These thoughts (Central Ohio golf) have all taken me to daydream while mowing last week for 2 hours. Was listening to the TFE Pod Cast with @GarrettFM and Nick Schreiber and Old Barnwell, that sparked my thoughts.
With the influx of people, infrastructure, etc that we are all hearing and talking about with Intel moving in, is there a NEED for a new course(s) (public and/or private)?
I hear about waiting lists at private courses all the time and people not being able to join. Those that ARE members are frustrated with certain parameters needed to make times or their availability of times.
The list of publics that @PlumbBobMillionaire provided makes me barf. Conditions at all are putrid for the most part and he laid it out pretty accurately. Which IS pretty unfortunate because many of them used to be a treat to play.
Iām a member at a semi-private course, granted not near Columbus proper, but Iād love to see a course or facility that āgets it.ā Know what I mean? Am I being to vague?
Grant, I love you and you know this, there is a huge need here within two hours but there isnāt a lot of good land AND someone with the vision. Look at Findlay CC, just raised rates and lost 40+ members because of it (looking at you @RunOfTheDill ) and every other course is thriving. Just a weird financial picture in our area.
Iām enjoying a patio beer right now instead of working. This is something Iād love to talk about more. Red hawk is a prime example of money aināt enough
We shopped clubs again this year in Cincy and NKY.
The monthly price had doubled and the initiation fees are laughable. Financial perks are non-existent.
Iād rather play muni golf (warts and all) and do a nice trip each year.
I think there is a lack of talent in golf industry, and good people in the industry are leaving. Good management and good greens keepers are few and far between. Local government throws money at the things they think will make them money rathe than what attracts golfers paying $100 per year to post on a golf message board. Devou has a beautiful clubhouse bustling with activity but the entire 8th fairway was still under water last Friday.
Miles of Golf range pricing is criminal, $12 for a small bucket of balls?!?!
I used to love that place, then work office closed during COVID and I didnāt visit for a couple years. I know they have the Trackman or whatever system there now, its interesting but not sure itās super accurate. Was shocked a couple weeks ago when I was in the area and went to hit a bucket of balls.
Range balls everywhere have gotten insane. Most places, a bucket of 100 or so is going to run 20-25 bucks, and youāll either be hitting 20 year old cracked pinnacle balls or balls they found on the course that may or may not have mower blade chunks out of them.
The pricing is very similar at Southwest Golf Ranch, but they at least have way nicer mats and more grass options than Miles of Golf (although the grass is overgrown while they wait on their fairway mower to get repaired hah)
I completely agree with you on the TopTracer used at Miles and Southwest. I think the Trackman range setup, like Tri County Golf Ranch used to have, is way more accurateā¦ but itās kind of a moot point when theyāre using old, flight restricted range balls.
I like having some numbers even if theyāre far from perfect, and virtual golf is more fun than bashing balls at a non-tracked range. If the basic ranges werenāt also getting more expensive while delivering less, Iād go to them more often.
Iāve conceded this is going to be my approach more the foreseeable future. While Iād love to be a member somewhere, I can basically play as much public golf as I want, play in a few Refuge events, and have a Pinehurst level trip for less than an average at best club would cost me annually. I just canāt justify the lifestyle at this point.
With the influx of people, infrastructure, etc that we are all hearing and talking about with Intel moving in, is there a NEED for a new course(s) (public and/or private)?
Iād love it if someone bought Raccoon off 161 near Granville and put a bunch of money into it. Itās sadly up for sale again. It was never the most pristinely conditioned course, but the cost was always in line with the conditioning. No problem from me to see a few weeds or have some sketchy lies when I pay $40 for a weekend morning. Itās when I pay $70 and get the same experience that I have issues with.
The location is close enough to Columbus that if it was built into a great facility and taken care of properly I bet people would make the drive. Especially people that live on the east side of the city.
But unfortunately all I hear of regarding Intel moving in is that more courses plan on closing, not the other way around. Thereās rumors (no idea how true they are) that Kyber Run near Intel is on the way out within the next couple years too.
Knowing what people paid for farmland around intel compared to our part of the state Iāll be shocked if any course around there stays open. Some people reporting $75,000/ac which is genuinely insane.
If I were a betting person, every locally owned golf course on the east-ish side of Columbus has an expiration date. Raccoon, Kyber, St Albans, Royal
American are gonna find themselves looking at offers very soon, if not already.
Iām far from a cynic but there are some days the effort required to play barely exceeds the golf experience.
There is definitely a need in Central Ohio but it seems like a pipe dream. The area has lost more courses (4?) than it has gained (0?) since I moved here in 2005.
Again, purely rumors and not sure how true, but Iāve heard that Raccoon has something in the zoning or whatnot of that land that is preventing it from being developed for industry/other purposes for a number of years which is why it has bounced to a couple owners recently I believe instead of just being gobbled up by industry.
They literally canāt build housing fast enough to keep up the population increase in central Ohio, nobody in their right mind would be investing into a golf course right now.
The other problem is that for most courses you are driving 30-45 minutes outside of the city to play a 5 hour round on a shitty course.
Iām about ready to just bite the bullet and join somewhere.
One of the board members is a scumbag and bought up some of the shares in a less than stellar manner. Needless to say the shareholder meeting has been more exciting in recent years (allegedly)
The best part about miles of golf is that thereās still a batting cage there. I wish they didnāt tear down the Cincinnati golf center and build townhomes. It was like a half mile away from me.
