The Pellucid Perspective - September 2013 - (Page 7)

At Maderas, in the Poway suburb of San Diego, GM Bill O’Brien and developer/owner Sunroad Enterprises probably wish their solution was that simple. Maderas has been barred from drawing water for irrigation from their well for over two years, due to complaints from neighboring homeowners that the water levels in their own wells were shrinking. Sunroadfunded studies have indicated that the golf course’s well is not connected to the neighbors’ supply, while homeowner-funded studies have found that it is difficult to assess whether the area wells are connected to the same underwater aquifer and thus impact overall aquifer levels. “What started as a request to modify our conditional use permit has turned into a discussion of sustainability,” O’Brien said. “It comes down to what extent can a golf course co-exist in an environment where there are legitimate concerns regarding the availability of water.” O’Brien added that Maderas was not only originally designed with water conservation in mind, occupying only 88 acres, but the course has taken numerous steps to conserve water, such as not overseeding and use of state-ofthe-art irrigation technology to apply only as much water as the course turf needs. O’Brien and Jacobsen, both experienced and highly regarded facility operators, voiced some of the golf industry’s perhaps deserved paranoia regarding the treatment that golf courses receive from government entities in comparison with other industries. O’Brien noted that Maderas had commissioned a study by the San Diego Travel Authority which concluded that Maderas, fueled by some 10,000 annual rounds from visitors outside the area, generates $868 per round or $8.6 million annually in revenue for the area in terms of visitor expenditures. He obviously feels that contribution to the local economy might justify a little leeway in terms of their conditional use modification request for renewed access to their well water. Jacobsen, meanwhile, for some of the same reasons, wonders why golf courses are not granted price concessions similar to the greatly reduced agricultural rate for water that farming enterprises pay. He noted that during an earlier tour of duty with Coyote Creek Golf Course near San Jose, the course was paying $235 per acre foot of water while their agricultural neighbors were paying $40 a foot. Perhaps that and other apparent inequities come down to the anomaly that Kessler cited in terms of ways in which water districts and other water sellers operate differently than most businesses. “In most businesses,” Kessler said, “they have a Monday morning sales meeting and discuss ways to sell more products or services so they can maintain their profit levels without having to raise prices to the consumer. At the water district, they have that same Monday meeting, but they’re talking about ways to sell less product but raise prices.” n experienceT roon Your club, our passion. Your success, our promise. At Troon,® every member of the Troon Privé team brings a competitive passion for enhancing the success of our private clubs. By utilizing the professional expertise of our team and collaborating with our clients, we reinvigorate private club communities, making them relevant, healthy, and sustainable, resulting in membership retention and growth. To learn more, contact the Troon business development department at 480.606.1000, or visit TroonMgt.com. Left to right: BallenIsles Country Club, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida; Centurion Club, Hertfordshire, England. Download FREE Troon GPS Golf Apps in iTunes and Google Play! AUSTRALIA • AZERBAIJAN • BAHAMAS • CHINA • EGYPT • ENGLAND • GREECE • HONDURAS • INDIA ITALY • KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN • MALAYSIA • MALDIVES • MEXICO • MOROCCO • NORWAY • PANAMA • PUERTO RICO • RUSSIA SCOTLAND • SOUTH KOREA • SPAIN • ST. CROIX • ST. LUCIA • UNITED ARAB EMIRATES • UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (See Hispanic Golf on page 14) www.PellucidcorP.com BD_Pellucid_7x5.indd 1 The Pellucid PersPecTive PM 9/9/13 7:37 7 http://www.troongolf.com/sem-home.html http://www.troongolf.com/ http://WWW.PELLUCIDCORP.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - September 2013

The Pellucid Perspective - September 2013
Contents
Golf industry supply contraction: Not if but how long?
Water “Whoas”
Pricing and Yield Management Can you discount your way to prosperity?
The Dude and Jeff Spicoli Go Golfing
PGA Junior League Golf takes a step forward in 2013
August golf weather impact: Continuing positive; better late than never
Phoenix courses not desert-ed
Sequoia Golf acquires 3 former Heritage courses in Atlanta market, leases California course
Watershed moments for U.S. golf

The Pellucid Perspective - September 2013