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As Predicted In 2012 …
Overview
PREDICTIONS MADE IN 2012 FOR THE YEAR 2020 …
Observers began predicting the IMMINENT DEMISE of the Golf Industry in 2012 …
• The game of golf will NO LONGER be a flourishing Billion-Dollar-Industry.
• Large numbers of golf facilities will become ABANDONED WASTE DUMPS.
https://pesticidetruths.com/toc/the-golf-industry-collision-course/
AS THE YEAR 2020 APPROACHES, HERE ARE THE REFINED PREDICTIONS …
• Many Golf Facilities will NO LONGER be part of a flourishing Billion-Dollar-Industry.
• Many Golf Facilities will be SEVERELY WEAKENED by aging and declining membership, falling revenues, over-saturated market, unstable economy, volatile weather, and golf-hating anti-pesticide campaigns.
• Golf-hating anti-pesticide fanatics will force many golf facilities to SHUT-DOWN under the PRETEXT of somehow « saving the environment », or saving obscure and meaningless animal species like tadpoles and snakes.
• Many golf facilities will be ANNIHILATED by golf-hating anti-pesticide FANATICAL LAWSUITS with FALSE-ALLEGATIONS against pesticide and fertilizer pollution.
• Anti-Golf, Pesticide-Hating, & Environmental-Terrorist Organizations, like Canadian Cancer Society and Beyond Pesticides, will succeed in ANNIHILATING the Golf Industry.
• Golf-Hating Fanatics will SHUT-DOWN golf facilities under the PRETEXT OF SAVING BEES.
• ORGANIC PESTICIDE-FREE golf course maintenance WILL NOT WORK.
• Bethpage and Vineyard, once used as U.S. examples of PESTICIDE-FREE, will be UNIVERSALLY DISMAL FAILURES.
• Pest control products will be PROHIBITED NATIONALLY, despite being INDISPUTABLY SAFE to use.
• Anti-Pesticide PROHIBITION in countries like Denmark will DESTROY most of golf facilities.
• Integrated Pest Management and Green Alternatives will be UNIVERSALLY DISMAL FAILURES.
• The ENTIRE Golf Industry will have its PESTICIDE EXCEPTION STATUS REVOKED.
• Playing conditions will be TOTALLY DISMAL at virtually ALL PESTICIDE-FREE golf facilities.
• Pest problems will be TOTALLY UNMANAGEABLE without conventional products.
• THE LABOUR NOW NEEDED for pesticide-free maintenance will be STAGGERING.
• The concept of BROWN IS BEAUTIFUL will also be a DISMAL FAILURE.
• Golfers will NO LONGER want to play on BROWN DEPRESSING UNPLAYABLE courses.
• Golf facilities will NO LONGER offer BEAUTIFUL RESTFUL green spaces to its clients.
• Only the VERY RICH ELITE golfer will be able to afford GREEN HEALTHY PLAYABLE courses.
• Over seventy per cent of golfers will ABANDON the sport.
• Many Golf Facilities will be considered as WORTHLESS INVESTMENTS.
• No one will be able to buy or sell a golf facility, and owners will be FRANTIC ― who wants to buy a golf facility that is BANKRUPT, RUN-DOWN, SHUTTERED, ABANDONED, and a BURNING WASTE DUMP ?!?! ― who wants to buy a PESTICIDE-TREATED golf course facing IMMINENT ANTI-PESTICIDE BANS ?!?!
• Golf facilities will NO LONGER BE ABLE TO AFFORD TO PAY THE PROPERTY TAXES.
• Many golf clubs will CLOSE DOWN or GO BANKRUPT ― many facilities will be simply ABANDONED ( i.e. SHUTTERED ), or worst, club houses will be BURNED DOWN.
• Superintendents will NO LONGER NECESSARY or NEEDED.
• The Multi-Billion-Dollar-Golf-Industry will be ANNIHILATED.
• Large numbers of golf facilities will become ABANDONED WASTE DUMPS.
• The Golf Industry WILL SUCCUMB TO A BURNING BLACK DEATH.
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The Golf Industry Succumbs To A Burning Black Death
America’s Golf Courses
Are Burning !
August 16th, 2016
Golf Dispute Resolution
Selected And Adapted Excerpts
Over the past several years, we have discussed many LAWSUITS involving golf course owners’ desires to transform the use of the property into something that will generate better returns ( or avoid losses ).
Frequently, there is PUSH-BACK from neighbors, from members, and from local governments.
I recommend to those interested an article by Pat Clark at Bloomberg that discusses the issues raised by these disputes and market forces.
As Clark explains ―
More than 800 golf courses have CLOSED nationwide in the last decade, as operators grapple with DECLINING INTEREST IN THE SPORT and a GLUT OF COMPETITION.
Many of those SHUTTERED courses were built on land proscribed from re-development by local zoning codes seeking to preserve open space — or … by deed restrictions intended to protect home-owners who had PAID A PREMIUM TO LIVE NEAR A GOLF COURSE.
That leaves some golf course owners with the real estate equivalent of an UNPLAYABLE LIE ― they CANNOT MAKE MONEY RUNNING THE COURSE, and they CANNOT RECOUP THEIR INVESTMENT BY SELLING IT …
In the face of DECLINING INTEREST and competition driven by OVER-SUPPLY, course owners have gone SEARCHING FOR WAYS OUT.
Some have donated golf course land to nature trusts and local parks, taking a tax break in return for preserving the open space.
Others have inked deals with home-builders — though those deals are often contingent on winning approval from home-owner associations or local governments.
See next segment for the full article.
America’s Golf Courses
Are Burning !
More Than 800 Golf Courses
Have Closed Over A Decade !
Now Club Houses Are
Going Up In Flames !
August 15th, 2016
Bloomberg News
Selected And Adapted Excerpts
As Predicted In 2012 …
Many Golf Facilities Are No Longer Part Of A Flourishing Billion-Dollar-Industry
In 2013, The DARK CLOUDS rolled in over Phoenix’s Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course when its owner declared that the COSTS of keeping it open had outstripped what he was collecting in green fees.
Mr Wilson Gee, a California businessman, SHUTTERED THE GOLF COURSE, ERECTED BARBED-WIRE FENCES, and began looking for a buyer, telling reporters THE LAND WOULD NEVER BE A WORKING GOLF COURSE AGAIN.
As Predicted In 2012 …
Many Golf Facilities Have Become Abandoned Waste Dumps
Home-owners, complaining he was TURNING THE COURSE INTO AN EYESORE [ see photos below ] in order to win approval to redevelop it into single-family homes, sued to reopen it.
Mr Gee shanked his first attempt to sell it in 2014, when one home-builder WALKED AWAY FROM A DEAL, but in 2015 found a buyer in a Denver-based developer.
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Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course in Phoenix
Has Become An Abandoned Waste Dump
Photograph ― Courtesy Richard Strange
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Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course in Phoenix
Has Become An Abandoned Waste Dump
Photograph ― Courtesy Richard Strange
As Predicted In 2012 …
Many Golf Clubs Close Down Or Go Bankrupt ― Many Facilities Are Simply Abandoned ( i.e. Shuttered ), ( Or Worst, Club Houses Are Burned Down )
Then, one night in February 2016, the dark clouds turned to smoke, and a FIRE caved in the club house roof.
It’s a local story, defined by conditions peculiar to Ahwatukee, a community of about 80,000 separated from downtown Phoenix by a collection of 2,500-foot peaks known as South Mountain.
But the dynamics that bred the deadlock between the struggling golf course’s owner and its aggrieved neighbors are mirrored in communities across the country.
In April 2016, FIRE RIPPED THROUGH THE CLUB HOUSE AT A SHUTTERED WESTERN KENTUCKY GOLF COURSE THAT HAD BEEN THE CENTER OF A LAWSUIT, burning through the afternoon until the roof collapsed over smoldering beams.
On New Year’s Day 2016, a former volunteer fire-fighter LIT A SMALL FIRE OUTSIDE THE VACANT CLUB HOUSE OF A CLOSED 9-HOLE COURSE outside Orlando, then returned three days later to SPARK A LARGER BLAZE, with the help of a can of paint thinner he had found there.
And in September 2015, a FIRE reduced the 10,000-square-foot club house at an ABANDONED GOLF COURSE in Bakersfield, California, to only a few charred beams.
For John Rhoads, a home-owner in Sparks, Nevada, a CLUB HOUSE FIRE at his local course, D’Andrea Golf Club, was both insult and injury.
In 2012, its owner had asked members of the local home-owner association to pay an additional $28-a-month for course upkeep, Rhoads said.
The home-owners demurred, the course was SHUTTERED, and the club house became a MAGNET FOR VANDALS, who posted graffiti on its stucco walls, and eventually BURNED IT DOWN.
Now Rhoads worries that the owner is making an end run around the home-owner association to convert half of the course into new homes and a winery.
According to Mr John Rhoads ―
This used to be one of the nicest golf courses in Reno-Sparks.
Now, our property values are already down $25,000 a home.
Lately, the fight in Ahwatukee has reached a new pitch.
In July 2016, a Maricopa County judge declared that deed restrictions required the « operation of a golf course » on the property.
Also in July 2016, a local television station reported, citing unnamed fire department sources, that THE CLUB HOUSE FIRE WAS SET INTENTIONALLY, stoking resentment among neighbors of the course’s RUN-DOWN STATE.
Scott Walker, the Fire Department’s Deputy Chief of Fire Investigations, says that the investigation is on-going and NO determination has been made.
In August 2016, the developer to which Mr Wilson Gee, the California businessman, sold the course, True Life Companies, unveiled plans to redevelop it into an agricultural community with a community garden, a Montessori school, and as many as a few hundred homes.
Linda Swain is one of the home-owners suing to reopen the course ―
They’re going to do whatever they can do to convince owners that they’d be better off with housing.
Getting the plan approved will require written approval from more than 2,600 residents, or 50 per cent of the local home-owner association.
Swain thinks that this will prove a tall order — but « after three years of disarray, maybe they have a chance ».
David Sabow, Managing Director at True Life Companies, said the LAWSUIT will be moot if the developer can win over the home-owners, but if need be, it’s prepared to litigate for years ―
We spent a lot of time and effort to come up with a plan that the community would welcome.
As far as I’m concerned, the property will never be a golf course again.
Mr Wilson Gee, the California businessman, for his part, is glad to have washed his hands of it.
According to Mr Gee ―
People don’t like change.
BUT THE GOLF INDUSTRY IS IN EVEN WORSE SHAPE TODAY THAN IT WAS IN 2013 WHEN I CLOSED THE COURSE.
As Predicted In 2012 …
Many Golf Facilities Are Severely Weakened By Aging And Declining Membership, Falling Revenues, Over-Saturated Market, Unstable Economy, Volatile Weather, ( And Perhaps Golf-Hating Anti-Pesticide Campaigns )
MORE THAN 800 GOLF COURSES HAVE CLOSED NATION-WIDE IN THE LAST DECADE, AS OPERATORS GRAPPLE WITH DECLINING INTEREST IN THE SPORT AND A GLUT OF COMPETITION.
Many of those SHUTTERED COURSES were built on land proscribed from re-development by local zoning codes seeking to preserve open space ― or, as with Ahwatukee Lakes Golf Course, by deed restrictions intended to protect home-owners who had paid a premium to live near a golf course.
To some extent, all those COURSE CLOSURES are simply a MARKET CORRECTION.
The Golf Industry went through a BUILDING BOOM in the 1990s and early 2000s, driven by developers who USED GOLF COURSES AS AMENITIES TO HELP SELL HOMES.
But the CLOSURES also reflect CHANGING PREFERENCES FOR LEISURE ACTIVITIES.
PARTICIPATION IN THE SPORT IS DOWN 20 PER CENT SINCE 2003, according to data from the National Golf Foundation, and home-builders have moved on to new types of recreational amenities, including man-made lakes and agricultural communities.
Lately, the equipment business has been feeling the sting, with Nike Inc announcing that it would STOP MAKING GOLF CLUBS, and retailer Golfsmith International Holdings Inc is CONSIDERING BANKRUPTCY.
In the face of DECLINING INTEREST and COMPETITION DRIVEN BY OVERSUPPLY, course owners have gone SEARCHING FOR WAYS OUT.
Some have DONATED GOLF COURSE LAND TO NATURE TRUSTS AND LOCAL PARKS, taking a tax break in return for preserving the open space.
Others have inked deals with home-builders — though those deals are often contingent on winning approval from home-owner associations or local governments.
According to Jeff Woolson, Managing Director of the Golf and Resort Group at CBRE Group ―
I’m hard-pressed to think of many cases where there isn’t a higher or better use than a golf course for the site.
The only clear exception would be Augusta, Georgia.
In Augusta, Georgia, the hallowed, the Bobby Jones-designed course hosts the Masters Tournament each year.
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The Community Of Ahwatukee In Phoenix
Source ― Terra Server/Digital Globe
As Predicted In 2012 …
Many Golf Facilities Are Considered As Worthless Investments
That leaves some golf course owners with the real estate equivalent of an UNPLAYABLE LIE ― THEY CANNOT MAKE MONEY RUNNING THE COURSE, AND THEY CANNOT RECOUP THEIR INVESTMENT BY SELLING IT.
According to Ms Jay Karen, Chief Executive Officer of the National Golf Course Owners Association ―
If you open a restaurant in a strip mall and you FAIL, you close shop and move on.
But for golf course owners, it’s much harder to pull the plug on a FAILING BUSINESS — AS COURSES FALL INTO DISUSE, THEY BECOME SUBURBAN ZOMBIES — not quite dead, yet far from alive.
According to Ms Karen ―
Nobody’s tracking what’s happening to the land.
Background Information
For The Whole Truth About The GOLF INDUSTRY, Please Explore The Following Links …
GOLF INDUSTRY — CRITICAL ISSUES FOR THE SURVIVAL OF THE GOLF INDUSTRY ( Web-Page )
https://pesticidetruths.com/toc/golf-industry-critical-issues/
GOLF INDUSTRY — THE GOLF INDUSTRY COLLISION COURSE — DEMISE IS IMMINENT ( Web-Page )
https://pesticidetruths.com/toc/the-golf-industry-collision-course/
GOLF INDUSTRY — LOOMING SHIPWRECK — PREDICTIONS CONCERNING THE LOSS OF ITS PESTICIDE EXCEPTION STATUS ( Blog )
GOLF INDUSTRY — MESSAGES ORDERING THE HACKING-ATTACK AGAINST THE GOLF INDUSTRY — IPM COUNCIL OF CANADA ( Blog )
GOLF INDUSTRY — MORE MESSAGES ORDERING THE HACKING-ATTACK CAMPAIGN AGAINST THE GOLF INDUSTRY — IPM COUNCIL OF CANADA ( Blog )
GOLF INDUSTRY — THE GOLF INDUSTRY COLLISION COURSE — EXAMPLES OF ATTACKS AGAINST GOLF FACILITIES ( Report )
GOLF INDUSTRY — BOGUS ORGANIC GOLF COURSES ( Report )
GOLF INDUSTRY — CANADIAN CANCER SOCIETY DEMANDS NO GOLF EXCEPTION STATUS — POSITION STATEMENTS AGAINST THE GOLF INDUSTRY — PESTICIDE BAN ( A.K.A. PHASE-OUT ) NECESSARY BECAUSE GOLF IS COSMETIC ( Web-Page )
https://pesticidetruths.com/toc/canadian-cancer-society-demands-no-golf-exception-status/
GOLF INDUSTRY — THE LOOMING GOLF INDUSTRY SHIPWRECK — NO LONGER A HOPEFUL FUTURE ( Web-Page )
https://pesticidetruths.com/toc/the-looming-golf-industry-shipwreck/
GOLF INDUSTRY — WHO WANTS TO PLAY ON A #@!!% PEST-INFESTED GARBAGE DUMPS GOLF COURSE ?!?! ( Photo Gallery That Includes Golf Facilities )
https://pesticidetruths.com/toc/carnage-leading-to-garbage-dump-green-spaces-photo-gallery/
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