Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
It's hard to keep track of all of the golf courses in Northwest Arkansas. There's Stonebridge Meadows and Razorback in Fayetteville; Valley View in Farmington; eight courses in Bella Vista; seven courses run by Lindsey and Associates; and country clubs in Fayetteville, Rogers and Springdale. Pea Ridge, Rogers and Cave Springs also have courses open to the public.
"For a golfer, that's great," said Lyndy Lindsey, golf course supervisor for Lindsey Construction Co. "There may be more golf courses in Northwest Arkansas per square mile than there are in any other area in Arkansas. The Northwest Arkansas area is probably saturated with golf right now, there's no doubt about that."
While the number of courses has increased, the number of rounds played at each course has decreased. Bella Vista had 310,000 rounds played in 2003 but that number dropped to 285,000 in 2004, in part because Bella Vista Country Club has been closed the past 18 months for renovation.
"I think the popularity is still there," said Mike Singletary, teaching professional at Tanyard Creek in Bella Vista.
Lindsey said his company is moving away from building 18-hole courses tied to apartment complexes in favor of 9-hole courses. Lindsey, an avid golfer, said the apartment courses are meant to attract renters more so than golfers.
For public courses such as Valley View, Stonebridge and Big Sugar in Pea Ridge, the golf customer keeps them in business. Stonebridge had almost a public course monopoly after opening in 1997 before Valley View opened several years later.
Now, the selective golfer can choose between the best deal from public courses, some of whom drastically have reduced green fees to attract customers. Lindsey said he knows friends who bounce back and forth between Stonebridge and Valley View, depending which is cheaper the day they want to play.
"The number of golf courses has obviously grown and it's going to get to the point where there's not enough golfers to support all of them," said Bill Agler, who was the golf professional at Stonebridge before moving to Fayetteville Country Club in 2004. "It's a tough market, it really is. That's the nature of competition. It's good for the golfer, not so much for the golf courses."
Stonebridge professional Pete Morsovillo, who had been Agler's assistant, said the trick for public courses is to improve customer service in order to set themselves apart from other sites.
"I'd like to put a girl in a bikini in the beverage cart, but I don't think the Chamber of Commerce would be too happy; and my wife may kill me," Morsovillo joked. "A lot of the golf courses, mostly the private ones, take care of their members, but a lot of public golf courses in town don't cater to the customer. That's a big thing we're going to be doing here."
Morsovillo said he would like to see more done to attract women and young golfers.
"We can't just go, `Hey, we're open,' and people are going to come because we were one of only two or three courses," Morsovillo said.
Private clubs are more stable because members pay a monthly membership fee, regardless of how much they play.
"We still have the same number of golfers," Agler said. "It's just that there are so many more golf courses to choose from. When you build another golf course, it's going to cut into the rounds at the existing golf courses."
Singletary said demographics of Northwest Arkansas show the area will need more courses in 10-15 years. He conceded there is no immediate need for more holes.
"The courses aren't overplayed," Singletary said. "Another golf course right now, I don't know if it would make it."
Lindsey agreed.
"I guarantee you if you talk to investors, they'll say, `There's plenty of courses in Northwest Arkansas,' because they're not doing as good as they hoped," Lindsey said. "Trying to invest in a golf course right now, trying to build a new golf course, you'd be hard-pressed to make it work."