Rick Phelps, ASGCA is featured in a recent article from the Colorado Golf Journal, a publication of the Colorado Golf Association (CGA). Writer Gary Baines discusses Phelps’s intended area of emphasis for his year as President of ASGCA and shares information regarding the decline of domestic new course construction.
In the article, Phelps speaks of the history behind his father’s work as a golf course architect, saying that his dad “almost established a new market for himself – public golf at reasonable rates.” As ASGCA President, Phelps intends to use this thought as his focus, reports the article.
“If all the golf course supply in the U.S. were stacked up like a pyramid, the affordable facilities would make up the base,” Phelps said. “But now we’re building too many on top without having the support below. So we need to build up the base again.”
The author also includes statistics in the article that shed light on the standstill of domestic new course construction. The CGA reported more than 100 new courses opened in Colorado from 1990 – 2009, but the number of golfers in the U.S. declined slightly in that time period, according to the National Golf Foundation. The NGF also projects that between 2010 and 2020, there will be a net decrease of 500 – 1,000 courses in the country.
Phelps explained that he and other ASGCA members are accomodating such changes in the industry by completing more course renovations. He also noted that ASGCA members work closely with allied associations, participating in meetings and helping to “steer the game in the right direction.”
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