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Highlands Today

$4 Gas Puts A Divot Into Local Golf Scene

High Fuel Prices Drive Costs Up, Play Down

Jasmina Meyer/Highlands Today

Herb Shinall putts on the green during a round at Golf Hammock Country Club Wednesday in Sebring.

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By Brian Gjurgevich | Highlands Today

Published: July 6, 2008

SEBRING — It's hardly a laughing matter, but Sam Timms can't help but let out a nervous chuckle. The sub-par economy and high-priced gas have taken a divot from local golf courses' bottom lines.

"We're struggling," said Timms, director of golf at Highlands Ridge in Avon Park. "The reason I laugh is because our company's based out of Orlando, and our bosses were here today going over different numbers and where we obtain play.

"The economy's really affecting those numbers, and people don't realize how much."

Summer is typically a slow season for Highlands County's golf courses: Numbers of tee times and golf outings tend to fall as temperatures and humidity rises.

But $4-a-gallon gasoline has many involved in the local golf industry worried about what kind of hazards lie ahead.

Playing Together
Roger Giegerich, director of golf at Golf Hammock in Sebring, said tee times at his course are down 15 to 20 percent compared to 2007, much higher than the 3 to 4 percent loss he says the Florida golf industry has seen as a whole this year.

Gas prices, along with the outward migration of snowbirds at the end of spring, both play a role, he said, especially in an area that's chock-full of places to tee it up.

"There are 12 courses within a drivers' range, and we're all competing for the same business," Giegerich said. "Summertime brings play to a crawl, and it comes to a point where you're not trying to steal any business away from anyone, because everyone's business the same." Giegerich said he'd like to see the area courses band together in some sort of coalition to help each other out during the lean times and promote the area's fairways and greens in a cooperative effort.

"Instead of trying to compete with each other, I'd like to see us try to put our heads together and draw people in as a group of courses," he said. "To me, that makes more sense — one course on its own, or one hotel, can't bring all the people. With a cooperative effort, maybe we'll have more success.

"The tough thing is getting everyone on board. I'm hoping they'll be receptive."

Check In, Tee It Up
When it comes to golf in the Heartland, it's not just the courses that have a vested interest in seeing increased traffic. Local hotels — most notably Sebring's Inn on the Lakes and Kenilworth Lodge — rely heavily on selling golf packages to fill their rooms.

Phil Hatfield, whose family owns Inn on the Lakes, said around 50 percent of his business comes from golf packages, where a group of out-of-town players stay at the hotel and reserve tee times at their choice of area courses.

He said business was up slightly over the prior year in April and May, but that June, July and August will give a better gauge on how fuel prices are affecting numbers.

"If they come over four-to-a-car, it's only costing them $1 a gallon," said Hatfield, who noted most of his hotel's golf packages are bought by Floridians, especially those from Sarasota, Naples, Orlando and the Space Coast. "[With gas prices rising,] the question is, when are they going to hit a point where they say, 'forget it.'

"I'm sure people will have second thoughts when it costs $100 to fill their tank." Madge Stewart, who handles larger golf groups and marketing for Kenilworth Lodge, said gas prices are certainly a factor in the out-of-town golfers' decision process. But like any good golfer on the course, they're adapting to where the ball lies.

"I see people carpooling more than they have in the past," Stewart said. "And that's smart."

It's Not Easy Being Green
Just as families struggle with the rising cost of fuel, golf courses have also felt the pinch at the pump.

Fleets of mowers, driving-range-pickers and maintenance carts require petroleum, and as fairways and rough grow, budgets follow suit.

"All our equipment is either diesel fuel or gas," Timms said. "It's increased our budget tremendously."

Joe Staffieri, director of operations at Sebring Country Club, said his fleet is electric, but that doesn't mean fuel prices aren't affecting his budget.

"Everything on the maintenance is through the roof," he said. "Gas prices are making our products more expensive to be delivered.

"Play may be down, but you still have to keep conditions up because grass is growing like crazy this time of year." With less players bringing revenue in, Hatfield worries some courses will be forced to cut back on maintenance, which would adversely affect how out-of-towners view the area's golf scene.

He said Highlands Ridge North is his most requested course among golf-package buyers, mainly because it has the reputation of being the best maintained course in the area.

"We have some great courses in the area, but not all of them have the resources of a Highlands Ridge North," Hatfield said. "If you're not getting rain and you don't have the resources to keep the course at a certain level, it really wipes a course out.

"It's critical that our courses stay in good shape, because we want our golfers to leave here having had a great experience, but we don't want to put our play in one basket."

Staffieri said local courses must find a delicate balance between maintaining courses without inflating green fees past what cash-strapped players are willing to pay.

"Expendable income is down for everyone, so something has to give," he said. "Everyone feels a pinch, but we'll get through it."

Brian Gjurgevich can be reached at 863-386-5841 or bgjurgevich@highlandsto-day.com

Highlands Ridge Takes Action To Keep Play On The Upswing
AVON PARK — As tee times dwindle and maintenance costs rise with the cost of gas, Highlands Ridge is taking steps to keep play on the upswing.

In an effort to save on expenses and improve the efficiency of its maintenance staff, Highlands Ridge is closing one of its courses on Mondays and the other on Tuesdays through September.

This past week, for instance, the north course was closed on Monday and the south course was closed on Tuesday.

"Business is off, and we're looking for ways to save," said Sam Timms, director of golf at Highlands Ridge. "The numbers of rounds played on given day is down because of the summer months, and one course can easily accommodate it all. It also saves us a day's worth of labor at one or the other course and keeps us totally caught up with our regular maintenance practices." Highlands Ridge is also actively soliciting memberships to the public and not restricting them to Highlands Ridge residents.

"Memberships have never been completely restricted, but they've been geared toward residents," said Timms, a 41-year veteran of the golf industry. "Golf is very seasonal around here, and every time it's down, we see it rebound.

"I certainly hope this isn't the exception."

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