Golf courses react differently to changing golf industry

WEST ORANGE COUNTY  Owners of two West Orange public golf courses have reacted in different ways to the changing climate of the golf industry.

After the industry’s peak in the 1990s and early 2000s, golf courses have needed to respond to what the National Golf Foundation has called a decrease in demand. 

In 2014, 201 golf facilities permanently closed, though the opening of several new and renovated facilities makes a total of 144 fewer golf facilities, according to a NGF 2015 Golf Facilities in the U.S. study.

Windermere Country Club 

The owners of Windermere Country Club announced the golf course and country club will close April 18. Developers have proposed building 95 single-family homes on the property, with each unit being a minimum half-acre lot.

Paul Chipok, the attorney representing owner Bryan DeCunha, noted that the golf industry is changing, with a total of 4 million fewer golfers since 2006. 

To stay open, the Windermere Country Club needs extensive maintenance, Chipok said. The irrigation system at the country club needs to be redone, an expense that would cost nearly $1 million, according to Chipok. A water system needs to be installed at the clubhouse, because the clubhouse currently uses a well that is not functioning properly. 

“Rounds are down, prices on the rounds are down, the course is an older course — and (in addition to) normal maintenance — which is extensive in and of itself — there’s a lot of capital improvements that are necessary,” Chipok said.

“The golf industry in a whole is in a decline. The days of private clubs — it’s very tough to make it happen, obviously, with the economy being the way it is, but also with websites like Golf Now, where everything becomes discounted golf. Golf courses are having a really hard time covering costs.” — Nick Slattery

To proceed with the plan, the county has requested the developer file a petition to vacate the plat — removing the golf course from the plat. 

The Windermere Country Club is currently in the process of filing the petition with the county, according to Chipok. If the petition is approved, it would change the wording on the piece of land that designates it as a golf course, and it would release development rights from the county to the developer. 

Many long-term residents of the Windermere Club, the community that is part of the Windermere Country Club, have voiced fierce opposition to the development.

“We own property on the golf course, and we paid a premium dollar for that property, and if (DeCunha) converts it to property, we’ll all lose a significant dollar value,” said Bruce Hicks, a homeowner in the Windermere Club.

Leigh Ann Dyal, president of the Windermere Club homeowners association, has encouraged community members to meet with county commissioners to ask them not to vote to allow the space to be developed. 

“The homeowners association is totally against development of the 95 homes they want to bring in,” Dyal said. 

West Orange Country Club

Owners of the West Orange Country Club are taking a different approach. They want to make the club into a place that will attract more members. 

On July 15, 2015, private owners, who all are current members, bought the West Orange Country Club for $1.6 million. They hired Nick Slattery to manage the club, and his company Down to Earth is working on the maintenance. 

The country club has been working to beautify the course — and other features of the club — to make it more appealing to members. More than 40 dead trees were removed from the facility. 

The club has spent more than $300,000 in capital expenditures since the club was purchased in July. Some capital improvements include resurfacing the parking lot, fixing the clubhouse roof, painting the clubhouse and installing a new air-conditioning unit inside the club house. 

“It’s come together nicely,” Slattery said. “The course is in excellent shape.” 

The club also has plans to resurface the tennis courts, repave the pool and install a fire pit. To combat the challenges of the industry, the owners are working on spending money up front to put out a good product and satisfy customers. 

Although the owners want to keep a golf course at West Orange Country Club, they also want to create other perks for members and visitors that extend beyond merely a golf club. 

“We’re trying to create more of a social feel there than a golf feel,” Slattery said. “It’s not a golf club — it’s a country club.”

The club is trying to build its membership, and Slattery expects to have a full membership and a waiting list within the next three years. 

Before the purchase, the club was owned by other members who had an equity share in the club under the name “West Orange Country Club Inc.” It operated as a nonprofit but was going bankrupt because of a lack of membership. 

IS GOLF DECLINING?

Both Windermere and West Orange acknowledge the challenges of the industry. 

“The golf industry in a whole is in a decline,” Slattery said. “The days of private clubs — it’s very tough to make it happen, obviously, with the economy being the way it is.”

Chipok cited breaking even as a key problem for the struggles at the Windermere Country Club.

“The courses that are still around are fighting for those golfers,” Chipok said. “It’s a vicious cycle in that fewer golfers are ... competing with lower green fees, and those green fees aren’t covering overhead on the golf courses.”

Brian Dorn, director of golf at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club and Lodge, recognizes the decrease in demand reported by the NGF but is positive about the future of the industry. 

“While it may seem like golf is on a decline, the level of participation is still very healthy,” Dorn said. “It is just difficult to maintain the growth we experienced during the ’90s and early 2000s.”

Supply in the industry is still greater than demand, and the 2015 NGF study reports that to balance supply and demand, courses must close or more golfers must return to the game.

Contact Jennifer Nesslar at [email protected].