This season has been one of the most challenging in recent memory in this area.
We had a late start, then it was really good for awhile, then the heat came, as did the smoke from the wildfires in British Columbia and then we were cut short on the end of the season with the weather in September.
Out here, we bank on our Septembers to be fairly good and typically, they have been. All of a sudden, we had a September like the one just past and when you combine that with the weak start to the season, it compounds everything.
September has always been a very strong tournament booking time of year. The weather is good and your charities depend on it and your financials depend on it.
From my end of it on the teaching side, you get people all ramped up, thinking about winter programs and all of a sudden, everything stops.
It all comes through in the financial results. All of a sudden, inventories are high. Events didn’t go through and if you’re not open all year for food and beverage, that’s affected.
Students, corporate customers and members head south for the winter or start doing other activities and that affects golf.
Overall, it’s been one of our most challenging seasons in a long time. A lot of golf clubs will be taking a hard look at all aspects of their operations.
We’ll talk more about that in my next blog.
