Over the years i have been accused of hating golf. Nothing could be further from the truth; my concerns regarding golf were never about the game's importance to Sun City, but more focused on it being better managed. We had lost our way as courses deteriorated, allowing non-residents access and rates lower than what we charged members. Then it got worse, as small groups (30 or more players) were rewarded with the best tee times (with a $2 up-charge). This all came to a head in 2023, with a couple of current board members running a slate of golfers to wrest control of the board. It failed, but the best news was a long time golfer (endorsed by the Sun City Advocates) was elected. He had a great understanding of the challenges facing the golfing community moving into 2024. I have long argued the Golf Advisory Committee (GAC) was the best suited group to help shape the direction Sun City was headed in. The data that was made available last year was eye-opening. Now, a mere 4 months into the year, Preston Kise, board member assigned to GAC has drafted a well thought out column on the changes they are making to help right the ship. I'm impressed, as this is exactly how Sun City is supposed to work. It is a long article from the April Sun City Update, but well worth your read. I will post it immediately below as the word count may be too much for this post.
Golf In Sun City AZ Golf is one of the highest member participation activities in Sun City with over 6,000 members participating on some level. Our eight courses continue to see heavy use with over 348,000 rounds played in 2023. Despite this heavy play, our courses are doing well; overseeded fairways were good this winter and the normal Bermuda grass is starting to turn green. There was a lot of concern last year with the impact of small groups (groups with over 30 players) and with other member golfers that requested tee times getting “bumped” and not getting their requests filled. The Golf Advisory Committee (GAC) worked with golf management and small group leaders to limit small group impact and increase tee time availability. A new system was put in place that restricted small groups to no more than 10% non-resident members and excluded them for a 2.5-hour prime- time window from November through April. There are now only seven small groups. Even though tee time requests have increased more than 8% from last year, the rate of tee time request refusals this year decreased by over 3%. This number could further decrease with better education of the lottery process, golfers requesting wider windows and more courses to play, and an improved golf lottery system. A greater concern is that nearly 30% of tee time spaces every day end up being no shows because our member golfers don’t let the pro shops know they can’t play that day or filled spaces with names that have no intention of playing. To try and fix this problem, golf management implemented a system where member golfers that are consis-tent no shows will get lower tee time priority for the group they are playing with. An improved tee time lottery system may also help to fill tee time spaces more efficiently. So how does golf work in Sun City? Every course has a greens committee made up of three men and three women that play at that course who are elected for 3-year terms. Several committees have openings or are being filled by the same people because of a lack of new volunteers. A man and woman from each committee is elected to be part of the GAC which is comprised of these 16 golfers (two from each of the eight courses), one golfer from each of the Sun City Women’s Golf Association and Men’s Golf Association, and a golfer from the Sun City Women’s 9-Hole Association. The Golf Senior Leader and two RCSC Board members who serve as chair and co-chair complete the committee which works to help build the annual golf budget including golf fees, gather input from other golfers, and recommend changes to golf policy, operations, and golf facilities to the RCSC Board. Greens committee information is posted in each pro shop and they are your first resource to provide feedback and your best place to get involved to improve our golfing community. So, what are golf’s challenges? We need to better communicate changes to golf policy like the recent move back to a 3-cart rule and changes to the lottery system to our member golfers. The golf area of the RCSC website could be improved to provide golf specific news on the initial page. Other issues like budget information, monthly revenue and course usage numbers, fee changes, upcoming golf projects, etc. could also be posted. Informing so many people is a difficult challenge but making information easier to find and educating our golfers are essential keys. We need to continue to raise the wages of our golf staff, so they get comparable pay with other courses and reduce our 40% annual golf staff turnover rate. We also must continue to reduce water usage by converting excess grass areas to desert scape and converting essential grass areas to a newer turf that requires much less water. The RCSC Board, golf staff, and GAC will continue to work to make golf better for our current and future residents and make golf financially sustainable. You can get involved and make a difference now by joining a greens committee. Please continue to bring your thoughts and issues to the Board, golf staff, and the GAC to help us find more ways to improve and get important information out to all our golfers. With your help, we can make Sun City an even better place to live and to play golf. Kudos Preston, exactly how Sun City should work.
