty high turnover rate. Just interesting........

 

It's been a long standing practice that helps draw and retain employees. When i was on the board we asked to see the total rounds played and how they were distributed. The ones that did play, were infrequently with a few of them playing a lot. The GM told us it was a good tool, but that was back when the minimum wage was between $7 and $8 and skilled employees were paid considerably more. That compression caused by the minimum wage hike around 2017 compounded every problem.

I see you are trying to engage my new best friend Russ on Facebook. I've given him numbers for the better part of two weeks now; he doesn't care. You were spot on telling him the total rounds exactly doesn't matter because there are at least 6 or 8 categories across the spectrum of pricing but he still ignores the point; Golfers have to pay more or we are going to be passing the increases off on the non-golfing population.

I try and stay optimistic and look at the September meeting as "you've got to start somewhere.

 

What's critical for both the golfing community and the non-golfing community to understand, one small group (485 players) have dictated the terms of both what is paid and who gets to play when for far too long. Here is the cleanest example i can give. Past 12 years; full play pass a single $100 increase ($1450 to $1550). Walk-on golfers; Eleven $1 increases ($24-$35) over that same time period. I don't have the exact data, but even the surcharge buyers took some major bumps. When i was playing (circa 2007) and purchasing the surcharge pass it was called the 620 card. The cost was $620 and the per round cost was $1 off season and $3 high season: Now it's $800 and $5 and $7. The thing is the more they play, the more they pay. With the full play pass, the more they play the less per round they pay.