It wasn’t very long ago that golf courses were sprouting up left and right in Colorado, but what was once a deluge has slowed to a trickle.
As recently as 2001, a dozen new courses debuted in the state, concluding a five-year period in which 50 courses opened in Colorado.
Fast forward to 2009, and there’s a much different story to be told. In all likelihood, a grand total of one course will come online this year, and that one replaces an old course at the same site.
A combination of oversupply, a stable-but-not-growing number of golfers, and a tough economy has dramatically changed the trend for new courses in Colorado.
“I’m a firm believer in the free market,” Colorado Golf Association executive director Ed Mate said. “There has to be the logic of supply and demand, and we’ve been oversupplied.”
Colorado isn’t alone in that regard. According to the National Golf Foundation, only 72 new or expanded courses opened in the U.S. in 2008, the fewest number in two decades. Florida led the way with 10 new or expanded facilities, but all except four states (Florida, California, Texas and North Carolina) came in with three or fewer course openings last year.
The 1.5 total for Colorado in 2008 wasn’t at all unusual. Four Mile Ranch, a public facility in Canon City, debuted last summer, and the private Cornerstone Club in Montrose opened an additional nine holes in 2008. That was it for Colorado, excluding reconstructions.
This year, the story won’t be much different. CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, a public facility owned and operated by the CGA and the Colorado Women’s Golf Association, is scheduled to open to the public on May 23. That may be the only course to come online in Colorado this year. If so, it will be the fewest number in the state since 1990, when only Coal Creek Golf Course in Louisville opened, according to CGA records.
The only other planned course opening the CGA has on its radar screen for 2009 is the public Signature Golf Club in Fountain, just south of Colorado Springs. It was scheduled to debut this spring, but an official at OB Sports Golf Management, which was named manager of the Signature facility, indicated on Thursday that no opening date has been set, and he said it’s possible the course won’t open at all this year. Signature Golf Club, a Jim Childs design which sits on the site of the former Appletree course, initiated layoffs last year, and the contact phone number provided on signaturegolfclub.com has been “temporarily disconnected.”
As far as Mate is concerned, the fact that only one course may open in the state in 2009 is a good thing.
“The market is correcting itself,” he said. “We need a moratorium on course construction for a while. We could even stand for a few courses to close, depending where they are. It might be the best thing if we cull the herd. In my official capacity, I hate to see a course close, but if it’s not a healthy situation, I don’t want to see us feeding on ourselves.”
Part of the problem is that the number of rounds played has not increased in recent years. At Denver metro-area public courses, that figure has remained at roughly 1.9 million rounds per year since 2003. If more courses open, that translates into fewer rounds per course, which makes for a dicey situation for operators. Many public facilities have seen their annual rounds played drop dramatically since the 1990s.
The economy being what it is certainly hasn’t helped matters any. CGA and CWGA officials who will run CommonGround Golf Course — which sits on the site of the former Lowry Air Force Base golf course, most recently known as Mira Vista — fully realize the challenges they face. But they are banking that their new Tom Doak-designed layout will nevertheless be a big draw.
“It’s a very scary time to do anything” business-wise, Mate said. “But if there’s ever been a year to set yourself apart, it’s this one. As the new kid on the block, you hope you can do well no matter what the economic circumstances. Everyone will want to see the course. Still, it’s a nervous time. Ultimately, it will be about getting people to come back. If the experience is good, you can expect them to come back. So this is an opportunity to put our best foot forward.
“It’s all about value, and just because something is cheap doesn’t mean it’s a good value. The feedback I hear is that people would rather play one quality round than three (average ones). If you’re taking time to play golf, you want to play a memorable course.”
Greens fees for CommonGround have been set at $40 for CGA and CWGA members, and $50 for non-members, seven days a week. Mate said course officials are encouraged that 10 percent of CommonGround’s projected 2009 revenue has already been pre-booked.
