Golf interest up locally

NEWPORT BEACH — Don’t consider Newport Beach a bellwether when it comes to golf.

While the National Golf Foundation reported that course closures outpaced openings last year and that the total number of people who play golf has declined or remained static each year for the past eight years, interest in the sport is far from waning in Newport Beach.

“Our club’s activity has been very strong for the past three years, so we haven’t seen a downturn,” said Perry Dickey, Newport Beach Country Club president and general manager. “The demographics of Orange County are affluent, and therefore, they have a tendency to support golf, whether it’s a daily fee, or a club, or a resort, like Pelican Hill. I think we’re blessed in our market that that’s not an issue.”

What has changed, Dickey said, is how much enthusiasts play, and how much time they dedicate to the sport.

“Society had asked for more, quicker, faster,” he said. “It’s filtered into the golf industry, because golf today is four, four and a half hours to play. Most families and people and golfers are looking for a quicker return on their time. It’s a trend that we need to address.”

So golf courses around the country, including Newport Beach, the site of the Toshiba Classic, have been adapting to hang on to over-scheduled golfers.

Newport Beach Country Club has put a premium on speeding up play, particularly in the last two years, said Robbie Maurer, 26, an assistant professional at the club for the past four years. What hurts the sport, Dickey said, is the amount of time it takes to play. At NBCC, officials have been trying to encourage golfers to speed up their playing time from four and a half hours for 18 holes, to four hours or less.

So far, no one’s protested.

“I’ve never seen a player that’s gotten around in four hours or so that’s had a bad experience, Dickey said. “Conversely, I’ve seen a lot of people who’ve played five, five and a half hours, who’ve been miserable.”

As society has moved from generations of single-income families to two-income households, the club has tried to reach out more to women and junior golfers. The NBCC serves as the home site for the Corona del Mar High boys’ and girls’ golf teams. Newport Harbor High plays at Big Canyon Country Club. The club also hosts an annual Southern California PGA junior golf event.

“You have to make sure you have strong junior programs to take care of the kids, and strong ladies’ programs to take care of the women,” Dickey said.

A 2007 study by the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, National Golf Foundation, Snowsports Industries America and the Outdoor Industry Foundation found that the number of junior golfers increased between 2005 and 2006, from 4.4 million to 4.8 million individuals between ages 6 and 17.

“As more and more working women have gone into [the workforce], they’re more and more related to whatever recreation the family’s going to take because they feel like they’re part of the formula to pay for it. Now, when we sell a membership, it’s not about what the mister thinks. We certainly need to be sensitive to whatever the missus thinks and therefore incorporate that into the equation to try to facilitate selling the membership.

“That’s really what people are signing up for now. It’s not a male-dominant game, thank God.”

The Southwest is one of two regions in the United States where a significant amount of play still takes place in January. In the southwest, which includes California, Nevada, and the lower half of Arizona, courses reported a 14.5% drop in rounds played since last year.

But John Leonard, the head pro at Newport Beach Golf Course, a public course, said the doomsday scenarios have yet to affect his course, either.

“This course lends itself to a lot of beginners,” Leonard said. “I haven’t seen a decrease in that area.”

Leonard also gives lessons to senior citizens on fixed incomes. They may not be able to shell out $250 for the green fees at a private club such as Pelican Hill in Newport Coast, but they still play.

At Newport Beach Golf Course, green fees range from $10-$16 for nine holes, and $18-$25 for nine. With golf interest at a high in Orange County, course managers at Newport found it prudent to have night-lighted courses.

For busy individuals who can’t sacrifice a Saturday morning, the option of playing at night has helped keep them from abandoning the sport.

“People can meet here and get a round of golf in before they go home,” Leonard said.

While the NGF identified 113 course openings in 2007, it also reported 121.5 closures, for a net of negative 8.5 courses.

Both Maurer and Dickey said many closures came from courses that anchored housing developments in a time where the housing market has been in decline. The other reason NGF stated, was simply that courses were sold to developers who had more to gain by using the land for commercial enterprises.

Still, Maurer said he could understand why national numbers would trend downward.

“I really feel strongly that the economy’s not very good right now,” said Maurer, who started seriously playing golf when a basketball injury relegated him to a cast for six months. “Are people going to be spending $50, $60, $100 on golf when they could be putting it toward rent?”

SORAYA NADIA McDONALD may be reached at (714) 966-4613 or at soraya.mcdonald@latimes.com.