I've been working on potential Rapture locations, and figured I'd share what I'm seeing out in the wild.
For context, our most expensive Rapture to date was last year at Verandah — $423 per player (inclusive of lodging and golf).
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Reunion wants to host us, but quoted me $754 per player for 3 rounds and 3 nights. That equates to a 67% increase in lodging and an 18% increase in golf over our round last Summer (four of us stayed the night before).
I'm telling Reunion no based on price.
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Black Diamond just re-opened after renovations. Adam heard it wasn't in good shape at the moment, which I assume is due to grow-in.
Anyway... I noticed they have a new golf sales manager, so I decided to reach out.
$325+ for the Quarry and $300+ for the Ranch course.
Even if we only played the Quarry for Sunday Singles... total cost would be an estimated $740 per player (golf and whatever AirBnBs I can find).
time to find a new sport
ReplyDeleteFort Brooke Pickleball Club!
DeleteLeague size is inversely proportional to game size, seems like. Likely 3+ down by the end of the next season.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, we thought those 3 would be gone long before then.
DeleteGoes to show just how tough it is to shrink the game right now.
DeleteI'm actually very skeptical of the reported demand for golf. I don't think the sport retained the COVID golfers. Anecdotally, every boob I know that started during COVID no longer plays.
ReplyDeleteI also joked about Pickleball, but I think that might actually end up killing the recreational golf industry. It's a very cheap, and easy to learn outdoor hobby. It's also way less time consuming. There are an estimated 30+ million people playing Pickleball in the US, and only 28 million golfers playing actual courses.
What we're seeing in Florida is a result of the mass migration to the state, from places with more expensive golf. What seems expensive to us is a "deal" for them. Prices should continue to increase until demand falls.
On top of that, almost all new courses built today are destination resorts or ultra-private facilities. The few new courses we can get on (Calusa Country Club) will attempt to be fully private in the future as they build out new homes.
By the time prices level-out, I fully expect we're paying $150 per round in the summer, and $200 in the winter. At which case they won't ever decrease, but we'll start to see some private clubs accepting public play (like what happened to Lake Jovita back in the mid-2000s).
I'm giving up on crafting something custom for this year's Rapture... and just letting Sebring do it. But they're still going to charge us $200 more than they did (per golfer) in 2023.
ReplyDeleteDates are October 9th through 12th as previously posted.
It sucks, but I think all of these courses have realized that they are better off having 200 golfers play in a day all paying $100 versus 300 golfers all paying $50. They bring in more money and there is less wear and tear on the golf course and carts. They probably don't need as much staff as well. Even if demand diminishes to some degree, prices probably won't follow for a long period of time. Trying to grow the game just doesn't pay as well as catering to the affluent.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true for daily fee golf courses.
DeleteI'm curious as to what happens to places like Reunion, who have a massive hotel/villa rental component. And they rely heavily on oversees vacations.
From the internets:
European inbound travel to the U.S. dropped sharply in early 2025. Preliminary data from the National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) shows a 17% decrease in Western European visitors in March 2025 compared to March 2024, with specific declines from key markets like the UK (down 15%), Germany (down 29%), and Spain (down 24.6%). Overall, overseas international arrivals to the U.S. fell 11.6% in March 2025 year-over-year."
At some point, locals will benefit.
I have a feeling Reunion is going to drop their rate (for our group) down to $100 and we'll play a Major out there again.
Anecdotally, Danielle and I both commented on the smaller crowd sizes the last two times we took Hannah to Disney. There are still a lot of people, but about 10% to 20% less crowded than in the post-covid years sounds about right.
ReplyDeleteI looked up Orange County National's rates just to see what they are charging and they are actually under $100 for morning tee times for Panther Lake. They're going to shut down Crooked Cat at the end of this month for greens renovations, so they only have one course available and are still charging under $100. Maybe there is hope.
Yeah we've never officially played Panther Lake so I'll look into that. I think I like it better than the Cat.
ReplyDelete