Rounds Of Golf Played in Central Arkansas Dip

Chester Butts remembers when golfers swarmed War Memorial Golf Course.

Since 2000, the number of rounds of golf played there has dropped by 30 percent, said Butts, the Little Rock course’s golf pro manager.

In 2002, 18,000 rounds of golf were played on the course, a steep decline from just a few years ago, when 30,000 rounds were played there.

Across the country, the number of rounds of golf played is declining very slightly. Between 2000 and 2001, the number slipped 0.1 percent, from 518.4 million to 518.1 million, according to the National Golf Course Owners Association. (Numbers for 2002 are expected to be released soon.)

Although statistics for Arkansas aren’t kept, Travis Creed, the chief operating officer for the Arkansas State Golf Association, estimates that rounds played in the state could be off by as much as 20 percent. Still, some courses report no decrease in the amount of golf played.

Butts said so many courses are stuck in the rough for reasons ranging from rapidly increasing fees to an oversupply of courses.

A study showed that golf accounted for more than $62 billion worth of goods and services sold in 2000, which was $4.2 billion more than the motion picture and sound recording industries generated together.

The occasional golfer who plays between one and seven rounds a year will spend about $8,200 over 20 years, according to a December 2002 study by SRI International of Menlo Park, Calif. A core golfer, one who plays between eight and 24 rounds a year, spends roughly $45,500 over 20 years, and an avid golfer playing more than 25 rounds a year shells out about $87,000, the report said.

With those kinds of dollars to be had, the Little Rock market became flooded with courses, Butts said. “Everybody wanted a piece of the pie,” he said.

Meanwhile, the greens fees jumped, causing many players to think twice before they pick up a club.

“People used to be able to play a couple of times a week,” Butts said. “Now they can’t play but a couple of times a month.”

The average green fees for the Little Rock area, he said, are $15-$20, but then the course tacks on another fee for the cart.

“It’s just gotten too expensive to play,” Butts said.

Butts said he predicts some courses might be sold because of the economic conditions.

To attract golfers to War Memorial, the greens fees were slashed from $14 to $11 and $2 was knocked off the price to rent a cart to $18 for 18 holes.

He said the move has lured golfers to the course.

Still, because of the decrease in revenue, War Memorial hasn’t kept up with maintenance projects and had to hold off on improving the course.

At Craighills Golf Course at Jonesboro, the economy also is being blamed for the drop in play, said an employee who wouldn’t release his name.

Membership fell from 95 in January 2002 to 65 in 2003, mainly because of the $500 initiation fee and $40 monthly fee to remain active.

Craighills isn’t doing anything special to encourage players at the field, the employee said, but it has decided to wait out the lackluster economy.

Travis Creed of the Arkansas State Golf Association said the golf course managers with whom he’s talked have pointed to the sluggish economy as the reason for the decrease in play.

“People are holding onto their money that used to be spent on golf,” Creed said. “There is a little bit of struggling going on right now, but it’s nothing that we think is permanent.”

To beef up the rounds of golf played in Arkansas, the ASGA recently unveiled a new marketing strategy called “Play Arkansas.” The program encourages the association’s 18,000 members to play golf courses in Arkansas.

“If they feel like they need to take a road trip, they need to take it in Arkansas,” Creed said. “We are pleased with the progress that we are making as far as promoting the game of golf.”