|
America's favorite sport may still
<br />be baseball, but golf is rapidly
<br />catching up. The number of gol-
<br />fers in this country is growing,
<br />recent surveys indicate, and
<br />could reach 30 million in the
<br />next ten years. How do we meet
<br />the demand. Angelo Palermo,
<br />vice president of Golf Course De-
<br />velopment`for the National Golf
<br />Foundation, has some ideas ...
<br />read on!
<br />m
<br />0
<br />r
<br />6 BY BILL
<br />olf, if you haven't heard, is
<br />booming in the U.S. In fact,
<br />its popularity as a national
<br />pastime is increasing at such a rate
<br />that researchers at the National Golf
<br />Foundation (NGF) are now project-
<br />ing that the demand for the game
<br />could require the construction of
<br />4,000 new golf courses over the next
<br />ten years.
<br />They also believe, because nearly
<br />70 percent of the golf played in the
<br />United States today is being played
<br />on public courses, that upwards of
<br />1,500 of those facilities may have to
<br />be municipal facilities. As a result,
<br />the NGF is heading up a major effort
<br />to assess community public golf
<br />course needs and develop new faci-
<br />lities, using their resource of golf
<br />equipment manufacturers,
<br />architects, builders and developers.
<br />Angelo Palermo is NGF's vice
<br />president of Golf Course Develop-
<br />ment. Before joining the NGF, Mr.
<br />Palermo was the director of parks
<br />and recreation for the town of
<br />Ramapo, New York, for 22 of the 31
<br />years he has worked in the field of
<br />municipal parks and recreation.
<br />Among his Ramapo responsibilities
<br />was developing and operating
<br />Spook Rock Golf Course, which is
<br />ranked among the top 50 public golf
<br />courses in America by Golf Digest
<br />Magazine.
<br />He recently outlined for PARKS &
<br />RECREATION some of the reasons
<br />NGF and others believe the in-
<br />centives and opportunities have
<br />never been greater for those com-
<br />munities that may be thinking of de-
<br />veloping their first golf facility, or
<br />perhaps expanding an existing one.
<br />"First," he says, "There seems to
<br />be no question that the demand for
<br />public golf facilities is growing."
<br />To illustrate his point, he notes
<br />that, according to the foundation's
<br />latest published research, the num-
<br />ber of golfers in the U.S. has nearly
<br />BURBAUM
<br />doubled since 1970; rising from
<br />11.2 million to 21.7 million. This is
<br />an average increase of four percent
<br />per year. However, in the last three
<br />years alone, their numbers have in-
<br />creased on the average of eight per-
<br />cent per year.
<br />"If the U.S. golfing population
<br />continues to increase at anywhere
<br />near its current rate, it could easily
<br />skyrocket to well over 30 million in
<br />just the next ten years," he said.
<br />Palermo also points out that, of
<br />today's 21.7 million golfers, nearly
<br />eight out of ten (or over 17 million
<br />of them) play at public facilities. If
<br />this percentage holds, there could
<br />easily be more than 25 million pub-
<br />lic golfers by the year 2000. As Paler-
<br />mo points out, more and more of
<br />today's public golf facilities, es-
<br />pecially those in the large metropol-
<br />itan areas, are already feeling the
<br />crunch.
<br />"As the demand for golf grows,"
<br />he says, "we can expect even more
<br />crowded course conditions where
<br />it not only takes longer to play, but
<br />where tee times are harder to get ...
<br />and where, because of overplay,
<br />course conditions deteriorate."
<br />SInce 1970, the average number
<br />of players per facility in the
<br />United States has jumped from
<br />1,100 to 1,800 per facility, and the
<br />average number of rounds played
<br />per facility has risen from 26,000 to
<br />36,000. There are now approx-
<br />imately 12,407 golf facilities in the
<br />United States. Of this number 4,898
<br />are private; 5,583 are daily -fee (pub-
<br />lic but not municipally owned or
<br />operated) and 1,926 are municipal.
<br />The number of courses in Amer-
<br />ica is growing at a rate of .135 to 150
<br />per year. To some, this may seem
<br />like an abundance of golf course
<br />construction. To others in the in-
<br />dustry, however, it's purely a case of
<br />supply and demand—and in this
<br />P&R/MAY 1989127
<br />
|