re: Your one request for Baton Rouge golf

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Greystone is $199 a month for under 35, fwiw

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Great deal, also the under 35 membership drive BRCC and CCL ran a year or two ago as mentioned earlier was a steal imo.

If you closed Clark, City and LSU, and the money those courses spent went to Santa Maria, Webb, and Beaver, they would have more money to spend. But I don't think it is that simple. (That is assuming how it would work and I don't know that that is correct).

If you close three courses, you have to assume those rounds go to one of the other courses. Call Santa Maria right now and they probably won't have a tee time on Saturday morning available. So the rounds that were being played Saturday morning at LSU have nowhere to go in the morning. So those people have to play in the heat of the day and a lot of them will find something else to do. There is a max capacity for a golf course. Especially here when you try not to tee off around 12:00 pm.


Additionally, there is a diminishing return for rounds of golf played. If you play a lot of rounds, you'll have more money, but the course will get beat to death. Imagine a golf course that has 50 rounds a day versus a course that has 175 rounds a day. That's 125 extra people every day dragging their feet on greens, beating up the driving range, and walking over grass. Grass is grown by the inch but killed by the foot. You'd have to really increase the budget to be able to handle the increase of rounds and the toll that would take.


Now, let's assume the LSU rounds decide to play at noon, they are in for a round of no less than 4.5 hours. Honestly, that's what it is today out there, so it would likely be 5+ hours, because now you'll have too many guys who just started playing golf and shoot 13434 a side slowing things up. A Marshall can only do so much. A lot of people are turned off by how long golf takes and that's assuming it's only 4 hours. Add another hour and people will stay at home.

Lastly, you would take away the cheap options for golf in the town. Anyone who doesn't play golf consistently or that doesn't have a decent job would be forced out of golf. No one is going to pay $65 to play Santa Maria if they are just starting out. It's too expensive and too difficult. BREC courses aren't meant to make money for the city, if they break even that's awesome. They are there to attract families to the area. Highland Road Park, Hickory Ridge Park, etc. aren't bringing in the big bucks. They may have less of a budget, but BREC is a tax payer funded service that is vital to a city. Close BREC courses and see how many IBMs decide to relocate to Baton Rouge. Parks actually matter for a lot of people deciding on where to call home.




Tldr: closing golf courses isn't a band-aid for golf in the area. Some need to and have closed. Others need to stay open.

It is a heck of a deal.

I think golf courses need more promotions during the week and early afternoons if they want more players.

Greystone does a good job of this on wednesdays and they use to have a buddy special every Tuesday but I think that is gone


Other courses seem to never offer much of a discount aside from regular twilight

Ah. Someone who's been there a while said it was his idea. Scratch that then... Good on Mike.

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Santa Maria isn't the only other option for golf if LSU or City closes. Tons of other options and cheap ones too if you look at Golf Now. Gasp, these cheap asses may have to play at odd times like lunch or afternoons or weekdays.

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Yes, those Golf Now deals involve driving outside of the city limits. So now I've got a 45 minute drive on top of a 4 hour round. Or I've got to skip work. Great solution.

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The amount of play that would move from LSU Clark and City Park to the other courses would not be hard on the courses. No course is getting 100 rounds a day everyday day no matter who closes. Weekdays no one is on our courses so plenty of time to heal.

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In 2013, BREC did a study and Webb and Santa Maria almost averaged 100 rounds a day. Beaver is just below 60. That doesn't factor in rain days, days under 40 degrees, etc.

Golf course // Rounds played


Webb Park // 31,267
Santa Maria // 35,133
Beaver Creek // 21,157

LINK


I know LSU plays more than 100 rounds a day, on average. I can't find a supporting link, but they are busier than Santa Maria and Webb, hands down.

At least be knowledgeable with the opinion. I'm not saying you are definitely wrong, but your opinion needs to at least be based in fact.

Do not look to much into that article. Those numbers are incorrect. Beaver Creek had over 28,000 rounds that year. Those numbers are from two years prior to the report being issued. It averaged to almost 78-80 rounds a day, which isn't much but it's better than fricking 60.

Link on the Bayou has a 4 man 9 hole scramble every Thursday i believe.

BR needs this

I worked at Carter in college. Same deal. Just a little too far.