Golf course communities -- a concern to consider. (Tucson, Green Valley: sale, real estate)

[karen_in_nh_2012]

Originally Posted by thinkalot

You used a 4 1/2 year old story?

[blah blah blah with ZERO sources provided]

You know, it would have been nice if you, "thinkalot," had cited ONE source for your info -- but you didn't. Clearly you got the info from SOMEWHERE, given all the stats, but somehow you decided it wasn't worth actually giving us your sources? Why on earth would you do that?

You could very well be correct -- but again, why on earth didn't you give any citations? (If you were my student, you would have flunked for providing absolutely no sources!)

The OP may have used 4-1/2-year-old story, but that doesn't seem outrageous to me at all (I mean, this is about golf courses and the appeal of golf -- are you saying it's really changed DRAMATICALLY in the past 4-1/2 years?), ESPECIALLY given that you didn't post ANY sources at all.

I don't know that I would ever buy in a golf course community (since I have zero interest in playing myself, although my SO plays sometimes), so I thought the OP provided good information that I had not thought about before. It would be nice to have a "conversation" about this with some legitimate sources, you know?

[Mike from back east]

Phoenix may have sunbirds filling up many of the local courses but we're still seeing a few soft spots as some developers seek to let go of cash hungry golf properties. Here's a more current article, from June 2018 about the decline in golfing.

Excerpt from article: "...the number of regular golfers fell from 30 to 20.9 million between 2002 and 2016. Ratings are down, equipment sales are lagging, and the number of rounds played annually has fallen...."

[observer53]

Originally Posted by ABQConvict

I would think that an otherwise nice community surrounding a failing golf course could revision the space as a park or develop it with other amenities.

It may depend on what the documents setting up the community say. The course in Ahwatukee now has to be restored as a golf course because the owners lost their court battle over wanting to build more houses there. The golf course has fallen into neglect since all the court stuff started. https://www.abc15.com/news/region-phoenix-metro/ahwatukee/arizona-appeals-court-orders-developer-to-restore-ahwatukee-golf-course

[Mike from back east]

Recent article on this thread's topic mentions Trilogy at Vistancia in Peoria, AZ.

A number of good comments are included after the article.

[azgopher]

On the other hand, we live in SCGrand and we have 4 golf courses. They not only provide beauty but are played more and more each year. I have found many of my golf buddies actually took up golf after retiring. Another interesting factor is that as we age the fear is many will drop golf altogether. But we encourage moving up to a closer tee and this is becoming more and more popular. Not only helpful for the aging player but for everybody, increasing pace of play. I understand the concerns here voicedbut it is not all doom and gloom.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by azgopher

On the other hand, we live in SCGrand and we have 4 golf courses. They not only provide beauty but are played more and more each year. I have found many of my golf buddies actually took up golf after retiring. Another interesting factor is that as we age the fear is many will drop golf altogether. But we encourage moving up to a closer tee and this is becoming more and more popular. Not only helpful for the aging player but for everybody, increasing pace of play. I understand the concerns here voicedbut it is not all doom and gloom.

Location location location. SCGrand courses are surrounded by a lot of people and retirees. If you want to see a course that is certainly going to lose for the coming years, check out Verrado Victory course. No where near the amount of golfers as compared to SCGrand. I suspect your courses have NOTHING to worry about.

[azgopher]

Good point. That is a tough course for an over 55 community as well.

[MN-Born-n-Raised]

Originally Posted by azgopher

Good point. That is a tough course for an over 55 community as well.

Plus, driving from the 10 to the course must take close to 10 minutes to get there. Zero homes behind the hill and not an easy way into the area. Big picture, there isn't a high concentration of people in the town of Buckeye. So everything is going against it. We gave some serious thoughts of buying on lot on the course. As in, we visited it 4 times and were comparing 2 lots. But we were only looking on the weekends. My hot button are the jets and the folks at the course educated me they fly right over fairly often. I verified it on a busy flight day by overlooking the Valley with a beer in my hand. That jet noise in combo with the double HOA fee (you pay for Verrado HOA AND Victory HOA which exceeds $200 a month. That's a poison pill for resale when your target market is to people on fixed incomes. Not so mysteriously, right now you are guaranteed to lose money when you look at what people paid for their homes and what they get for them (even less after sales commision).

But the home prices are a bit less than say Vistancia/Trilogy. Plus the backdrop is AMAZING if you get the right low overlooking the Valley. You can see downtown Phoenix. It's mesmerizing at night and that view would never get old. After reading the realities of Mike's golf course, it's realigned my brain as to how careful I need to be. I should buy a view that can never change. I don't see a worry in the world over at SCGrand. Pebble Creek courses also seem well played.

[phetaroi]

Originally Posted by Eatmy Shortz

Dead sport....4 courses in our city closed in the last 7 years. Haven't played a round in 16 years.

Or maybe you're just projecting your personal feelings:

https://www.golfadvisor.com/articles...tion-rises-ngf

[backtochitown]

Another thing I'd like to point out before joining a country club...and that is the 'out' clause...a lot of private clubs will not let you out...there are waiting lists where you are expected to still pay dues, etc. Be wary and read ALL!