“I play every Saturday at a course six hours [by train] from my home,” he told me.  I asked how long he spent on the golf course.  “About six hours,” he said matter of factly, “but that includes a stop for lunch.”

        The point of my story is that the Japanese love golf and

        The United States, by the way, owns more than half the world’s golf courses (more than 18,000) and half the players, around 26 million who tee it up at least once annually.  By the numbers, that amounts to 1,444 golfers per course.  There is still some shake out to come in the golf industry, but the data imply that the golf clubs that survive will have some numbers on their side.  The key for each course will be to market and advertise so well that golfers will be willing to travel a few extra hours for the experience.

Metropolitan New York City golfers can be on the first tee at one of the golf courses at Bay Creek in Cape Charles, VA, in about six hours, the time many Japanese routinely spend in traveling to a golf course.  Make a long weekend of it by staying in one of Bay Creek’s comfortable condo units, large enough for a foursome or family.  The Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus 18s (#4 green on the Nicklaus course shown above) are both sleek and challenging, thanks to the prevailing winds off the beautiful Chesapeake Bay.