The Common Golfer

At what point does golf get too expensive?  Oobgolf.com had a post today titled How Much Is Too Much For Golf? and it got me thinking.  At what point does a high greens fee become outright extortion?

Is $495 too much to play Pebble Beach, arguably the most beautiful golf course in the world?  Many people will argue that price shouldn’t matter when it comes to a “once in a lifetime” experience like Pebble Beach.  But I disagree.  While I understand that maintaining a golf course isn’t cheap, greens fees at renowned golf courses have officially become ridiculous.

To get to this conclusion, let’s start with what we know.  Here in Columbus, Ohio (one of the larger cities in the country) your average public greens fee is $40-$50.  Obviously, at those prices you aren’t getting a world-class golf course; keeping a golf course immaculate isn’t cheap.  That being said…the price of maintaining a Pebble Beach doesn’t equate to an additional $450!

Please don’t misunderstand me – I’m typically not one to complain about costs and I don’t expect to pay $100 to play Pebble Beach.  And for all my bitching, apparently I’m still willing to pay the ransom these courses charge because earlier this year my wife and I went to play Pinehurst #2.  Playing Pinehurst is the first time I’ve shelled out hundreds of dollars for a round of golf, and at the end of my round I found myself feeling confused.

On the one hand, I now have the memories of playing one of the most historic golf courses in American golf history.  I even played from the tips to get the “US Open experience.”  The problem is, after spending that much money for a round of golf, I pretty much expected to experience 4.5 hours of heaven on earth.  And while I will say it’s my fondest memory so far in 15 years of golfing, I still felt somewhat disappointed afterwards.  Why is my ball sitting on a dry patch – for $400 can’t they get grass to grow here?  Why do I have a thin lie in this bunker – does my $400 no go towards the sand budget?

So my question is – unless you’re wealthy, is it even possible for a round of golf to live up to the expectations you have after paying so much?

All of this being said, sadly I would still pay $495 to play Pebble Beach (if I can ever convince the wife to take another “luxury golf vacation).  So maybe the reason these courses charge so much, is that despite our bitching, in the end we’ll still pay whatever they ask.

Where will I be in 2013?  Well, probably sitting at home…but I’d rather be in Cairo, Egypt for the grand opening of this new golf resort being built by MGM Mirage!

Thomson Perrett & Lobb, a golf design group founded by five-time British Open champion Peter Thomson, has won the bid to design a world class golf course at the site of “New Giza.”  New Giza will combine luxury residential areas, a five-star hotel, restaurants, shopping, spa, sporting facilities, parks, and a high-end golf course.  The course will be set on hills overlooking the great pyramids of Giza.  Peter Thomson said, “New Giza is an iconic site to build a golf course. The striking combination of rugged desert, views of the Pyramids and a world class golf course will give it instant recognition.”

Well, he’s damn right about that.  This could potentially be one of the coolest golf courses in the world, once they’re finished.  But what’s this going to cost me?  If I had to venture a guess, I would say the price will be outside of just about everyone’s budget (except for oil tycoons, politicians, royalty, and whoever else is rich out in the Middle East).  I’m also not sure how to feel about this; sure, the view will be breathtaking…but are we ruining one of the greatest sites on Earth by putting a casino/resort next to it?  In addition, just because you build a great course in a remote country…how do you ensure that people will come?

Check out this link for details of the New Giza project.

There have been some stories floating around the internet lately, about a 909 yard par 7 hole that is the longest in the world.  While I’m sure that golf course appreciates the publicity, the reports are wrong!  The 7th hole at Sano Golf Course in Japan is a 964 yard par 7 (you only get this kind of hard-hitting research from The Common Golfer).

I actually think this would be a pretty easy hole – it’s straight and has very almost no hazards.  I always enjoy par 5’s the most, because if I hit a bad shot I have time to recover.  Having a par 7 would leave even more margin for error.  I know what you’re thinking, though.  You’re thinking that a par 7 isn’t reason enough to go all the way to Japan.  So according to forbes.com, here are the longest golf holes in America:

1. No. 12, Meadow Farms Golf Course, Locust Grove, Virginia (841 yards, par 6)

2. No. 6, Spring Lake Golf Resort, Sebring, Florida (800 yards, par 6)

3. No. 9, The Links Golf Course, Post Falls, Idaho (777 yards, par 6)

The longest hole I have ever played is a 629 yard par 5.  What is the longest hole you’ve ever played?

Lately, my posts have been getting very political…but I only follow where the golf world takes me.  The latest news is that President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela has declared golf to not be a “people’s sport.”  Adding golf to his list of “bourgeois” activities, he is currently aiming to close down two of Venezuela’s most popular golf courses.  If the closes are successful, it will total nine closures over the past three years.

On Chavez’s live television show, he spoke negatively of golf, saying I respect all sports,” said Chavez.  ”But there are sports and there are sports. Do you mean to tell me this is a people’s sport?”  He also pointed to the use of golf carts as proof of how lazy golfers are.  I’m not going to waste my time writing to contest the statements of a madman, but it makes you wonder what his angle is.  Are golf courses really a perceived threat to his “dictatorship?”  At the location of one of the proposed closures, officials plan to use the space for low income housing or to create a campus for Chavez’s Bolivarian University.  However, I doubt that is the primary motivation for attacking golf.

Thoughts?

A new golf course set to open next month is so long, it makes Bethpage Black look like a pitch ‘n’ putt.  The Nullarbor Links in Australia is 850 miles long!  Well…sort of.  It’s not that you have to hit the ball a total of 850 miles; let’s just say it’s not recommended that you walk the course.

The course stretches out across the Outback, from South Australia into Western Australia.  It is an interesting tourism idea, that will allow visitors to see more of Australia than a typical vacation would dictate.  One hole is in the middle of a sheep farm, while another is cut out of a large wheat farming area.  Golfers will have to share the course with kangaroos, dingos, and large birds of prey which have been known to steal golf balls from courses even in more suburban areas of the country.

Vacation companies are already constructing packages where tourists can fly in to the airport nearest the 1st hole, and then fly out of the airport nearest the 18th hole.  It seems like the maintenance costs for a course spanning such a large area would be very high, so I will be interested to see what type of condition the course is kept in.  Will it be an immaculate course with a high price to play, or some patches of grass scattered about the outback?  Either way, I’m sure there will be plenty of people wanting to say they’ve played the longest course in the world.