Michigan also is one of the top four states with the most golfers in the country, with a participation rate of 20% of the residents over 12 years old, according to the National Golf Foundation.
This has led to developers who have a lot of cash, but no golf course building experience, to try their hand at creating nine-, 8- or even 27-hole facilities.
"If people are going to get involved, they need to do their homework," says Dave Richards, CEO of Golf Marketing Services in Bloomfield Hills, MI. "People have this false notion that all courses make money. Well, they all don't."
The top quality courses and the lower end, nine-hole par-three courses do usually show a profit, he said. However, with the golf boom that's being experienced everywhere in the nation, Richards says it's time to stop throwing money at an overloaded market.
The rate of new course construction has increased significantly during the past 10 years, from an average of about 150 a year to more than 400 a year in the United States, according to the NGF. There's also a large increase in Michigan. About 125 courses either just opened, are under construction or in planning during the last year in the state, according to NGF.
However, Richards says the number of golfers has leveled off. While people think that stars like Tiger Woods have brought people into the game, it's not true, he says.
"It's between a 2% growth rate and a 2% loss rate, so I'd say it's basically flat," he says.
Richards says he's trying to save the money of the inexperienced developer by at times advising to construct something other than a course, unless it's going to be good quality. "In general, there's probably too many courses being built," he adds.
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