Is this guy crazy or what

[Mulligan]

no turkey?

that's the price you pay for two tweets in a row lol

Not very pleased with the person who invented stroke play....Match play is way better suited to my game... You know how many birdies it takes to make up for launching two OB in a row off the same tee box? Way more than I am capable of making, ha!


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[Big_Hitter]

Not very pleased with the person who invented stroke play....Match play is way better suited to my game... You know how many birdies it takes to make up for launching two OB in a row off the same tee box? Way more than I am capable of making, ha!


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we have our first two matches today in the member guest. two man best ball net

 

[Mulligan]

we have our first two matches today in the member guest. two man best ball net

Good luck, Big, and be thankful, Im not your partner... 6 holes you would be very thankful Im your partner, and the other 12 you would be thinking why do I even have a partner.
Case in point. Last year I played in a 18 hole one day tourney. 6 scramble, 6 best ball, 6 alternate shot. We shot 82 near bottom of 50 team tourney. Yet we brought home almost all the dough (almost $400) and everyone was pissed. We took 2 of the 3 total skins out because I birdied two tough holes by myself, and I won the closest to pin on the 200 yard par 3. I am just too wild and cant hold it together a hole round.


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[aja8888]

I just put one quote in as a sample. You can Google searches like "golf on decline" and see all the articles and additional statistics on people leaving the sport and golf course and club closures.

Here is a quote from the Economist article in the link above:

"In 2006 some 30m Americans were golfers. But since then golf has hit a rough patch. And it is now struggling to attract a new generation of American players. In 2013, 160 of the country’s 14,600 golf facilities closed, the 8th consecutive year of net closures. The number of players has fallen to around 25m."

From a Bloomberg article, Golf Market Stuck in Bunkers as Thousands Leave Sport

"The golf industry is in the rough. Once the go-to activity for corporate bonding, the sport is suffering from an exodus of players, a lack of interest among millennials and the mass closure of courses."

Boy you sure are getting wound up about this. I never didn't say it wasn't declining but just mentioned it is probably region and age group specific. I also stated the experience in my geographical area and how it is going nuts to get a tee time and join an expensive club.

Citing articles read on the internet is fraught with danger in my opinion as lots of time these articles are cherry picking data and not always providing information from reliable sources.

It's my opinion that golf these days follows the money. There has been a transformation with public and SOME private courses as large conglomerates have bought up many courses and hire management companies to run them. It's hard to get a handle on the participation rates as those companies are private and probably don't release there utilization data to just anyone who wants to write an article to fill newsprint.

But of course, we all believe everything we read, especially if it is on the 'net.

 

[aja8888]

Aja, I was hearing a few chainsaws yesterday. Storms blew a few trees down and the owners had to get rid of them. Luckily I only have leaves all over my yard. The area courses always need the money, so one guy will be in charge and call an area course each week and negotiates $20 green fees with donuts, coffee, along with sandwich, chips, and drink for lunch promising about 100 players showing to play.


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Darn, what a deal! We can't even get lunch around here for that these days. At The Woodlands Country Club, a lousy sandwich and coke is running $18 and the tip will bring it to over $20.

 

[Mulligan]

Darn, what a deal! We can't even get lunch around here for that these days. At The Woodlands Country Club, a lousy sandwich and coke is running $18 and the tip will bring it to over $20.

Hey, we are poor around here! The courses are all green and the putting greens are good, but they will never been confused with Augusta, Ha! I played a while back as a guest at a posh private course with a member friend who I managed to offend.... I noticed an area where no grass was growing and appeared to me to be a dirt area that wouldnt grow grass. I told him, you need to get the groundskeeper out here and fix this dirt patch... He barks back..."That isnt a dirt path dammit, that is a transition area"....Well they are dirt patches that wont grow grass where I play, anyways....


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[Bestwifeever]

Boy you sure are getting wound up about this. I never didn't say it wasn't declining but just mentioned it is probably region and age group specific. I also stated the experience in my geographical area and how it is going nuts to get a tee time and join an expensive club.

Citing articles read on the internet is fraught with danger in my opinion as lots of time these articles are cherry picking data and not always providing information from reliable sources.

It's my opinion that golf these days follows the money. There has been a transformation with public and SOME private courses as large conglomerates have bought up many courses and hire management companies to run them. It's hard to get a handle on the participation rates as those companies are private and probably don't release there utilization data to just anyone who wants to write an article to fill newsprint.

But of course, we all believe everything we read, especially if it is on the 'net.

I also think there was a golf bubble that overinflated for some reason (Tiger Woods was part of it imo). Courses were definitely overbuilt as a result. Whatever statistical decline there might have been more recently for whatever reason (Tiger Woods again was part of it imo , but the recession affected many luxury items, not just the overbuilt courses), golf's popularity is still higher than the pre-bubble numbers.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

But of course, we all believe everything we read, especially if it is on the 'net.

If you don't want to believe hard stats from places like the Golf Federation and reports by stock analysts on golf related stocks, that is certainly your choice.

 

[aja8888]

I also think there was a golf bubble that overinflated for some reason (Tiger Woods was part of it imo). Courses were definitely overbuilt as a result. Whatever statistical decline there might have been more recently for whatever reason (Tiger Woods again was part of it imo , but the recession affected many luxury items, not just the overbuilt courses), golf's popularity is still higher than the pre-bubble numbers.

I should have mentioned the Tiger Woods phenomena but I failed to do so. He brought a lot of attention to the game and a lot of new players. The thing a lot of new players don't realize is how darn hard the game is. So with that bubble and the resulting recession and Woods falling on his face, we had the drop in course use.

 

[aja8888]

Hey, we are poor around here! The courses are all green and the putting greens are good, but they will never been confused with Augusta, Ha! I played a while back as a guest at a posh private course with a member friend who I managed to offend.... I noticed an area where no grass was growing and appeared to me to be a dirt area that wouldnt grow grass. I told him, you need to get the groundskeeper out here and fix this dirt patch... He barks back..."That isnt a dirt path dammit, that is a transition area"....Well they are dirt patches that wont grow grass where I play, anyways....


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Thanks, I can now use that "transition area" idea on DW when she complains about the yard work I am not doing at the moment.

 

[KCGeezer]

If I could convince my wife to sell this albatross of a house I would be perfectly content in a one bedroom oceanfront condo on the outer banks. Maybe one day. Nothing wrong with minimalist living.

+1

 

[marko]

I also think there was a golf bubble that overinflated for some reason (Tiger Woods was part of it imo). Courses were definitely overbuilt as a result.

Good point.

Around here North of Boston there was a hockey bubble back in the late 60's and early 70's brought on by Bobby Orr and the Bruins.

There was a hockey rink on every street corner it seems and ice time was almost impossible to get year-round, except for the dreaded 3AM slot. Some towns had 3-4 different rinks.

Now most of those rinks are gone; I'd say close to 80-90% are no longer in operation.

I do know that golf clubs in the area are more popular than ever with insane membership fees...$100K+ at some...with a waiting list.

 

[FUEGO]

it's declining because new players find the game too difficult and requires too much effort to learn

i.e. quitters

This will sound crazy, but perhaps it's the attitude of some old timers that play the game that keeps the new players away?

 

[aja8888]

the woodlands or bentwater?

Woodlands used to be $20 K 20 years ago but now it's much higher. I heard $50 K from a member who is a friend, and there is a waiting list.

Bentwater was $8.5 K in 1994 with property purchase. I bought property then and the seller paid my fee. I sold out in 2007 and paid $12.5K for the new owner. Don't know what it is today.

Carlton Woods was $100 K to join but the course was bought by the membership earlier this year and members who wanted "in" had to put in another $100 K each. I have a friend who is a member so I know this is right.

None of these clubs openly post membership fees to the general public. You have to call them and meet to find out what the fees are.

 

[aja8888]

This will sound crazy, but perhaps it's the attitude of some old timers that play the game that keeps the new players away?

Yes, that is crazy thinking. It's a handicapped scoring sport.

I've been playing golf regularly for 50 years. Most of us old timers still play because we still can. We don't really care whether or not the younger crowd plays this sport or not.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Obviously this guy is living the life he wants so why should we judge? He could die tomorrow and if he was in a job he hated he would have wasted his life. If he is sorry down the road then he will live with his choices. If this was one of my kids I would keep my big mouth shut because I value the relationship and you don't need to tell adults what to do. They need to live their own lives.

 

[Bestwifeever]

This will sound crazy, but perhaps it's the attitude of some old timers that play the game that keeps the new players away?

I used to take DS golfing when he was 8 (DH doesn't enjoy golf so it was up to me) and even this dreaded combination of woman golfer and little kid was perfectly welcome. You have to know how to play--not be good necessarily (I'm terrible) but know what to do on a course, like in most any other endeavour. Your kids might like it--DS started in a park district program at 6 and it is still his favorite sport today. I took noncredit golf classes at the community college to learn.

 

[redduck]

So, which one of the three guys below wins the "who is the craziest" contest?

The guy below says he's RE'd at age 32 with a $750K portfolio of which $500K is in real estate equity. And others are congratulating him. The rest is in cash and bitcoins (!?), although he also says most of that cash will be used to buy solar panels (?!).

Here's the post:

https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/4qvklw/fireed_just_before_32_with_750k

Here is a 5 minute youtube video I find very inspirational and relevant to this thread:

...Carlton Woods was $100 K to join but the course was bought by the membership earlier this year and members who wanted "in" had to put in another $100 K each. I have a friend who is a member so I know this is right.

I went to grammar school with a kid named Carlton Woods. I've occasionally wondered whatever happened to him. Never knew he was named after a golf course. In retrospect, that explains a lot.

 

[aaronc879]

So, which one of the three guys below wins the "who is the craziest" contest?







I went to grammar school with a kid named Carlton Woods. I've occasionally wondered whatever happened to him. Never knew he was named after a golf course. In retrospect, that explains a lot.

I don't think any of them are crazy. They are doing what makes them happy. The first two are living simple lives that allow them to work very little at a young age. Sounds good to me.

 

[redduck]

I don't think any of them are crazy. They are doing what makes them happy. The first two are living simple lives that allow them to work very little at a young age. Sounds good to me.

I agree. But, I raised the question in the spirit of the thread. And, I wanted to toss the wealthy guy in "to even things up."

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

If I could convince my wife to sell this albatross of a house I would be perfectly content in a one bedroom oceanfront condo on the outer banks. Maybe one day. Nothing wrong with minimalist living.

+1

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[daylatedollarshort]

I agree. But, I raised the question in the spirit of the thread. And, I wanted to toss the wealthy guy in "to even things up."

The grocery store guy could probably buy 4 -5 years of not having to work at all for the $100K membership fee. As aaronc879 said any option is a valid choice depending on an individual's priorities.

We have considered moving to a beach condo, too. We have enjoyed renting small condos on vacation in Hawaii where we were outside most of the time anyway.

 

[eastnortheast]

I agree with what (most) people are saying - It is possible to live like a college student on a relatively small amount per year. You can do this if you only make $15 K a year or if you make $1.5MM/year.

THe difference is that the person who makes $1.5MM/year has the option to live differently from the college student lifestyle if they choose. That is where I want to be - if I want to live cheaply, great. But, if I want to splurge once in a while, moreso the better.