Bad news for my home state. Golf courses are getting more expensive in Florida, as they are elsewhere. I thought the golf gods had started to address this issue, one of the main reasons golfers drop out of the game and why non-golfers often never start.

The Sarasota Parks and Recreation Dept gave a report to county commissioners that said, in part: “The trend in new golf course construction is following the trend in real estate to very high end, exclusive developments…”

Sarasota has 40 courses in the county, and only 24 are semi-private or public access. It’s lost three courses – all public – in the last two years.

Of course Sarasota is a relatively isolated place that’s tried to keep its old-money character for years, but the same is happening elsewhere.

That’s why I champion municipal courses. Sarasota doesn’t look like it’s going to get into the golf business, but I think more cities concerned about recreation for their residents are obligated to. And the golf industry should help them, as should these high-priced, fancy-dan architects.

Tiger Woods should take that $25 million fee he’s getting from Dubai and do like Pete Dye did – design a public course for $1.

Permalink 5 comments