It could be worse

A record winter snowfall, another late-arriving spring and an economy gloomier than the weather have combined to amp up the anxiety levels of the head professionals managing our region’s public golf courses.

The heavy snowpack coming out of the winter delayed the opening of most courses, dramatically slicing the numbers of rounds of golf that are normally played in March and early April – along with the revenue those rounds generate.

But in effort to put a positive spin on the situation, some pros are looking back to last spring when brutal weather plagued the region well into May.

“Last year was terrible, and this year is slightly less terrible,” Rex Schultz, the head professional at Esmeralda Golf Course said. “That’s probably the best way I can word it.”

Esmeralda, which is normally one of the first courses to open each spring, had to wait until the middle of March to crank things up this year – about two weeks later than normal, but four days earlier than last spring.

“We opened last year on the 18th of March,” Schultz said, “but by the time the 15th of April had rolled around, I think we had seven or eight snow days that kept us closed. This year we’ve only had two of those, so there’s been a lot less starting and stopping.”

As a result, the players-per-day average is up over last year, and Schultz expects it to remain that way through the end of this month and May, at least.

Still, the revenue from those rounds lost early in the season is nearly impossible to make up, primarily because area courses tend to operate on a near-capacity basis in June, July, August and September.

“Golf courses are kind of like ski hills,” said Craig Schuh, the head pro at Deer Park Golf Club. “It’s all weather related and just like the ski hills, getting open early is how you make your money. That’s when people are the most eager to get out and golf, or ski.

“Golf courses in this area normally make it or break it the first two months of the season. Those basically determine what’s going to happen with your revenue, because you can only get so many people on a golf course, and those summer months always seem to generate consistent profits.”

Deer Park opened on April 5, almost two weeks earlier that last year.

While the number of rounds played this spring is lagging considerably behind those of a normal year and a mid-March opening, it is much higher than last year.

“Last year was horrendous,” Schuh said. “So even though this year has been bad, it’s not nearly as bad as last year. Those extra two weeks of antsy golfers getting a chance to get out and play have been huge, even though the weather’s been a little iffy.”

A promising weather forecast for this weekend has helped lift spirits, as well, considering rain and cold on a weekend can cost a course like Deer Park thousands of dollars in lost revenues.

“You can afford to have a couple of crummy days during the week,” Schuh said, “but when you have a crummy weekend, it can mean a difference of $10,000 or more in what you might normally make on good weekend – and that doesn’t include your kitchen profits.

“This year, we’ve had a couple of decent weekends that have really helped compared to last year. But it’s still not as good as those years when we get open in the middle of March.”

Schuh and Schultz admit to being skeptical of what role the economic downturn might eventually play on the revenues at their courses.

But for the time being, at least, there seems to be reason for optimism.

“It’s going to be kind of a guessing game as far as the economy goes,” Schuh said. “We’re all a little anxious about whether people are still going to be golfing.

“Personally, I think the public courses are going to be OK. You might not sell as much stuff out of the pro shop, because people are being a little more frugal with their money, but it could end up being like last year when the gas prices were so high and a lot of people decided not to take their vacations and just stayed here and played golf, instead.

“I know we had a great year last year – once we got open.”

According to Schuh, phone calls from people in the Spokane area wanting to make early reservations at the RV resort that abuts the golf course have been up 30 to 40 percent from last year.

“Which makes me think it’s going to be a pretty good year,” he said.

Schultz has also been encouraged by the amount of play his course has had on the days the weather has cooperated.

“With all of the negative reports about the economy, I thought we might see a significant drop in the number of rounds played this year,” he said. “But so far, when the weather has cooperated, people have come out. I wouldn’t feel comfortable saying the 2½ weeks that we’ve been open is a representative sample of what it’s going to be like for the entire year, but it’s encouraging.

“Or, at least it’s not discouraging – yet.”