Absolutely spot on. When Angeles National in LA built their clubhouse they had to more than double their green fees. It's not on my rotation now. I had the same reaction to the St. Patrick's setup--It's great they're all about golf. The only place that I've seen the new clubhouse construction work is Old Machrihanish. They lost their original to fire, but to make it work they serve both lunch and dinner, and their restaurant is one of the top 2 in the area so it's always busy.
Really interesting to hear about the different clubs - Angeles National and Machrihanish. Very keen to play Machrihanish, I’ll have to go in for lunch and dinner when I’m there!
The Dedman foundation offers many undergraduate and graduate scholarships. My son was awarded one to attend the University of Texas. We are grateful for his philanthropy.
Does their balance sheet turn red because of maintenance fees? salaries and wages of people? Running poor restaurant businesses they have no business running?
Hence the strip down of duties and been run through a cabin?
That seems to be the case - the standard cost of building a clubhouse these days is $2million-$10 million with yearly maintenance sitting at $100k-$300k all obviously depending on size, location, staff etc… Some clubs can make that back with their clubhouse operations like bar and restaurant but a lot don’t and so they end up having to take the profits from the golf operations to pay for the clubhouse.
Good article about Clubcorp/Mr Dedman and clubhouses. Imho clubhouses are more important to private city courses, country clubs. The newer over priced public courses just need a place to collect the fees sell some logos and halfway places to sell their drinks. They only need clubhouses if they have a residential offering, Cabot and Keiser are the leaders in North America.
Trump/Putin have a nice resort offering but it doesn’t make a profit due to “management fees”. And they don’t need a profit as their mortgages are laundered cash.
Great yarn. We're gifted with many public golf courses in Australia & there is at least a goat track to have a belt at in most towns. I've heard it said that the reason there's so many courses in the cities, like Sydney, is because most public courses are built on top of old suburban tips! Makes sense, all the signs saying don't drink the pond water 😆 Oz didn't have ONE player that made the cut in '26 in the US Open! 🤷🏌 1st time in 67 years.
Great article tied so closely to the courses we love but know so little about at times. We see all the pictures and here the main bullet points of the history on TV when watching the rounds but you gave us the grassroots info. Thank you for taking the time to write that article and looking forward to reading more.
An incredible article. I’d say part 2 of the article, though, would be about the bastardization of Dedman’s model for corporate profit. Worst thing that happened was when he took private equity money and then you see they have now divorced. No one likes to play with blood suckers for long.
they want their profit up front, and they will bleed the club dry to make as much profit as they can for as long as they can. They are interested in a 20-year return, they want 3-5 year returns.
It’s not aligned to how golf course members want to enjoy their clubs.
I’ve been a clubcorp member (now invited) for 25 years. My original club, cimarron in the valley, went bankrupt.
my second club, fair oaks ranch, was supposed to build a $2.4M fitness facility before KKR acquisition. After acquisition, it got built, an $1M facility 4 years late.
Now we routinely deal with delayed course maintenance, but KKR gets their check on time every month.
Fair oaks has 2 courses and we have 800 gold members so both courses are packed all the time.
Most golfers would prefer a “manageable tee sheet”, but not packed every single day from 7a-4p.
that’s the rub. You’ve got to look at total annual cost, and you can divide that by 600 members or 800 Members, if you are a member-owned club. But as soon as someone is concerned about profit, the calculation changes.
Robert Dedman, founder of ClubCorp built Brookhaven CC in Dallas in 1957 with the specific idea that a single clubhouse would serve 54 holes of golf. 3x as many members, one clubhouse. Brilliant idea at the time.
My home club in high school, Brenham CC had a trailer as the golf shop for years; they finally built a pretty clubhouse and the club has forever struggled financially since. A single 18 holes is not enough to sustain a big clubhouse.
The only thing Dedman screwed up, is that golf courses should be set up as non-profits. They exist to serve the members, they shouldn’t turn a profit. They should have budgets that allow for long-term capital projects, annual maintenance, and emergencies. But there should be no profit past that point. Any excess profit at the end of the year should be returned to members as a dividend.
Dedman made this a business and built an empire called ClubCorp. This was even fine, until he decided to sell to KSL Capital. They make sure to get their profit first.
Our club in San Antonio was supposed to build a $2.4M fitness center. KSL authorized a $1M facility 4 years later. Course maintenance is routinely in question. Both courses are packed with tee times every day.
Brenham has 500 total members and 300 golf members. Thursday and Friday afternoons, and Saturday and Sunday mornings required a tee time, but other times you can just show up and play.
Fair Oaks has 1200 members and 800 golf members so it’s jam-packed, which is great for socializing, but not great for golfers.
And remember, prior to COVID private club membership was on the decline. So this put even more pressure on KSL to raise individual member dues to ensure continued profit.
There is a perfect balance of golf course availability, how well-kept the facilities are, and member cost. Introducing a profit motive into that financial calculation creates a system of mis-aligned incentives.
With our “subscription” model being widely adopted in the last decade+, perhaps we’ll see more recreational facilities take a non-profit business model approach?
One can only hope.
The lesson for golfers is to understand the business model of the club you are thinking about joining, ownership structure, etc., so you can understand the pros/cons and risks for that particular club 5 years, 10 years, 20 years into the future.
Great read and a really interesting angle
Absolutely spot on. When Angeles National in LA built their clubhouse they had to more than double their green fees. It's not on my rotation now. I had the same reaction to the St. Patrick's setup--It's great they're all about golf. The only place that I've seen the new clubhouse construction work is Old Machrihanish. They lost their original to fire, but to make it work they serve both lunch and dinner, and their restaurant is one of the top 2 in the area so it's always busy.
Really interesting to hear about the different clubs - Angeles National and Machrihanish. Very keen to play Machrihanish, I’ll have to go in for lunch and dinner when I’m there!
That sounds great. If I ever get the chance to go there, I’ll definitely pay a visit.
Wonderful article.. congratulations.. more please.
Thanks Davi, really appreciate the feedback! I'll do my best to keep em coming.
Very good read
Great article, super read! 👌👍
Thanks mate!
The Dedman foundation offers many undergraduate and graduate scholarships. My son was awarded one to attend the University of Texas. We are grateful for his philanthropy.
Very good article - please post more.
Very interested on clubhouse economics as well.
Does their balance sheet turn red because of maintenance fees? salaries and wages of people? Running poor restaurant businesses they have no business running?
Hence the strip down of duties and been run through a cabin?
That seems to be the case - the standard cost of building a clubhouse these days is $2million-$10 million with yearly maintenance sitting at $100k-$300k all obviously depending on size, location, staff etc… Some clubs can make that back with their clubhouse operations like bar and restaurant but a lot don’t and so they end up having to take the profits from the golf operations to pay for the clubhouse.
Good article about Clubcorp/Mr Dedman and clubhouses. Imho clubhouses are more important to private city courses, country clubs. The newer over priced public courses just need a place to collect the fees sell some logos and halfway places to sell their drinks. They only need clubhouses if they have a residential offering, Cabot and Keiser are the leaders in North America.
Trump/Putin have a nice resort offering but it doesn’t make a profit due to “management fees”. And they don’t need a profit as their mortgages are laundered cash.
Yeah all reasonable points - I think for the elite private clubs the clubhouse does matter, it’s part of the experience
Informative read
Thanks mate!
Great yarn. We're gifted with many public golf courses in Australia & there is at least a goat track to have a belt at in most towns. I've heard it said that the reason there's so many courses in the cities, like Sydney, is because most public courses are built on top of old suburban tips! Makes sense, all the signs saying don't drink the pond water 😆 Oz didn't have ONE player that made the cut in '26 in the US Open! 🤷🏌 1st time in 67 years.
Great article tied so closely to the courses we love but know so little about at times. We see all the pictures and here the main bullet points of the history on TV when watching the rounds but you gave us the grassroots info. Thank you for taking the time to write that article and looking forward to reading more.
Thanks so much for the kind words. I agree, I love the depth and stories behind these places. I’ll do my best to keep delivering for you!
subscribe for a subscribe! lets build community!
A fascinating read.
Thank you!
Great story. Thanks for sharing.
That was really interesting and enjoyable.
Thank you!
I've got to get myself across to Rosapenna!
It's so good, I feel like any golf enthusiast needs to spend a couple of days there and soak the place in.
An incredible article. I’d say part 2 of the article, though, would be about the bastardization of Dedman’s model for corporate profit. Worst thing that happened was when he took private equity money and then you see they have now divorced. No one likes to play with blood suckers for long.
they want their profit up front, and they will bleed the club dry to make as much profit as they can for as long as they can. They are interested in a 20-year return, they want 3-5 year returns.
It’s not aligned to how golf course members want to enjoy their clubs.
I’ve been a clubcorp member (now invited) for 25 years. My original club, cimarron in the valley, went bankrupt.
my second club, fair oaks ranch, was supposed to build a $2.4M fitness facility before KKR acquisition. After acquisition, it got built, an $1M facility 4 years late.
Now we routinely deal with delayed course maintenance, but KKR gets their check on time every month.
Fair oaks has 2 courses and we have 800 gold members so both courses are packed all the time.
Most golfers would prefer a “manageable tee sheet”, but not packed every single day from 7a-4p.
that’s the rub. You’ve got to look at total annual cost, and you can divide that by 600 members or 800 Members, if you are a member-owned club. But as soon as someone is concerned about profit, the calculation changes.
The richest golf family you’ve never heard of.
Robert Dedman, founder of ClubCorp built Brookhaven CC in Dallas in 1957 with the specific idea that a single clubhouse would serve 54 holes of golf. 3x as many members, one clubhouse. Brilliant idea at the time.
My home club in high school, Brenham CC had a trailer as the golf shop for years; they finally built a pretty clubhouse and the club has forever struggled financially since. A single 18 holes is not enough to sustain a big clubhouse.
The only thing Dedman screwed up, is that golf courses should be set up as non-profits. They exist to serve the members, they shouldn’t turn a profit. They should have budgets that allow for long-term capital projects, annual maintenance, and emergencies. But there should be no profit past that point. Any excess profit at the end of the year should be returned to members as a dividend.
Dedman made this a business and built an empire called ClubCorp. This was even fine, until he decided to sell to KSL Capital. They make sure to get their profit first.
Our club in San Antonio was supposed to build a $2.4M fitness center. KSL authorized a $1M facility 4 years later. Course maintenance is routinely in question. Both courses are packed with tee times every day.
Brenham has 500 total members and 300 golf members. Thursday and Friday afternoons, and Saturday and Sunday mornings required a tee time, but other times you can just show up and play.
Fair Oaks has 1200 members and 800 golf members so it’s jam-packed, which is great for socializing, but not great for golfers.
And remember, prior to COVID private club membership was on the decline. So this put even more pressure on KSL to raise individual member dues to ensure continued profit.
There is a perfect balance of golf course availability, how well-kept the facilities are, and member cost. Introducing a profit motive into that financial calculation creates a system of mis-aligned incentives.
With our “subscription” model being widely adopted in the last decade+, perhaps we’ll see more recreational facilities take a non-profit business model approach?
One can only hope.
The lesson for golfers is to understand the business model of the club you are thinking about joining, ownership structure, etc., so you can understand the pros/cons and risks for that particular club 5 years, 10 years, 20 years into the future.
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