Course Closings

[eclark53520]

Probably the best range i was ever at was about 15 miles away from any type of civilization, but it was an 'unmanned' range with a ball dispenser. A 5 dollar bill got you 6 tokens and it only took 2 tokens to fill a big bucket....place had a nice big deck around the ball dispenser with seating for probably over 20 people with tables. Pop machine...

Had about 5 mats, the rest is grass and pretty well kept grass at that. Fairly decent 'greens' with holes and flags in them at 25,50,75,100,150,200,250,300

Hitting a SW into the 100yd 'green' i put one in the hole under the flag...saw it disapear but since i was the only one out there i went and checked...sure enough there it was.

I dont know how much money they make out there, but its never crowded and its the cheapest large bucket i have ever heard of.

 

[ezra76]

yeah the problem with ranges around here is that they seem to just put them in a pasture off the beaten path somewhere. The only way any survive around here is if they are in an area that's very busy, and if they offer more than just being a range. Be it mini-golf, batting cages, game rooms, decent food, etc.

Not sure if I'm correct on this or not but ranges around here are all on commercial property. This would lead me to assume that a range has to be on a piece of property zoned commercial. How much is that property worth to sell vs. profitability of the range? I mean, if you are making $120K a year off the range after all is said and done (insurance and property taxes must be astronomical) then someone offering $2.5 million for the property is a no brainer.

I've also seen a range that was new, ton of money dumped into it, just close. It was near my dad's house, not a big population down there but it was right off the highway. They had "PGA" practice greens up top with insane bunkers. You had to buy a "membership" to use that practice area though. The range was expensive. Last I knew they had "all you can hit" for $25, then dropped that to $12.50 with a coupon and still couldn't get anybody in there. I'm not driving 40minutes down to the sticks to hit balls for $25 and I guess nobody else was either. They other issue, down there, most people have a backyard big enough to hit full 6irons across it, why bother with a range?

 

[NiftyNiblick]

The real estate crash might actually help some layouts stay open. I've seen more than one public track in these parts go down for house lots. It's a bigger scale version of thirty or forty years ago when the drive-in movies went down for strip malls.

Meanwhile, I thank God that my club isn't member owned or member run. Send in my check, no assessments and the like, and let somebody else worry about it.

 

[zaphod]

Probably the best range i was ever at was about 15 miles away from any type of civilization, but it was an 'unmanned' range with a ball dispenser. A 5 dollar bill got you 6 tokens and it only took 2 tokens to fill a big bucket....place had a nice big deck around the ball dispenser with seating for probably over 20 people with tables. Pop machine...

Had about 5 mats, the rest is grass and pretty well kept grass at that. Fairly decent 'greens' with holes and flags in them at 25,50,75,100,150,200,250,300

Hitting a SW into the 100yd 'green' i put one in the hole under the flag...saw it disapear but since i was the only one out there i went and checked...sure enough there it was.

I dont know how much money they make out there, but its never crowded and its the cheapest large bucket i have ever heard of.

This range in Wisconsin???? The Pumpkin Patch near Waunakee?

 

[Wi-Golfer]

This range in Wisconsin???? The Pumpkin Patch near Waunakee?

Never heard of it.