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NEW INDUSTRY #'S - WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

Last month, the National Golf Foundation released its annual #’s on golf course supply in the United States. As expected, the US golf course supply continued to decline with a net loss of 190 courses nationwide. This continues a trend that began in 2005 when there were 16,052 courses nationwide to where we sit now with 15,014. This is a decline of 6.5% and an average decline of .6% per year. The ratio of private clubs to public access courses remained steady at about 25%.

MARKET ANALYSIS - KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Every year about this time, there are numerous stories about the golf industry and how many courses have closed, how many golfers there are and whether dues and fees have increased, decreased or remained constant.

Most of these articles are based on national averages, often compiled by the National Golf Foundation, Golf Datatech, Pellucid or other reliable sources that compile this type of data. Such data does not a market analysis make, even if and when it is reliable.

First, there is the issue of market segmentation. Golf courses come in lots of “flavors”. Generally, they fall into four (4) categories as follows:

LITIGATION APPRAISALS FOR GOLF AND CLUB PROPERTIES

One of the things we do as appraisers is take continuing education on a regular basis. Recently, I navigated through a course on the appraiser’s role as an expert witness, which was of particular interest because we do a good bit of litigation support work and are currently involved in several such cases, including one federal court case involving a prominent private club.

One specific area of the course was the portion on what are known as the “Daubert Tests”, which can determine whether an appraiser’s (or any expert witness) testimony is admissible in court. Basically, an expert witness (as opposed to a fact witness) is someone with specialized knowledge or skills, who can offer an opinion that is substantiated with data. There are four (4) tests as a result of the “Daubert” case from 1993 that determine whether the witness has demonstrated specialized knowledge or skill.

MASTERS WEEK AND THE LEXI THOMPSON RULING

Masters week is special. Not only does it begin the “major” season on the PGA Tour, but to many golfers living in the northern climes, it signals the beginning of spring and time to dust off the clubs for another season. No doubt, most of us will be watching this week as Jordan, Dustin, Rory & Jason chase the green jacket, and for sure there will be much conversation about Tiger and his future (if any) in major championship golf. We will again marvel at the manicured splendor of The Augusta National and at least for a weekend set aside our personal challenges, political differences and world problems to celebrate the great game of golf and our enthusiasm for same.

That being said, there has been much attention the past couple days to the unfortunate events at the ANA Inspiration Tournament involving Lexi Thompson. By now most of you know that she was cruising toward victory Sunday, when at the 12th green, with what was presumably a 2 shot lead she was penalized 4 shots for not properly remarking her ball (2 shots) and signing an incorrect scorecard (2 shots) on Saturday, during the 3rd round! Instantly, she was 2 shots behind and summoned incredible poise and courage to birdie 3 of the last 6 holes to tie for first at the end of regulation. All this occurred courtesy of an armchair rules official who emailed his observation a day later. Despite losing the playoff, Thompson gave us all a lesson in good sportsmanship despite her obvious and understandable emotion, not only by coming back but also in her conduct during post tournament interviews and by sticking around to sign autographs..

PRACTICE TEE

Some current assignments include:

VA - Appraisal/Feasibility Analysis for ski resort hotel/convention center
VT - Ski Resort buyer representation/consulting
VA - Litigation Support for private club tax assessment appeal
NJ - appraisal of private club for mortgage financing
PA - Appraisal review for tax assessment appeal

GPA president Larry Hirsh will be presenting at the Pennsylvania Assessors Association on May 3, 2017.

GPA President Larry Hirsh will be presenting to an MBA class at The Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania on April 12, 2017.

To order our recently published book, Golf Property Analysis and Valuation - A Modern Approach, click on the graphic above.

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