TAMPA, Fla. — Despite the permanent closure of a New Tampa golf course, the state of the game in Florida is strong. We toured a new course under construction and another getting a massive renovation; experts think that trend will continue as more people take up the game.
Over the past few months, ABC Action News has covered the drama surrounding what to do with the permanently closed Pebble Creek Golf Club in New Tampa. The owners requested it be rezoned to build homes on the old course. Hillsborough County Commissioners denied the request.
That issue led us to several questions we wanted to answer about the current state of golf: from the economic and environmental impacts of courses that are open to what should happen to the land and all that green space when they suddenly close.
As you will read, we uncovered that golf in Florida is in a renaissance where old courses are renovated while others are under construction. There are no easy answers for why one course opens and another closes.
TOPGOLF
One area growing in leaps and bounds is places like Topgolf. In 2022, the total number of people engaged in off-course participation hit 27.9 million for the first time, surpassing those who play traditional on-the-course golf (25.6 million), according to the National Golf Foundation.
"So last year, 2022 was the first year that off-course participation, which Topgolf represents about 85% of total all sports participation," Justin Norvell, National Director of Operations for Topgolf, said. "Most of our players that come out do not consider themselves avid golfers. More than half would consider themselves a nongolfer. We'd like to think that we've eliminated a lot of the barriers to entry that some new players might find in a traditional golf environment."
With a full restaurant and bar, the Topgolf model serves a different clientele, but some get bit by the golf bug because of an experience at an off-course venue like Topgolf.
"We truly are for everyone," Norvell said. "When the National Golf Foundation asked golfers if Topgolf influenced their decision to start golf, 10% last year said that we influenced their decision to play golf."
SOLETA GOLF CLUB
On 536 acres of a former cattle ranch in Myakka City, we got a tour of what the owners of a new course hope will become one of golf's premiere communities in Florida: Soleta Golf Club.
"That's why we're excited here at Soleta that they decided to build a golf course here in Myakka, just a little bit east of Lakewood Ranch," Alan Pope, the Director of Membership at Soleta Golf Club, said.
"Pretty good demand?" Paluska asked.
"The markets have been incredibly big here with all the waitlist at clubs; you're not able to get in for the next three to five years," Pope said. "So the developers here decided it's a great opportunity. And their vision was to have a great golf club. Nick Price is designing the golf club."
He continued, "We didn't want a bunch of homes here; we're going to have 91 lots here. Only a few lots will be able to see the golf course. So it's going to be a great golf experience. It's going to be really family-oriented. Their main goal is to have a place where you come and have fun. But, also, you have a great golf experience."
Pope said construction will not impact the wetlands. The plan is to make sure the course keeps the natural old Florida feel while protecting the environment at the same time.
"So, I think what Nick has planned for preserving the land will be a wonderful opportunity for people to get here and enjoy nature and a great place to live since Sarasota is growing so far this way," Pope said. "The markets are incredible. We've never seen anything like it. I think it continues like that."
Pope took us out on hundreds of acres of land where cattle still roam that will be transformed by the same time next year. A place where golfers in their back swing won't hear the sounds of traffic or urban life flying by.
"I think that's what's going to make it unique out here is how quiet it is," Pope said. "And, you don't have all the lights late in the day and stuff out here. So it'll be beautiful to come out here in the late evenings, and you won't have all the city lights and everything, all the noises; it will be pretty special."
BLACK DIAMOND RANCH
While some courses are under construction, there are plenty of others getting massive facelifts in the form of renovations, restoration work, and updating courses to be more sustainable and cost-effective.
We got a tour of renovations at Black Diamond Ranch in Lecanto, where the Ranch Course is getting a significant facelift.
"A lot of the renovation work we're doing now is born of the infrastructure, you know, the structure, the bunkers, the tees, greens, drainage, irrigation has come to an age where it needs to be renovated, it's no different than needing to put a new roof on your house or a new water heater," golf course architect Tripp Davis, President of Tripp Davis and Associates told Paluska. "We want the golf course to be more easy to maintain. We want it to be maintained with less input. In particular, we're looking for grasses that have lower water use that need less fertilizer."
We watched crews renovate bunkers and dig trenches for updated irrigation systems to conserve water.
"It's been interesting because I was thinking that, you know, with inflation, we would see renovations slow down, and they haven't," Davis said.
"Are we lucky because we live in Florida and have more courses than any other state in the country? Are we a little more insulated?" Paluska asked.
"Probably not because it's a numbers game. You know, that's probably not the neat reason why it's more golfers. And so it's market to market, I mean, it can be from one side of the street to the next, as the golf industry goes."
Lower to middle-class areas are feeling the sting of inflation. But, there is still a lot of disposable income, and some people are still spending.
"So what we are seeing is that the higher end, that's where the golf courses are still thriving," Davis said. "And that's where we're seeing the money spent on renovations and restorations and, so, the number of players playing, they're still populating your public courses. And some of the mid-level courses. But that's starting to decline a little bit, as we're seeing. But the money and the activity in the business is still in that, you know, upper to higher level."
"What's the future for golf in Florida over the next 10 years? Would it be accurate to say right now we're booming, and you think we will continue to boom?" Paluska asked.
"I think the game, you know, the game itself is very healthy. But, the renovation market is, you know, far exceeding the number of courses that are closing. And you know, we're only seeing a handful of courses a year getting built this year, and next year is probably going to triple. For the next 20 years, I see the golf industry being strong," Davis said.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
And more green space is good for the environment.
In August 2021, the nonprofit 1000 Friends of Florida published a report about "Golf Course Redevelopment or Repurposing in Florida."
We sat with Haley Busch, Outreach Director for 1000 Friends of Florida.
"In the land use planning and community development world, you often hear the term, what's the highest and best use of the property of a piece of land? And I think that frequently gets kind of conflated with real estate jargon for what, how can I maximize profits on a property?" Busch said. "But, highest and best use can also mean ecological value. So, is it recharging water? Is it a habitat for wildlife? Can it provide a wildlife corridor between the neighborhood and a bigger natural area on the outskirts?"
The nonprofit does not have a position on what Pebble Creek Golf should become. But know what they don't want to happen.
"Once you've paved something, once you put rooftop down, asphalt, anything, it's much more difficult to revert that back to wild space," Busch said. "There's certainly 1000's more acreage of cattle ranch land. So, we focused on that issue specifically. But it is a good strategy to think about golf courses as a type of ag land, and we could lump that into our conservation strategy."
According to one part of the study:
The United States Golf Association (USGA), golf's governing body, has determined eight benefits that golf courses offer. They include providing wildlife habitat, protecting topsoil from water and wind erosion, improving community aesthetics, absorbing and infiltrating rain, improving health and reducing stress, improving air quality, capturing and cleansing runoff in urban areas, and making substantial contributions to the community's economy. Consequently, the question at issue then becomes: How can bankrupt or financially unstable golf courses be sustainably redeveloped or repurposed so that they can continue providing these benefits to the community? Additionally, the state of Florida has unique ecological concerns that should be taken into account in the context of golf course development.
"If we think about golf courses more like in line with city parks or natural areas, you're going to get much of the same benefit from a golf course as you do from those areas," Cole Thompson, Director of Turf Grass and Environmental Research with USGA, said.
Thompson said the USGA funds a lot of research to make courses better for better golf.
"Our three kind of broad initiatives are conserving water and protecting water, and then just optimizing general, sustainable golf course management, and that can be anything that you would, you would think might intersect with turf management, and some things you probably wouldn't realize do from for managing pests, to optimizing fertilizers, to better understanding other cultural practices and how they influence grasses in the in the playing experience," Thompson said.
Studies help find more stress-tolerant plants, the best turf grass for each environment.
"That's really where we are now is this data-informed management, and making, you know, real-time decisions based on what's happening on the golf course and the environment around it," Thomspon said. "We are a nonprofit generating information to help those people that are on the frontlines."
The future of Pebble Creek in New Tampa still needs to be discovered. Despite that one course, the bottom line is that golf is trendy right now, and the future crop of players is bright.
According to the National Golf Foundation, "at just over 3.4 million in total, the youth golfer pool is now at its highest level since 2006, just before the Great Recession.
With all this info about golf, don't forget to yell, "Fore!"
