Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

Fairways get lonelier

A local golf slump mirrors a national one. Observers blame changing lifestyles.

By Cristina Silva, Times Staff Writer
Published March 2, 2008

Jeff Jackson watches the PGA Championship every year religiously. He would love nothing more than for his grandson to be the next Tiger Woods. Heck, he would settle for the chance to watch Woods play in person.

But the avid golfer hasn't had time to practice his own game in recent years. Between putting in extra hours at the office and helping his wife renovate their St. Petersburg home, he says he's lucky if he can get in 18 holes twice a month.

"It's hard to get away," he said on a recent afternoon before teeing off at Mangrove Bay Golf Course in St. Petersburg. "I love golf, and if it was up to me, I would be out here all the time, but I don't see that happening any time soon."

A lackluster economy, unfavorable weather and a change in family dynamics have contributed to golfers like Jackson playing fewer rounds in recent years, according to area golf courses.

The trend has sparked a growing debate in the local golf industry about the future of the game and what can be done to attract new and lifelong players.

-Airco Golf Course in Clearwater sold 3,453 fewer rounds in 2007 than it did in 2005.

-At the Treasure Island Golf and Tennis Club, golf rounds were down by 600 last month compared to the same time in 2006.

-At the semiprivate Mainlands Golf Course in Pinellas Park, the number of rounds played has stayed consistent, but there has been no increase in sales.

-At Mangrove Bay, a city-operated course in St. Petersburg, golfers played 78,384 rounds in 2007, down from 84,287 in 2000.

"A slight drop like this isn't devastating, but if it gets worse, it could be devastating," said Jeff Hollis, director of St. Petersburg's Golf Courses Department.

The downturn reflects a national golf recession, according to a recent study by the National Golf Foundation.

The total number of people who play has declined or remained flat each year since 2000, dropping to about 26-million from 30-million, according to the Jupiter-based foundation.

"It is certainly a concern to the industry," said Jim Demick, executive director of the Florida State Golf Association, a nonprofit group based in Tampa, who warned that the situation could be graver than the picture painted by statistics.

"The numbers may be deceptively mild," he said. "With the harsh winter they have been having up North, Florida should be killing it this year, and we are not seeing the numbers."

At Airco in Clearwater, director Larry Thomas plans to offer golf packages to local hotels to bring in new business. He also will start advertising the golf course on billboards and by posting signs on nearby major roads.

In St. Petersburg, officials first noticed a drop in golf rounds at the city's three golf courses after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when the economy began to spiral.

To save money, staffers were let go, old turf equipment went ignored and the city expanded instruction, hoping to reach out to new players.

"We have weathered the storm," Hollis said.

Still, some golfers stayed away.

In 2003, Hollis chalked it up to frequent rain. In 2004, he blamed hurricanes. In recent years, the economy was the likely culprit.

But industry experts warn that the root of the problem might be something far less short-lived.

"The change in family lifestyles has changed the amount of golf people are playing," said Demick, the Florida State Golf Association director. "Fathers who used to play golf all weekend long now have to play in the morning so that in the afternoon they can go to their kids' soccer or Little League games."

If that's true, the culture shift could mean an end to a game once reserved for corporate types. To drum up customers, many area golf courses are transforming the green into a place that welcomes Dad and Mom and Junior.

"We are trying to get into the schools and make it a lifetime sport again," said Cathy Hayduke, recreation director for Treasure Island, which oversees the Treasure Island Golf and Tennis Club.

The club is considering adding golf lessons for children and outreach programs with area schools.

"We want to get them young," Hayduke said.

Reaching out to children seems to have paid off for the Dunedin Country Club. The golf course, which has offered junior instruction for years, has managed to buck the trend and sell out rounds nearly every day this winter, said John Falcone, the club's head golf pro.

"We treat everyone like they were family," he said.

Cristina Silva can be reached at 727 893-8846 or csilva@sptimes.com.

[Last modified March 1, 2008, 21:44:21]