Researching Your Business
On the Net

One of the first things that I tell my clients, when they're looking at getting into a business that is new to them, is to find the trade associations and trade magazines for their business. Recently, I talked for some time with a man who has some land and would like to build a golf course on it.

I've known three golf course developers who went bankrupt (no, they weren't clients!) so I'm aware that this is a very risky business. He was looking at a situation where no golf courses have been built in his area for over a decade and it is difficult to get a tee time at the existing ones. It might make sense to build it but he will be taking a big personal risk.

His first problem was that he doesn't have enough land to make it work. Golf courses are very expensive to develop and even many of the famous private clubs are having a tough time getting and keeping enough members to maintain their facilities. And that's during a huge economic boom. The first thing he's got to learn about is what it takes to develop a golf course in both time and money. And he's got to look at successful examples of golf course developments to see how the developers made it work. He's going to find that the key to successful golf course development is in making it the central amenity for an upscale real estate development.

A fast search on Yahoo shows the Golf Course Builders Association of America at http://www.gcbaa.org/ . This looks like a very good resource because scanning shows that they're a non-profit association that's been in business since 1972. According to them, "It is the only organization in the world organized by and for golf course builders, and the only organization that represents the interests of the golf course construction industry." I immediately zero in on their announcement that in 1992 they developed a certification program for golf course builders and that they have a guide for estimating costs in building golf courses. This is cool stuff because these companies have met standards. One of the golf courses that I saw fail did so because it was the first -- and only! -- time that the crew building the golf course had ever tackled a project like that.

What does this certification program mean? The company representative must pass an exam on building golf courses. But before they're even allowed to take the exam, this company must have been in the business of building golf courses for at least five years. They also must have completed 3 18-hole courses in the past 5 years and have good references from people who make their living managing golf courses. This is good information to know, because they'll be able not only to meet standards, but they have the experience to bid the job correctly and to complete it on time. These are absolute keys to success in this business. The examination has 100 questions covering the predevelopment design of the golf course, the actual construction of the course itself, seeding and growth of the plant material and the buildings at the course. They're also financially stable because they must provide references from financial institutions, insurance companies and bonding agencies. Finally, the exam must be retaken yearly. These certified companies probably won't be cheap, but they will know what they're doing.

GCBAA also has a newsletter archive on the web and a listing of their board members. When you want to learn about a business quickly, one of your best moves is to talk with someone who has years of experience. Here's a whole list of people who could help our start-up developer.

There are other associations that might be of value to our developer. GCBAA's links list includes:

• American Society of Golf Course Architects http://www.golfdesign.org/
• Club Managers Association of America http://www.cmaa.org/
• Golf Course Superintendents Association of America http://www.gcsaa.org/
• Golf Range Association of America http://www.golfrange.org/
• The Irrigation Association
  http://www.irrigation.org/
• National Golf Course Owners Association http://www.ngcoa.org/

A number of these sites provide information about their organizations and online newsletters or magazines. GCSAA publishes a trade magazine called Golf Course management, which covers a wide variety of topics about managing a working golf course. From turf maintenance to adapting to a greater number of corporate members, this magazine has insights into this business. Golf Range is a magazine covering ranges and practice facilities which can be a part of a golf course installation. The Irrigation Association publishes Irrigation Business & Technology, which is also available online. And the National Golf Course Owner's Association provides articles on marketing, market research and special education for all of their members. This research can also provide a very cost-effective means of convincing potential investors that a well done design can make money for them.

The NCGOA publishes "Golf Business" magazine. It also sponsors a conference and trade show. Trade shows are a wonderful way to make industry contacts that will work for you. This conference will present an Idea Fair to demonstrate innovations made at courses that will improve business for others. It includes seminars and problem solving sessions. Any time you can learn from someone else's experience what not to do, you've saved time, money and your sanity.

Reading a few of these trade magazines and becoming familiar with the associations involved will boost our developer's understanding about golf course development and operation. Once he has read several months of back issues, he'll know a lot about the business in theory. He'll be able to identify who he needs to talk to and will be able to start estimating how much money will need to be raised to make his project into a real golf course.

-Cindy Nemeth-Johannes