Braeburn Golf Course

[Play Angry]

Great for the university, but still a little sad to see it go. I played this course more than any other when I was a kid...lots of good memories.

[1972Shocker]

From the Aug 15th issue of the Kiplinger Letter:

No quick recovery in sight for golf's popularity...bad news for course owners, equipment makers and other businesses that cater to golfers. Amateur play is declining as fewer golfers hit the links and/or do so less frequently. Also ebbing: Fan enthusiasm for the pro game. TV viewership of the 2014 Masters Tournament netted its smallest audience in two decades.

Many golf course owners will have to get creative to avoid closing up shop...don't be surprised if your local course starts sponsoring "footgolf", a hybrid sport played wit a soccer ball on golf courses. More than 140 courses already offer it to boost revenues from underused facilities.

[WstateU]

From the Aug 15th issue of the Kiplinger Letter:

No quick recovery in sight for golf's popularity...bad news for course owners, equipment makers and other businesses that cater to golfers. Amateur play is declining as fewer golfers hit the links and/or do so less frequently. Also ebbing: Fan enthusiasm for the pro game. TV viewership of the 2014 Masters Tournament netted its smallest audience in two decades.

Many golf course owners will have to get creative to avoid closing up shop...don't be surprised if your local course starts sponsoring "footgolf", a hybrid sport played wit a soccer ball on golf courses. More than 140 courses already offer it to boost revenues from underused facilities.

Bryant Gumbel - State of Golf in the U.S. on the next Real Sports

“MARK KING: “Every macro-indicator that we’ve been looking at for the past 20 years, rounds played, number of minorities playing, women coming into the game, all of these things that we’ve tracked, says that there’s less people playing. And the ones that are playing are playing less frequently.”

“V/O: To test his theory that bigger holes lead to more fun, King’s company, TaylorMade, is having 15-inch cups installed at more than 100 courses around the country this summer. But if purists think pizza pie sized holes are somehow sacrilegious, imagine what those purists think of this:”

http://sportsmedianews.com/state-of-golf-in-the-u-s-on-the-next-real-sports/

I can see it now; the ‘nonchalant’ 20 footer.

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2014/04/golf-15-inch-holes

[WstateU]

Oh, I prefer this one...

[SHOCKvalue]

Apologies for the rant...

Golf has just gotten too damn expensive for the experience returned, at least for me. And the golf course market hasn't apparently discovered the difference between elastic and inelastic demand. When golf cart use became de facto, and the green fees plus the cart fee breached the $40-50 level, my bag and clubs suddenly became static, dust collecting furniture in the corner of my office. Not that that dollar amount made it untenable, but it caused a cross over to the bad side of the cost-benefit threshold for me.

I spent several years growing up in a town that had 8K residents (at the time) and IIRC something like 7 18 hole courses, carved out of the Ozark hills. If you walked any of those courses it would cost something like $10 per round for a resident, and I'd say at least 50% were walkers. Some of my best memories growing up were walking those courses with my Dad - really enjoying being outdoors with no worries on speed of play or needing to be somewhere by a certain time. Fast forward to today: The cost per round has sky-rocketed, everyone is in a perpetual hurry in life, and cart use is assumed (which means golfing is just a hurried collection of swings connected by a bunch of frantic stop and go driving so you don't hold up the guys behind you). Uh, yeah, no thanks.

The country club thing is even more obtuse, financially. Lets see, around here most courses are what $3K-$20K initiation and a $250-$700 per month fee, plus some not-so-nominal amount of food minimums. Seriously, is there a better way in this country to throw money down a black hole than that? Makes owning a boat seem like a profitable venture. The high side of those figure ($20K in cash and $700/mo) will get you into the low side of the vacation home market in many fine places not named Wichita, for goodness sakes. The low side will buy you a tangible, physical toy with some sort of a residual value at the other end of those financial outlays.

TL;DR: For sale a sweet late 90's/early 00's golf setup featuring a Ping Hoofer bag, Ping ISI-K irons in green lie, 60 degree Cleveland wedge, Ping Anser putter, and Taylor Made and Calloway woods/driver. No reserve.

[Dave Stalwart]

Apologies for the rant...

Golf has just gotten too damn expensive for the experience returned, at least for me. And the golf course market hasn't apparently discovered the difference between elastic and inelastic demand. When golf cart use became de facto, and the green fees plus the cart fee breached the $40-50 level, my bag and clubs suddenly became static, dust collecting furniture in the corner of my office. Not that that dollar amount made it untenable, but it caused a cross over to the bad side of the cost-benefit threshold for me.

I spent several years growing up in a town that had 8K residents (at the time) and IIRC something like 7 18 hole courses, carved out of the Ozark hills. If you walked any of those courses it would cost something like $10 per round for a resident, and I'd say at least 50% were walkers. Some of my best memories growing up were walking those courses with my Dad - really enjoying being outdoors with no worries on speed of play or needing to be somewhere by a certain time. Fast forward to today: The cost per round has sky-rocketed, everyone is in a perpetual hurry in life, and cart use is assumed (which means golfing is just a hurried collection of swings connected by a bunch of frantic stop and go driving so you don't hold up the guys behind you). Uh, yeah, no thanks.

The country club thing is even more obtuse, financially. Lets see, around here most courses are what $3K-$20K initiation and a $250-$700 per month fee, plus some not-so-nominal amount of food minimums. Seriously, is there a better way in this country to throw money down a black hole than that? Makes owning a boat seem like a profitable venture. The high side of those figure ($20K in cash and $700/mo) will get you into the low side of the vacation home market in many fine places not named Wichita, for goodness sakes. The low side will buy you a tangible, physical toy with some sort of a residual value at the other end of those financial outlays.

TL;DR: For sale a sweet late 90's/early 00's golf setup featuring a Ping Hoofer bag, Ping ISI-K irons in green lie, 60 degree Cleveland wedge, Ping Anser putter, and Taylor Made and Calloway woods/driver. No reserve.

I completely agree. I am a marginal (bad) golfer who plays with people to be social. Well, when I can pay $10-20 to golf, I don't mind, but it's just becoming too expensive for me. In fact, almost everyone I know who I used to golf with rarely goes or has stopped altogether. Obviously, I am not much of a target market, but at this point, golf needs to re-attempt to attract normal folks. I'd almost say the same thing about bowling.

Golf is fun, and I always enjoy it. It's not like the interest isn't there. It's the price for me, and I guess the time commitment also plays a small role.

[Kung Wu]

Oh, I prefer this one...

I'd still put it in the water.

[1972Shocker]

I'd still put it in the water.

From the putting surface? I knew it, there is a worse golfer than me on the planet.

[WstateU]

I'd still put it in the water.

I feel your pain KW!

I'm suing the bastards that designed this new club (49 SOB's have already purchased one): :mad:

"BANDIT "NO SHANK" 55* SAND WEDGE DESIGNED AFTER JERRY BARBER F2 SEE DESCRIPTION"

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/170900288871?lpid=82

I had an idea 15 years ago for a club called the "Shankless Wedge" and couldn't get anyone to bite on it. I shared the idea with several 'golf people' and they said it was literally impossible to design one that would work. I had a rough sketch that I shared with them and now I see some jackwagon invented one and basically stole my idea. I think I'll kick Jerry Barber in the grapes.

I consider myself a decent (above average) golfer, however through the years 'the shank' has been my nemesis. I can't tell you how many times I've had a great round spoiled by a shank while coming down the home stretch. I've even seen it a few times on the pro tour. It's a horrible mental image to stand over a 100 yard shot; take aim, swing and watch the ball sail straight right 5 feet off the ground. I hit a buddy one time in the middle of his back (that taught him to stay behind our foursome); earlier this year I almost hit another buddy with a 9 iron shank and a couple of weeks ago I 'pinged' one off the groundkeepers John Deere Gator while she was changing out water jugs on the next tee box. She was really pissed because I didn't yell fore!! Hell, you can't yell fore fast enough when you shank one dead right.

Anyway, I know I'm rambling, but I'm still pissed to see a "NO SHANK" Wedge on the market. By now, I would have developed a complete set of "Shankless Clubs" alieviating the nightmare many of us face. I might have even funded something big at WSU.

I even had a short slogan and an infomercial in mind. Picture a guy hitting a great drive and pulling out his "Shankless Wedge" from 100 yards out. He hits a beautiful shot next to the pin and immediately turns to the camera and says, "Shanks A Lot!"

Rant over!

[Kung Wu]

I had an idea 15 years ago for a club called the "Shankless Wedge" and couldn't get anyone to bite on it. I shared the idea with several 'golf people' and they said it was literally impossible to design one that would work. I had a rough sketch that I shared with them and now I see some jackwagon invented one and basically stole my idea. I think I'll kick Jerry Barber in the grapes.

So you wanna spank a wank for gankin' your "Shank"?