Page 56 - LVGL Winter 2021 FLIPBOOK_Neat

LIVING

“I believe total rounds played at golf courses in Las Vegas time to take up a new hobby. A great success story is with
for the past few months would break records over previous all of the coaches at Boulder City High School. We started
years,” said Eric Dutt, Reflection Bay’s general manager a skins game on Fridays with football, golf, volleyball and
and a Nevada Golf Alliance board member. “We have had baseball coaches. It started as once a week after school got
to quickly reinvent ourselves, but a positive has been a out. Instead of going to the ‘Friday Night Lights’, we played
renewed interest by people who maybe hadn’t played golf golf. It then led into the coaches playing again on Sunday
for several years or new players, who have gravitated to golf with their wives.”
because it is outdoors and is something positive to do when
so many other things are or were shut down.” Ayeesha McKeany, director of marketing at the Las Vegas
Paiute Golf Resort, has also witnessed the resurgence and
The actual statistics more than back up Dutt’s assumptions. believes people are using golf as an outlet to get out of the
In October, total rounds played were up by 32.2 percent house, which has also become the office. “Golf has been
year over year nationally and in Nevada, rounds were up by seen as one of the safer activities during these difficult
7.6 percent during what is usually the busiest month of the times because it is outdoors and you have the ability to dis-
year. Since June, the numbers have been just as staggering. tance yourself from others,” said McKeany. “I have seen the
resurgence of the game of golf just like Tiger's effect that he
Nationally, June was up by 14 percent, followed by increases had when he came out on Tour. People are excited about the
of approximately 20 percent in July, 21 percent in August game, and with a lot more people working from home and
and 26 percent in September. In 2019, golfers in the United needing an outlet to get out, it's been a great alternative.”
States played about 440 million rounds and expectations
by the National Golf Foundation are that about 480 million While the increased local play has been off the charts at
will be played in 2020. both private and public courses, the main area of concern
for course operators moving forward is when the valuable
The numbers were just as impressive in Las Vegas. In visitor demographic will return, which includes recrea-
September, rounds were up 19.6 percent and August saw a tional golfers and corporate tournaments. Many out-of-town
jump of 22.2 percent. That was after major leaps in June and businesses host events at area courses and that market seg-
July as well. ment has completely evaporated for both golf courses and

And within those numbers are not only avid golfers who Las Vegas hotels. High-end courses have taken the brunt
played prior to the pandemic, but local industry experts and of this negative impact, and without the higher-rate resort
professionals are seeing an influx of new players and those customers, achieving a consistent, positive bottom line will
who had stopped playing for various reasons. be more challenging.

“I feel that the increase in rounds is about time,” said Andy “I believe that the pandemic has affected golf courses in
Schaper, who oversees both Boulder Creek Golf Club and different ways depending on where you are located,” said
Boulder City Golf Course and who also coaches golf at Keith Flatt, owner of Elite Golf, a management company
Boulder City High. “People are experiencing more free time with courses in Nevada, California, Utah and Texas. “For
than they have ever had, and that has allowed them to pick example, in Las Vegas the pandemic has hurt our golf
up an old hobby (or new hobby) that they have been wanting courses from a revenue side because we rely a lot on tour-
to do for a while. I think dads, moms, grandpas, grand- ism. Yes, our golf courses are busy, but we are getting local
mas, uncles, and aunts are usually chasing kids to sporting rates and local rates are not enough to cover all of our
events or dance recitals on Saturdays and Sundays. They expenses. I would say, on average, courses rely on about
spent the first few months of the pandemic knocking off 17/21 percent of the revenue from non-residents of Nevada.
chores around the house, but now they are playing golf on So, when you take out that revenue and replace it with local
the weekends. We have also experienced an increase in new revenue, that’s a big deficit to make up. But in the state of
golfers, especially at Boulder City Golf Course. I have spo- Texas where the golf courses are not reliant on non-resident
ken to at least 10 couples in the last month who said it was high-dollar green fees revenues and play are up substan-
their first time on a golf course. Again, they finally have the tially. I would say the properties are probably up 20 percent
in play and revenue.”

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