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Initiative to Protect Jekyll Island
 Golf Course Survey: Your Views Count!
 
If you care about the future of golf on Jekyll Island, please click on the link below to participate in an important golf course survey being run by the National Golf Foundation (NGF), a consultant to the Jekyll Island Authority (JIA). We encourage you to take advantage of the survey's comments option to make crystal clear your views regarding the golf course complex.
 
If you are familiar with the layout, quality and general condition of Jekyll's golf courses but have not played golf on Jekyll during the past year, still answer "yes" to the first question, which asks if you have played golf on Jekyll within the past 12 months. If you answer "no" to this question, your survey responses will not count. [The NGF's consultant said that the survey's 12-month qualifier should be considered somewhat flexible.]
 
 
Before taking the survey, please check out the following summary of the January 11th Jekyll Island Golf Course Town Hall Meeting, which was run by Richard Singer, a NGF senior consultant.
 
Main points made by Mr. Singer
Mr. Singer acknowledged that Jekyll's courses are beautiful, particularly the Oleander course [he noted that holes 11, 12 and 13 on Oleander are Jekyll's most challenging.] However, he said that despite the appeal of golf on Jekyll Island, the golf course complex is fraught with problems, including:
  • The golf courses have been losing between $500,000 to $700,000 a year for the past five years.
  • The courses get about half the play [about 17,000 rounds per 18 holes] that most successful courses get annually.
  • Revenue per round is $33 on Jekyll courses. Better resort courses get at least $50 per round.
  • For years, important needs, such as irrigation, drainage and updating the club house, have long been deferred as a cost-saving measure, leading to a decline in conditions on the golf courses.
  • It would be counterproductive to cut expenses further; doing so would compromise the integrity of the course complex and further decrease the amount play on the courses.
 Mr. Singer identified several measures that could be taken to address the above-stated problems:
  • Increase greens fees.
  • Change the fee structure by offering different rates in different seasons and/or by charging more on Jekyll's most popular courses.
  • Increase the volume of play by improving marketing.
  • Reduce the number of golf holes to cut expenses [closing the back nine of Oleander and merging the front nine with the Great Dunes course has been discussed by the JIA].
Public Comments:
  • Marketing efforts by the JIA have been very deficient -- for years, golf has not been a priority for the Jekyll Marketing Department. [One person said he contacted five major leisure travel agencies that book golf for groups and learned that not one had heard of Jekyll Island's golf complex.]
  • Keep all 63 holes [this point seemed to have virtually unanimous support among the nearly 200 people in attendance at the January 11th meeting.]
  • McCormick's Grill at Jekyll's golf course complex has great food but has not been marketed sufficiently. The restaurant could be a significant source of income for the golf course complex.
  • Increase the island's parking fee by one dollar to subsidize the golf course complex.
  • If greens fees are to be increased, conditions on the courses should be improved first. Money must be found to fund needed improvements.
  • With more hotels and residential housing in the works for Jekyll Island, demand for golf is likely to rebound in the near future - reducing the number of golf holes now does not make sense in light of this fact.
David and Mindy Egan
Co-directors IPJI
www.savejekyllisland.org
912-635-2167
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