Golf Courses Play Catch-Up After Late-Winter Snow
PHOTO/COURTESY
The International Golf Club and Resort, Bolton, should be opening within the next couple of weeks.
After opening in early March last year because of unseasonably warm weather, managers at area golf courses are grateful that one of the snowiest winters in years seems to be over.
Many courses opened for the season late during the first week of this month. Among them was Highfields Golf and Country Club in Grafton. Roger Adams, the course pro, said he's been anxious to open the course for play — which it did April 4.
He's well aware that it's 21 days later than last year's opening. He said courses rarely make up in the fall what they lose in the spring.
“That's the tough thing about this business,” Adams said. “The only way they really compare is year to year, but you're not getting the same weather year to year.”
At Shining Rock in Northbridge, play began April 5, a sunny Friday when temperatures peaked in the high 50s. Timothy Gordon of Niblick Golf, which manages Shining Rock and the private Hopkinton Country Club, said he's optimistic about business this year. But he acknowledged the later start will pose a challenge.
'Weather Is Everything'
“It's going to be a difficult year compared to last year for everyone,” Gordon said. “Weather is everything, especially for public golf.”
If business is on par with last year, Gordon said he'll consider it a “super homerun,” particularly because last year had 12 percent more playable hours than 2011, according to Gordon's data tracking.
“So everyone should have been up,” he said.
Blissful Meadows in Uxbridge opened in late March after a false start earlier that month, when it managed to open for three days between snowstorms, said Mark Laskowski, general manager.
“Obviously we're behind in April,” Laskowski said. “We're just looking forward to getting the season going.”
Economic Optimism
Though he has noticed a general trend of lower membership prices in the area over the past few years, Gordon, of Shining Rock and Hopkinton Country Club, thinks golf is stabilizing since the recession. He said membership trends were positive in Hopkinton in 2012 and that business at Shining Rock was up by a double-digit percentage — the best in three years.
“The customer base is a little bit more confident with disposable income,” he said.
Most private clubs continue to waive initiation fees for memberships, but Gordon said Hopkinton has not had to do that.
“I'm probably the only person among my immediate competitors who still charges to get in,” he said.
At Highfields, the number of rounds played over the past few years has been steady, Adams said.
“I think it's our price point ($61 with a cart on weekends),” he said. “We're at capacity a lot of days in the summer.”
At Blissful Meadows, Laskowski said the course has a new fleet of electric golf carts and there are positive signs on the events side of the business — with more weddings booked this year compared with last year.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments