"The trends that are showing up in Western Pennsylvania are also happening nationally, especially with clubs with lower budgets."

Thanks to reader Kevin for catching Gerry Dulac's look at the trend of Western Pennsylvania clubs going public.

"It's all about finances," said Jeff Rivard, executive director of the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association, which lists 60 private clubs and 60 public courses among its membership. "The members can't afford to foot the bill anymore and some members who have deep-enough pockets have stepped in and bought the club. The trends that are showing up in Western Pennsylvania are also happening nationally, especially with clubs with lower budgets."

Comments

[iacas]

I live in northwestern PA and belong to a member-owned club (http://lakeviewcc.com - Lake View Country Club) that's facing budget problems (and has for a few years now).

The membership is aging and the "modern family" both works more and is more involved in children's activities. Dining out at the country club has been replaced with a meal at a fast food stop on the way to soccer practice. The higher-end public courses that are taking the place of the better clubs often offer "season passes" for much less than membership in some of the average clubs.

Nothing and nobody to blame, really - just less time and money. The only thing that can really be helped at this point is pace of play, and there's no way that's going to miraculously drop to the three hours the modern "dad" would require in order to play once a week.

[Matt]

Same situation in Upstate NY and I am sure around the country. Cost is killing the club ultimately...our club froze dues for three years a few years back when we realized that within 7 years the dues cost only was going to be $10K...how many families can afford that, along with the time commitment to make that a value?

[Ronald Montesano]

Matt...where are you in NY? Why don't more clubs go semi-private...open to the public Monday-Wednesday to generate revenue, closed to the public Thursday-Sunday?