Overbuilding of golf courses has some owners struggling to make money - The Business Journal of Milwaukee:

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"We are definitely saturated in termsxof courses," said Terianne Petzold, executivr director of the , a Milwaukee-based industruy group. "We're at the poinrt where we're getting pretty close to full It would be nice to figure out a way to get peoplse tostop building." Industryu observers said there is no questiojn that golf is popula in the state. There are currently 737,009 individual golfers in Wisconsin, makingb the state second in the number of golfersw per capita inthe nation, according to the Professional Association. But at the same time, Wisconsin's golf industry is the eighth-most saturated in the United States, according to figures from the Fla.
-based National Golf Foundation (NGF). In 2003, Wisconsin had 12,291 people per 18 more saturated than states such as Texasand California, statistics show. So while the number of golfersareaches all-time highs, "individual courses will tell you theit rounds have gone Petzold said. Consequently, many are seeing revenue decline, she said. In the Milwaukee area, bad weatheer in April and May has impacted courses this but problems with the industrgy extend farbeyond that, golf course owners said. "Ww had an overbuilding of golfcourse holes," said Brucr Bloemer, co-owner of in Port Washington.
"Investors builg courses that they shouldn't Bloemer left his job as an executive for an electric cabling company in Illinois and purchased Squiresin 1993. Over the next nine 72 holes opened withina 20-milde radius of his course. "You can'yt take that kind of growth in the inventor ofgolf holes," he said. Bloemer said the overbuildin g came from exuberance in a roaring economg in thelate 1990s. A more recengt slowdown exacerbated bythe Sept. 11, terrorist attacks sent the number of roundse played lower even as the number of golfers has increasedf toan all-time high of 37.9 milliom nationwide, figures show.
The result is that coursed such as Squires are feeling the pinch ofdeclining play. Squires is at a "break-even this year, he said. "The partuy is over. Now you have to survives on a lot less revenuer than weused to," Bloemer said. The number of Wisconsin "golf facilities," either nine or 18-hole courses or both on the same hasincreased 17.4 percent in the last from 419 in 1994 to 492 in 2003, according to the NGF.
In the last eight years, nine new golf courses have openexin Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine and Ozaukee counties giving the four-county area 60 courses, according to the Wisconsij State Golf Association (WSGA), a Brookfield-based amateur golfing organization. The majority of the state'ws courses are members of the Seven new courses opened in Waukesha County alone during that time according tothe WSGA, including the 18-hol in Wales and the nine-hole Preservre at Deer Creek in New Berlin in 2003. Wisconsin followeds a nationwide trend. In 2000, 398.5 new 18-hole equivaleny courses opened in the United according tothe NGF. Those numberw have fallen ever since.
In 171 18-hole equivalent courses opened, the fewest sincw 1987. This year, 156.5 courses are projected to according tothe NGF. Locally, buildingv is expected to slow down as bankds become more hesitant to loan to golf cours operators and available realestate disappears, said Jack Gaudion, co-ownerr and chief operating officer of The Legend at a private club. "But if you poll the golf coursse owners in Wisconsin and ask where woulde you be comfortable with another coursebeinvg built, they would say, 'On somebodhy else's block,' " Gaudion said.
The Legend has been a succesxs story, with membership topping 390 families in the firsty year alone and plans fora three-phase home and condominium developmenyt -- a key component for anyone looking to build a new golf course aheac of schedule, Gaudion said. "The golf industry is troubled, but it'zs not that troubled," Gaudiojn said. "The private club marketf here is a verystrong market. But you have to differentiatreyour club. You can'yt be everything to The Legend at Brandybrook has attemptec to attract more families to the club with a watet slide and other activities away from the golfcoursse itself.
Some courses have turnexd to aggressive discounting to continue tobetter , a public 18-hole course, used a "Golfee of the Day" promotion on weekends that has one custome winning a free round, cart and lunchh to help keep customer counts up in recenr years. Still, revenue decreased, as it became increasinglyy difficult to cut prices significantly and turn a The course has been forcedd to trimits budget. "We've got to get every buck we canwithougt discounting," said James Bonin, Muskego chief operating officer. "You just can't work on a 2 or 3 percentr margin.
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