800 Golf Courses Have Closed in the Last Decade

#51
#51
Danl said:
I took up golf when I was in my early thirties. It was frustrating to get started. Best thing I ever did was enforce a strict "No Score Keeping" rule about 5 years ago. Really enjoy the game.

My little brother (6'5", 220) and I just got back from playing some RTJ courses in Alabama this week. We had to leave the state of Alabama a day early cuz our teeth were starting to get loose and fall out and our IQs were starting to drop. Other than that we had a great time.
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Where did you play? I'm headed to Capitol Hill for the first time later this summer. Ross Bridge is incredible, and the Oxmoor Valley courses are pretty nice, too.
 
#56
#56
The few times I played golf I enjoyed it. It was frustrating at times, but I enjoyed being outside, playing the game, and hanging out with friends or my dad. As a younger golfer the real draw was being able to drive around a golf cart on your own personal, paved trail. It was an amusement all on it's own.
 
#57
#57
kiddiedoc said:
Where did you play? I'm headed to Capitol Hill for the first time later this summer. Ross Bridge is incredible, and the Oxmoor Valley courses are pretty nice, too.
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We played at Hampton Cove near Huntsville. We'll probably play another location this fall when I'm back in TN. Nice courses, but the Highland course was closed for maintenance.
 
#59
#59
10 years ago was the housing market crash. They were building a lot of golf courses they shouldn't have
 
#60
#60
n_huffhines said:
10 years ago was the housing market crash. They were building a lot of golf courses they shouldn't have
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It was the Tiger Woods effect. A lot of people took up the game, and were unaware of the difficulty and frustration of the game.

Luckily, I started at a reasonably young age. It is much easier to pick up the game as a kid when you have all the time in the world.
 
#61
#61
Danl said:
We played at Hampton Cove near Huntsville. We'll probably play another location this fall when I'm back in TN. Nice courses, but the Highland course was closed for maintenance.
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Cool! Look at Ross Bridge (S. Birmingham) and The Judge at Capitol Hill (Prattville).
 
#62
#62
A lot of trends will live and die with the boomers. It has less to do with whippersnappers hating the sun and more to do with an aging cohort that has ruled the roost for quite a while. I know plenty of people 25-35 that play almost every week in the spring and summer. But the boomers are a gigantic group that cannot be replaced by the younger generations. Boomer developers built things other boomers would like. It's very practical from a business sense. Even if the place shuts down, if the ROI was satisfactory it was money well spent. Just because something closes doesn't mean it wasn't a success. Imagine what's going to happen when there's a major surge in assisted living complexes that will become obsolete once the bulk of the boomers are gone.
 
#63
#63
I finally gave my old clubs to the Salvation Army Thrift store. Enjoyed golf but hard to play and work unconventional hours. Was easier to play tennis because can play 3 sets in less than 2 hours plus can play tennis at night. However, if I were in the business world i would definitely play golf. I read somewhere that majority of big deals were consummated on golf courses. Just ask DJT.
 
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#64
#64
Danl said:
We played at Hampton Cove near Huntsville. We'll probably play another location this fall when I'm back in TN. Nice courses, but the Highland course was closed for maintenance.
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Try the two RTJ courses on beautiful Lake Wilson in Muscle Shoals. But stay in the Marriott in Florence if you stay overnight.
 
#65
#65
Golf is one of the few sports in which it is acceptable to drink beer while you play it. Hell, it's even encouraged! There's people riding around selling it to you while you play.

My game actually improves after a few because I loosen up and relax. But there is a point of diminishing returns: best holes are typically around 5 thru 14.
 
#69
#69
I wonder how many of those courses were in neighborhoods located in states that were drastically affected by the real estate crash that followed the 2007 stock market crash. I saw a lot of shuttered clubs in SW Fla during that time and I would assume there were many more in AZ and CA. In TN we lost a state run course or two because they were put in the middle of nowhere to try and create a tourist attraction but the tourists never came and the courses were ridiculously expensive to run.

I'll add that I grew up playing McCabe and Percy Warner 9 holer, which are public park courses in Nashville. After the advent of Tiger Woods I joined a club because the public courses got way overcrowded with people who had no idea what they were doing out there. I have noticed that the public courses seem to be a less crowded these days.
 
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#71
#71
Rishvol said:
I don't get how frisbee golf is becoming so popular
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It's cheap to start up, it's cheap to play, and can be done in a couple hours, max.

Plus you spend time outside, basically hiking while throwing frisbees.

Not hard to get at all.
 
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#72
#72
I used to think golf was boring an uninteresting, but I decided to pick it up earlier this year and I've really enjoyed it. It's a very difficult sport to master, but it is incredibly rewarding to progress and see a well struck ball.
 
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#73
#73
n_huffhines said:
10 years ago was the housing market crash. They were building a lot of golf courses they shouldn't have
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We had a few really nice courses that closed within 2 or 3 years of opening, it's actually kind of neat seeing them slowly revert back to wild.
 
#74
#74
Toujours Pret said:
We had a few really nice courses that closed within 2 or 3 years of opening, it's actually kind of neat seeing them slowly revert back to wild.
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It's crazy to see that. The former AF course at Pope AAF is really cool to see. It's been ten years and you can still make out the cart path, making it all the more interesting.
 
#75
#75
doozer said:
It's cheap to start up, it's cheap to play, and can be done in a couple hours, max.

Plus you spend time outside, basically hiking while throwing frisbees.

Not hard to get at all.
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It looks fun. Would see a ton of guys playing at Shelby in Nashville. Plus it offers more shade, meaning more optimal outdoor conditions.
 
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