"We want to continue to give the local folks a great golf course and also want to maintain our rating nationally."
Steve Lynn of New Mexico's The Daily Times looks at the revenue problems of the well-regarded Pinon Hills, the most blatant example yet of water costs impacting the health of a golf operation.
Meanwhile, the golf course is watering less despite spending more on the nonpotable water.
The course spent $42,000 on 134 million gallons of water in 2004.
By contrast, it spent $151,000 on 118 million gallons through October this year while spending about the same last year on $172 million gallons.
At the same time, the course has cut its budget. The city projected a $1.35 million budget that funds the city's golf courses this fiscal year, a decline of almost $90,000 from last fiscal year's budget.
The city expects higher green fees to raise revenue by $100,000, parks department director Jeff Bowman said.
"We want to continue to give the local folks a great golf course and also want to maintain our rating nationally," Bowman said.
"Golfweek" ranked Piñon Hills the No. 4 public golf course in the nation this year.
Naturally those last two sentences provide a nice reminder to those who don't think courses overspend to appease panelists.
Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 10:15 PM
Reader Comments (12)
This lushness has held back PH from being ranked higher, imo. Because, the features Dye built are virtually useless when shrouded in long lush rough. Versus giving the ball a chance to bounce and roll.
Back about 6-7 years ago they had to cut back the water, due to drought. The super at the time came to the Men's club meeting saying how the course was going to be "turning south in a hurry". The result was every other day watering. That resulted in people who daily could not reach the greens in regulation being able to. It allowed the creative shotmaker to utilize the green side features to their designed effect. The course came alive, every other day. It was more fun and probably cheaper to operate.
Pinion Hills greens fees started at $9 in 1989. There were some politicians who were hesitant to raise the fee fearing the Durangoites might not come down to play if it was too high. BTW, that's a joke for anyone who knows the demographics of Durango, Co. Trust me, the city of Farmington is responsible for the pickle they are in, specifically the city manager.
Over 75% of all golf courses are on some type of well water or recycled water system as opposed to fresh water. These courses need to get off their ass and switch over, they give golf a bad name to the public.
@Phil- I'm curious to know your source that supports your statement that 75+% of all courses are on well or recycled water. (BTW- If they are using nonpotable water, that tells me that PH is on graywater/recycled water, not to argue with you.)
Additionally, while it is a nice idea to suggest that they switch to well water or other recyclable sources, that is not always possible. As a hydrogeologist who has dealt with water supply issues for golf courses up and down the East Coast over the years, I can tell you that not all locations are suitable for such ideas. There may not be a suitable aquifer to provide supply from groundwater, or in the case of this NM course it seems that there isn't enough rain to create stormwater catchment/storage ponds to use for water supply.
Remember, too, everyone, that taking from groundwater is not a panacea for water supply problems. Ask folks in the heartland states who use the Oglalla Aquifer. Ultimately, solutions need to be designed that are most equitable for all, while considering potential long-term impacts to water supply and groundwater resources. Taking 150M gallons of water a year to keep a course lush and green is ludicrous, IMHO.
One of the first books on the subject and probably still the best:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Desert
And for laughs (for a few of us anyway):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey_Wrench_Gang
As for the value/cost of water versus oil, I paid $3 for a 20-oz. bottle of "purified water" manufactured (sic) by the Coca-Cola Company at the Philadelphia Convention Center last week. That works out to a smooth $19.20 per gallon, $806.40 per barrel. Nice work if you can get it.
Hiuh? According to their 2010 rankings on the website, Golfweek rates Pinon Hills as the #3 course in NM behind PaaKo and Black Mesa. So there is only one public course across the land that is better than these three? Ha! Maybe it was rated as #4 for courses below a certain level green fee, or #4 for inexpensive courses with big boulders on par 3's near the intersection of four states, or something else as obscure, but it sure isn't the #4 public course in the US.
Golf course rankings remind me of when I applied to graduate school at UT-Austin and was told dryly by the department chairman that the department was one of the 25 schools in the Top 10 in the country.
I live less then five miles from Knott's Berry Farm. I make a point to stay away for it as much as I stay away from Disneyland, simply because of what they charge.
Earlier this year, I helped a friend, who was judging a battle of the bands out there and was fortunate to get free admission. Before the hospitality got there with refreshments for the VIP's (which my friend was one of them) I had to go fetch him a bottle of water, your normal 12 oz bottle or whatever size it is and was bottled under a Knott's Berry Farm label.
It cost $6.50 for that bottle of water.
I won't be back!
2. Effluent water is not the answer for golf courses. Witness Orange County and their Toilet-to-Tap program. It's likely that after course spends money on an effluent irrg. system, local government could take back their toilet water for drinking purposes, calling it by some other name.
"Effluent for the Affluent"