The boom in golf is here as the "baby boomers" hit the links. By the year 2000 the National Golf Course Foundation predicts there will be more than 30 million golfers in the United States. More than half of all players are in their twenties and thirties while 40 percent of all new golfers are women. According to a report in Maclean's, all but five percent of golfers play on public courses. With most of there sources going into private developments, the average player is becoming increasingly crowded on the current golf courses. To meet this surge in demand, the National Golf Foundation predicts that approximately 375 new courses are needed each year and that at least 25 percent of these should be municipal (Park and Recreation Magazine, May 1989). With all this interest and demand in golf, perhaps directors should think about a golf course in their park districts. Here are some helpful hints to help start the planning process off in the right direction.

The first step

Since golf courses thrive on public demand, early public input into the need for a course is essential. Carry out a series of public hearings and conduct an interest survey of the community to determine if there are sufficient numbers of citizens interested in a course. A Citizen's Advisory Committee can also be useful in helping determine this need. Also, at an early stage, it must be determined if feasible sites are available within the community for the golf course. Key factors to keep in mind when looking for potential golf course sites are a minimum of 120 acres for an 18-hole, regulation course, access roads, a plentiful supply of water for irrigation, 3-phase electrical service, a source of drinking water, and sanitary sewer service. All of this preliminary investigation work can be done "in house" by park district personnel at relatively low expense. By the time it is done, the park district board should be able to answer two questions "yes" before proceeding further: Is there an expressed public need for the golf course, and are there feasible sites available to build the course? Now is the point to develop a market feasibility analysis.

Market feasibility analysis

The next step in planning a golf course, as in every revenue producing facility, is to develop a market feasibility analysis. This should identify the scope of the project and determine the objectives to be accomplished. It should also contain an analysis of the park district's market area, complete facilities, the growth of golf in the market area and the amount of market penetration, the potential tourist market, traffic analysis, and climatological analysis. The market feasibility analysis document is an important step in the planning process and should be carefully developed. Such a document requires a considerable amount of time and expertise to complete, especially if market surveys need to be conducted. This is the point when a public agency should consider the hiring of a consultant to help prepare their market feasibility analysis.

Hiring a consultant

The decision to hire a consultant to help prepare a market feasibility analysis of your proposed golf project is very important and often the right choice for smaller park districts. First, the consultant has a wealth of expertise to offer, not available from the park district staff.

Second, even if the expertise is available within the staff, they are likely to be fully committed to on-going programs and facilities. Assigning staff to prepare a market feasibility analysis could result in a mediocre effort and neglect of current duties as the staff tries to combine two jobs into one.

Third, even if your park district staff has the expertise and time to complete a market feasibility analysis, it still may be desirable to hire a consultant to give the analysis greater creditability. In-house studies are generally perceived to be biased by the public, especially if they call for a large expenditure of funds.

Probably the best place to start in your search for a golf course consultant is the National Golf Foundation located in Jupiter, Fla. This organization has a wealth of material on all aspects of golf

course development and management. Extensive lists of consultants categorized by specialties are available. Another source of potential consultant names is your peer park directors who have recently completed a golf course project.

Once a list has been assembled, a two or three page letter should be sent to all consultants. This letter should contain a brief project description, project schedule, and a solicitation for a statement of interest from the consultants. Request that all responses be limited to six to eight pages and that a description of the consultant's capabilities, and a list of golf course projects they recently completed be included in their reply.

Now that the list of consultants has been narrowed to those interested in working on your golf course project, the final selection process can begin. Invite three to five consultants to make a presentation to your board and select the most desirable one to work with your park district. Inviting more than five will make the final selection process much more difficult and will also lower the level of enthusiasm of the invited consultants. If consultants know they are among the three to five finalists, they will try harder in their presentations.

Once a consultant has been selected, a contract specifying the scope of work required must be written. A market feasibility analysis will be one of the first requests. Be sure to specify the exact information your park district needs. An experienced consultant who has worked on golf course projects can help with this task. Writing a contract for your consultant's scope of work is extremely important. Consultants work according to the contract and determine their fees based on the work requested. If you later have a request for additional services, such as attending a public hearing, it is not likely that the consultant will provide that service without additional fees. Don't be lead into the misperception that the consultant is now a part of the park district staff and will be available to work above and beyond specified duties.

Conclusions

The market feasibility analysis is an important step in any golf course planning project. The park district board, staff and the public must be convinced that the golf course will be a good investment of public funds. A well-prepared market feasibility analysis provides a basis for all future decisions on the type of golf course, its size and its funding.

If your market feasibility analysis is positive, then the next step is to hire a golf course architect for project design. Here, the solicitation process starts all over again. A request for a design proposal must be written and sent to potential architects. A list of interested architects must be compiled and finally, candidates interviewed for final selection. Contracts for design proposals are quite complicated and require considerable skill in writing. You may want to consider your consultant to help in this writing process.

Planning a golf course is challenging but rewarding. Like all projects, good plans form the basis for sound decisions, reduced cost, and a golf course that best meets the needs of your district.Take time to plan well, and consider hiring a consultant to help in the process.

About the Authors
George Whitehead is Director of the Carbondale Park District.Douglas McEwen, Ph,D., is a professor in the Department of Recreation at Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.