Driving for Less Dough
Almost every weekend, Peter Harper and his buddies do something thousands of Southlanders believe is the ultimate in stress reduction, and something millions more consider the supreme hassle. They play about four hours of golf; and they spend two to three hours on the freeway commuting.
Harper lives in Dana Point. The other guys in his usual foursome hail from West L.A., North Hollywood and Newport Beach. But they play golf in places such as Norco, Ramona, Moreno Valley and Calimesa.
There are two major factors driving their trek east: green fees and speed of play.
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“The main reason we drive is the money,” Harper said, “and the fact that we’re not willing to play a six-hour round for $40 at a local municipal course, even if we could get a tee time. As far as I’m concerned, even a five-plus-hour round isn’t worth it at any price.
“I figure I spend somewhere between $3,000 and $4,000 a year on green fees and play 40 to 50 rounds. You can still get a weekend tee time at one of the high-end courses in Orange County, but you’re talking at least $100. In the Inland Empire, or even some courses in north San Diego County, your money goes much farther. You can get a prime tee time and play a great course in four to 4 1/2 hours for $60.”
As far as the drive and the gas money, Harper waves off those as minor inconveniences.
“In Southern California, it usually takes you 20 minutes to get to the closest course to your house and unless you tee off really early, playing golf is going to take the majority of your day anyway,” he said. “An extra hour or even two, what’s it hurt?
“And if you’ve got a couple of guys in the car who are saving $40 each, the gas isn’t really much of an issue.”
Follow these easy directions to join Harper and the rest of this club-toting exodus: Take Interstate 10 or 60 or the 91 east to where they meet up with the I-15 and you’re 30 minutes from so many great, reasonably priced golf courses, it’s mind-boggling.
South in Temecula -- to pick one popular spot -- there are 27 impressive holes at Temecula Creek Inn, a nice, newly renovated Ted Robinson layout at Temeku Hills, the just-opened CrossCreek buried deep in centuries-old oak and sycamore groves, and the highly acclaimed Redhawk.
Green fees at those four, which include a cart, range from $43 to $49 on weekdays and $58 to $80 on weekends, not accounting for a varied array of discounts that are usually available.
“Ten years ago, the feeling was that we needed to build a golf course every day for the next 10 years to keep up with demand, but it didn’t turn out that way,” said Bob Thomas, a spokesman for the Southern California Golf Assn. “So, in the last five years, a tremendous number of good quality courses have opened, especially in the area of Temecula up north to the Inland Empire and out toward the desert.”
Talk about a buyer’s market....
Since 1990, 37 premium public courses -- with peak-season weekend green fees of $54 or more -- have opened in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ventura and San Diego counties, according to the National Golf Foundation.
And another 21 standard courses -- $30-$54 peak-season weekend green fees -- have been added.
The more recent numbers are even more stunning. Six high-end courses opened their fairways in 2000 and 2001 in Riverside County alone. Between 1996 and 2001, five popped up in Orange County.
Overall play in Southern California has increased at a modest rate in the last decade, but an ever-increasing number of courses are fighting over those customers.
According to Los Angeles-based Economics Research Associates, the three high-end courses that existed in Orange County in 1990 were averaging 64,000 rounds a year. By 1995, when the number of those courses had grown to seven, the average number of rounds was down to 50,000. Last year, when the choices swelled to a dozen, averages had slipped below 45,000.
Play at most Southland municipal courses has dropped 8-12% over the last two years. But many believe it’s not as much a sign of a sagging economy as it is related to the numbers of golfers who have opted to play higher-quality courses with a country-club-for-a-day feel that don’t cost that much more ... especially these days, thanks to the glut of courses.
More Play, Less Pay
For a time in the mid-’90s, golfers didn’t blink at triple-digit green fees. And dancing in the heads of golf-course developers were visions of Ralph Lauren-clad high rollers rolling putts on their pristine greens. But it takes seven to 10 years for a course to go from planning to debut, so many of the openings -- taking place in the new millennium and a new world -- were anything but grand.
Talega Golf Course in San Clemente opened two years ago with a peak green fee of $225. Two months later, rates were slashed as much as $85. Ocean Trails in Rancho Palos Verdes, the course that had its 18th hole destroyed by a landslide, was charging $195 on weekends for only 15 holes when it opened. It’s still not finished, but now you can play 18 for $120.
But as many golfers watched their 401Ks turn into 201Ks, they apparently tightened their golf budgets. And chances are the boss was sponsoring far fewer trips to the tee box.
“I think we’re finding out that the percentage of golf that was business-related was way more than anyone in the industry wanted to admit,” said Gene Krekorian, golf industry analyst for Economics Research Associates. “For most companies looking to cut back, one of the first things they took the ax to was expensive golf outings.”
Despite the state of the economy, some insist the golf industry’s voracious greed was the key factor undermining its chance to capitalize on the popularity inspired by Tiger Woods.
“For the game of golf not to have grown over the last nine years, with what Tiger has done to make it exciting, is stunning,” says Geoff Shackelford, a course architecture consultant to Rustic Canyon Golf Club in Moorpark, which opened last year with green fees starting at $35 and was named the best new affordable course in the United States, according to a Golf Digest survey.
“To not have growth, it’s a direct result of the way courses are priced,” Shackelford said. “Golf is too long, too hard and too expensive to be convenient. It’s too easy to find a reason to say ‘no’ to golf. And the golf business seems to have this idea that you can make up for it with a beverage cart girl, [Global Positioning Satellite devices on carts that give exact yardage to the pin] and good food. But at the end of the day, it’s the course and the value people are looking for.
“There’s this mentality that ‘we can’t lower prices, because it will undermine the value of the franchise.’ They think [golfers] will feel that it must be good because they spent so much money. But even if they had a great time, will they go back?
“I know a little bit about the golf business, but I don’t understand it. It’s one of the great mysteries of all time. I wonder if people who can’t make it in the music industry go into golf.”
Course operators don’t like to lower green fees for obvious -- and more subtle -- reasons. There is status that goes with a high green fee and reducing it can mean a drop in value of the property. Talega, for instance, hangs on to its $225 peak fee by offering rate reductions only to residents of Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.
And the Winner Is ...
With the competition to fill tee sheets at an all-time high, the astute golfer who has gas in his car and his eye out for deals is the big winner. There are a growing number of programs, such as GolfExtra, which offer members a wide array of discounts for a small membership fee.
As a result, Southland golfers need a little less green.
“All the new courses that have come on the market in the last few years have gained market share mostly at the expense of the other high-end courses,” Krekorian said. “So what we’re seeing is a discreet decrease in green fees across the board. The softness clearly is on the weekdays, where you’ll find radically more concessions, like anyone who has graduated college is considered a senior and twilight rates start before noon.
“Courses are faced with only two options. They can try to keep their numbers up by reducing rates, which usually means beginning twilight rates earlier, offering super-twilight rates, senior discounts, two-for-ones, or discount coupons. Or they can try to hold the line on green fees and see how far their level of play drops.
“Most have tried both, but effective rates for most courses have dropped, no matter what their listed rack rate is.”
The key for course operators is to find the right combination of green fees and perks that brings in golfers ... and brings them back.
“We certainly haven’t had a more turbulent time in the industry,” says William H. Sherman of Sherman Golf Associates. “The trend started before the economy got as serious as it has. This is a time where courses really need to find a way to attract people. The whole industry is struggling to attract people.”
Bob Christy and his dad, Tom, found a few good reasons to drive to Calimesa to play the Champions Course at the 36-hole PGA of Southern California Golf Club. Bob lives in Tustin. His dad lives in Palm Springs. And what better setting for a father-and-son reunion than the first tee under a cloudless sapphire sky with the peaks of San Jacinto, San Gorgonio and San Bernardino standing sentry?
Bob drove an hour and 20 minutes from his office in Anaheim to the course, located off Interstate 10 just north of the junction with the 60. Tom got there a bit more quickly from his house. Soon thereafter, they were laughing about family matters and cursing the curvatures of the immaculate greens.
“The course is about halfway between us and we needed to catch up,” Bob said. “Plus, we’re both members of that GolfExtra deal, so you get weekday green fees for half price. It’s like less than 30 bucks and if the wind doesn’t come up real strong, this is a spectacular course.”
The round lasted 4 hours 10 minutes -- despite a number of forays into the wilderness in search of wayward shots -- and there was never a wait to hit a shot.
In the battle to offer the most innovative perks, PGA of Southern California has an enticing one, especially for the directionally challenged.
The description of the course ground rules includes this note: “If you misdirect a shot to an area of the course where you will unlikely find it, please limit your search time and when you see one of our hosts, they will happily furnish you with another ball.”
Host (they call them marshals at the munis) Richard Mhyre was reaching for a large Tupperware container before the question -- “Do you really replace ...” -- was complete.
Handing over the bin with about 100 slightly experienced balls inside, he said, “Say no more. Take as many as you lost.” A quick eye spotted a coveted Titleist Pro V1 in perfect shape and an unmarked Callaway, worth about $4 each if new.
These days, deals and discounts are much easier to find than errant shots.
At Lost Canyons Golf Club in Simi Valley, you can play both of their courses -- rated among the 100 best places to play by Golf magazine -- in one day for the regular weekday rate of $95. Empire Lakes in Rancho Cucamonga offers an any time rate of $180 for a foursome.
Aliso Viejo Golf Club and others have taken a hint from the travel industry’s “yield-management pricing,” staggering fees depending on day and time. A Saturday round at Aliso Viejo, for instance, can cost $95 for an 11 a.m. tee time and $30 less than an hour later.
The biggest push is aimed at getting loyal patrons. Many courses offer memberships requiring golfers to pay up-front fees and monthly dues like their country club brethren or frequent-player promotions modeled after airline programs.
Multi-play options are also becoming popular. Landmark Golf Club at Oak Quarry, a spectacular course built around a quarry in Riverside, recently was selling five rounds for $200, a considerable savings off green fees that range from $65 to $90.
Few of these deals are advertised, but they’re available to anyone who calls the pro shop and inquires.
Not long ago, golfers camped outside of pro shops in the wee hours or set their alarms to begin a speed-dial lottery in hopes of grabbing a tee time. That still might be the case at a few inexpensive municipal courses, but the golfer willing to spend a few dollars more and some time behind the wheel can usually sleep in.
And, in what might be a glimpse of the future in this ultimate buyer’s market, many course operators are working to build databases that will allow them to e-mail or call prospective customers with offers to fill the vacancies on their tee sheets.
“Hello, Mr. Jones, this is Judy at Something Creek Golf Club and I see that you often play mid-week. We have an available tee time next Tuesday at 10:45 that we can offer you for $27.
“Wanna play?”
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Times staff writer Peter Yoon contributed to this report.
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Growth in the Southland
Total number of public golf holes and 18-hole equivalents opened 1990-2002
in five California counties (LA, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Ventura)
*--* Holes Holes Holes Holes 18 18 18 18 equiv equiv equiv equiv YEAR Premium Standa Value Total Premium Standa Value Total rd rd 1990 9 9 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 1991 135 18 45 198 7.5 1.0 2.5 11.0 1992 72 72 4.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 1993 18 36 54 1.0 2.0 0.0 3.0 1994 27 27 0.0 0.0 1.5 1.5 1995 18 27 45 0.0 1.0 1.5 2.5 1996 18 18 36 1.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 1997 72 18 90 4.0 0.0 1.0 5.0 1998 36 45 27 108 2.0 2.5 1.5 6.0 1999 90 135 225 5.0 7.5 0.0 12.5 2000 135 72 207 7.5 4.0 0.0 11.5 2001 90 90 5.0 0.0 0.0 5.0 2002 36 36 0.0 2.0 0.0 2.0 Total 666 378 153 1,197 37.0 21.0 8.5 66.5
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DEFINITIONS
Premium: 80th-100th percentile in green fees for Southwest region ($54 peak season weekend green fee).
Standard: 40th-79th percentile in green fees for Southwest region ($30-$54 peak season weekend green fee).
Value: 1st-39th percentile in green fees for the Southwest region (<$30 peak season weekend green fee).
Source: National Golf Foundation: February 6, 2003; Note: Southwest region includes Hawaii, Nevada, most of California and southern Arizona; Public includes daily fee and municipal golf holes; 18-hole equivalents are holes divided by 18.