The past month has seen a fairly relaxed schedule with not much happening on the course. With this year being the 90th anniversary of KGC it would have been nice to plan for something extraordinary but not much has really been budgeted for. I am sure something will come up in discussions during meetings before the season gets going. After all, 90 years of history is the one thing KGC can bring to the table that no other golf course in the area can offer.
Speaking of other courses in the area, you may have heard of the recent sale of one of the newer courses. I am glad the sale went as it did with an outside group acquiring the property. Fresh minds and a fresh perspective might be able to develop a different golf business model for the East Kootenay. At the risk of alienating people, I going to speak my mind a bit. There is concern that there is not enough local players to support all the courses between Kimberley and Cranbrook. A director at another local course commented once that he only sees two courses in Kimberleys future. Within the context of the conversation during which this statement was made the implication was KGC was headed the way of the Dodo bird. I definitely do not subscribe to that view. The changes implemented last season and the success they brought show just how viable KGC can be in a ridiculously competitive golf market.
The "glut" of courses in this area is great for the local player especially since all courses seem to be competing for the same "value orientated" golfer demographic. A "new player" in the golfing game could price their course at such a level that they could be seen as "raising the bar" (green fee wise, that is) and in turn take some pressure off with respect to having to lower rates to try and continually attract the same group of golfer. Obviously, the idea of raising rates is not very popular with locals. But, at the risk of sounding rude or elitist maybe not everyone should be able to golf at every course at rock bottom rates.
I obviously sound self serving (as some of my cohorts have indeed suggested) but I sometimes think opportunities are missed by the projection of our own financial situation, our personal bias, and our perceptions of what we feel a round of golf is worth. A $250 or $400 dollar green fee seems insane when you look at course like KGC but when looking at a modern, high end course designed and built like no others in a spectacular location a $400 green fee is not that unrealistic; especially, when you consider that less than a 40 minute flight away is a province that is "home to the highest
percentage of those with incomes in the top one per cent (of Canada). One in every
50 Albertans is in this $191,100+ category, with almost one in 30
Calgarians reaching that level" (go HERE for CBC news article).
Re-reading this rant makes me sound like I am promoting other golf courses over and above KGC which not true. What I am promoting is the development of green fees that reflect the true value of a course (or more accurately, the development of greens fees that reflect the true value of operating a course). A very vague statement that could spawn another whine about pass books or season passes offered by courses that promote themselves as "daily fee" or "resort" courses.
Now that I got that out of my system I'll make sure to focus on the golf course and write about more important things next time out!!
