GolfClubAtlas.com > Golf Course Architecture
Keiser's Coul Links Project (Embo/Dornoch)
Tim_Weiman:
--- Quote from: Ken Moum on March 29, 2016, 11:15:00 AM ---
--- Quote from: Kalen Braley on March 29, 2016, 10:56:46 AM ---Is Bandon any worse off because of its influx of courses?
--- End quote ---
If you're a golfer who loves quality golf at a reasonable cost.... yes.
There's ZERO chance I am going to Bandon, simply because it's been turned into a place that can get $300 for a round of golf.
I am retired, and as Stan Dodd has said, my wife and I need to be conscious of our "golf per diem."
We've played a few high dollar courses that are too expensive, but inevitable--The Old Course, Prestwick, Royal Dornoch.
I played yesterday with a Canadian who's a member at Red Mountain Ranch and he said, "I lover golf, but I'm not paying two or three hundred dollar for a round. There's no golf worth that."
He's probably wrong, but we have enough $300 courses, especially in Scotland.
FWIW, when members of Brora and Fraserburgh expressed their jealousy of the course down the coast I warned them to be careful what they wish for. A tee sheet full of visitors EVERY day, glacial pace of play except for those few hours set aside for members, etc., etc.
So yes, in my world places like Bandon have helped make the game more expensive and more exclusive.. to it's detriment.
K
--- End quote ---
Ken,
Part of me is sympathetic to your perspective, but for the sake of discussion, I must ask:
As far as making the game in Scotland more "expensive and exclusive", is it really "places like Bandon" or is it the ease and relatively low cost of international travel?
Ken Moum:
--- Quote from: Tim_Weiman on March 29, 2016, 05:41:48 PM ---Ken,
Part of me is sympathetic to your perspective, but for the sake of discussion, I must ask:
As far as making the game in Scotland more "expensive and exclusive", is it really "places like Bandon" or is it the ease and relatively low cost of international travel?
--- End quote ---
Well, that "expensive and exclusive" comment referred to golf in general, not to Scotland.
I admit that there are a lot of factors that have conspired to make it so costly to play golf. In most of the US I am pretty convinced that "tournament conditions" on a daily basis along with the CCFAD problem are most likely more of a problem.
The yahoos I play with here are SO concerned about conditioning that it supersedes almost any other considerations.
That and the fact that there still seems to be a market for CCFAD golf, at least here in AZ where I am currently, is a big contributor.
I did work for GCSAA for nine years and I think in some regards superintendents have been their own worst enemy. They have killed themselves trying to produce perfect turf, now American golfers think it should be the norm.
In Scotland, cheap travel might be a factor, I'm more inclined to think that it's due to economic stratification. Folks like my wife and I, are not the folks running up the price of golf.
I've seen, and had a drink with, the "check list" golfers who make it possible for RDC, Cruden Bay, Nairn GC, et. al, to get the price they do. Cheap travel might be a factor, but I doubt it.
Let's be clear. I realize that my whining isn't going to change things one bit, any more than the griping by the Brora and Fraserburgh folks I've talked to will change their situation.
i was told that RDC's ferilizer budget would fund Golspie's entire greenkeeping operation for a year. Now, that's not the way it should be IMHO, but it gives you an idea of why they're a little jealous.
OTOH, we stayed in Golspie last year for about a week and we could walk out and play almost any time we liked. Much as I appreciate the big-name courses, I like the other ones even better.
Here's the deal... virtually everything about American golf either makes me sad or pisses me off.
I wish that weren't the case, but it is.
And exporting American golf to Scotland makes me sad... and it pisses me off.
K
Kalen Braley:
Perhaps American golfers go to Scotland to escape other whinny, fanny pack toting, loud talking American golfers!!
Sincerely,
John K
James Brown:
--- Quote from: Kalen Braley on March 29, 2016, 06:56:09 PM ---Perhaps American golfers go to Scotland to escape other whinny, fanny pack toting, loud talking American golfers!!
Sincerely,
John K
--- End quote ---
I do.
And I don't want more development around Dornoch, which will only bring more Americans!
James Brown:
--- Quote from: Kalen Braley on March 29, 2016, 10:56:46 AM ---Is Bandon any worse off because of its influx of courses?
--- End quote ---
I'm not sure Bandon is the right comparison here.
Perhaps a good comparison might be mid-20th Century St. Andrews. Once St. Andrews became a real global destination, it changed in irreversible ways. Did the dozen new courses built around St. Andrews improve that place really?
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