Brutal reality of golf course ownership

For those of us with Walter Mitty dreams of running our own golf course, the story of Parkland Golf Club in Greenwood, SC, sends a sober chill up the spine. After more than 20 years, the course has closed, and although I was unable to talk with anyone associated with the club, simple math tells all we need to know
Parkland was designed by John Park and opened in 1985; no telling if the course's name was a tribute to the architect or reflected the environment. The few photos I was able to find show something of a parkland setting. Greenwood is midway between the cities of Columbia, the state capital, and the sophisticated Greenville. The

The 18-hole Parkland Golf Club is available for the cost of a home at the Cliffs Communities.

Greenwood County Airport is adjacent to the course and can accommodate small private planes. The course is set within a community of homes with prices that will remind you of the 1970s (they start below $200,000).
Up to the end, the semi-private Parkland was a bargain to play, with green fees topping out at $28. But in its final years, the course generated just 10,000 rounds per year, 18,000 at the peak a few years earlier. Simple multiplication says it all: 10,000 rounds at a maximum of $28 means the course owner had less than $300,000 annually from golf operations to pay all expenses and reinvest in the golf course. These days, that hardly seems enough to pay for the gas in the lawn mowers let alone improvements to the course.

    Local golf competition in a sparsely populated area also had to be a factor. Within 10 miles, there are a half dozen other public golf courses and a few private ones. A local nine-hole course also closed recently.
   Coldwell Banker's National Sales center has the listing for the course in behalf of the bank holding the note on the property. The price for the 18-hole course, including clubhouse and an eight-acre driving range that conceivably could be used for housing, is just $800,000, down from $1.8 million before the bankruptcy. About an hour up the road, at The Cliffs Communities, single-family homes at $800,000 are at the lower end of the market.
   If you are interested, contact Kathy Bissell, VP of Golf Course Sales, at (904) 285-5465 or visit Coldwell Banker's web site.

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Sunday, 06 January 2008 07:16

Last Updated on Saturday, 05 January 2008 12:19

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