davegilly wrote: » St Annes can be had for €25 in an open competition in August. Baltray has a scratch cup for €60 in August. And Portmarnock can be played for €150 as a GUI member. €235 total. Nonsense deal. And I knew it would be ninsense when there was no mention of the price in the email, you had to go looking for it. The marketing team in Portmarnock and the rest could do with a few lessons on how to sell something nobody really needs.
bustercherry wrote: » So what? It's not Royal Dublin and not much more of a step up from Corballis too.
Ally McIntosh wrote: » Looking forward to them all going back up to full price so you’ll have nothing left to complain about. Up until two weeks ago, the mid-week prices (Monday to Thursday only) were: Portmarnock = €250 Baltray = €165 Royal Dublin = €160 Total = €575 Perhaps they won’t get many takers at €350, perhaps they will.
ShivasIrons wrote: » I would really like to buy an Aston Martin. I think they're wildly overpriced though, especially if I compare them to the price of Fords. Oh wait, there's one available in a dealer in Lime Regis, how ever it's purple, has no extras and has a one litre engine, and it's the price of a ford but it can be only bought when there's a blue moon in August. Here sir, there's your Aston Martin, but I wanted a Vanquish in silver, with all the extras, 5 litre engine. If I shout loudly enough on the internet, will Aston Martin start selling those ones at Ford prices? All the people looking for discounted rates, mean that they want to play wherever they want, whenever they want at a price they pick. And then give out when there's restrictions attached to a discount.
Benicetomonty wrote: » The 'discounted rates' have been forced. Which means they arent actually discounted at all; indeed, they will, in all likelihood, be the standard rates going forward, certainly through the autumn and probably the winter also, as our blue chip links clubs desperately attempt to claw back some of the many euros of revenue they have and will continue to lose during this pandemic. They will be reduced further, overtly or otherwise if the current prices fail to attract the intended numbers. That they needed to be forced to drop their rates to allow the GUI community, competent, amateur golfers, access to their courses sticks in my craw. Most especially because certain clubs could have afforded to do it for decades and made zero effort to offer any incentive to locals. Portmarnock is the number 1 offender. Unlike Louth, Lahinch, RCD, The Island, Waterville etc, in my 20 years of playing amateur golf up to Senior Cup Level, I have never once seen them host a fully open competition or offer a sub 100e playing rate. That the new rates are, in my view, uninviting, is just my opinion but Id be very curious to find out how many golfers in Ireland have paid or would be willing to pay 100e or more for a round around Portmarnock or anywhere else in the country. My guess is, not many. Your Aston Martin analogy is a poor one. The average gui club member doesnt contemplate buying them. Playing 18 holes on a field , no matter how manicured, is a much more modest aspiration.
FixdePitchmark wrote: » You do know there is a global pandemic at present. (obviously) All these course had a model based on charging whatever Americans wanted to pay. The Irish know the Irish market more than places who had no interest in the Irish. About 250 feels right - but that is my opinion. But I know the market fairly well. They have placed themselves at the highest point possible.
Ally McIntosh wrote: » And more than likely the members will fill those voids by paying significant levies. If each of these clubs were trying to maximise revenue alone, then sure, they might have to feel around for the right price point to fill the gap. But I suspect each of them wants to keep some element of privilege for their members rather than race to the bottom and fill their timesheet with 20,000 rounds at 50 quid only to devalue their course for years to come. There is a lot of bitterness about top clubs. I don’t like the fact that green fees at all first and second tier clubs have increased exponentially over the last 30 years. I don’t like that it takes golf away from the everyman. But increases in Ireland have actually been less than in England or Scotland and we still have a number of excellent courses that can be sampled for €80 or less. Portmarnock or RCD are no different to Muirfield or Royal St George’s: Old, traditional clubs that are primarily for members and their guests and who supplement their income by offering limited rounds to visitors at premium rates. That is their product. It is a very different product to Old Head or St Andrews (to name two) which although poles apart, are based on visitor play.
mighty magpie wrote: » Castlerock have several open days at £25 coming up.
Whiplash85 wrote: » It is all about accessibility. Cork and Shannon airports are in very precarious positions now which could mean that we just have one main travel hub in Ireland. Getting to these courses on west coast can be a challenge in itself too on a good day.
FixdePitchmark wrote: » Probably talked to death. To summarize for me. Still too expensive relative to the current market. Just hold an open rather than this convoluted offer. It is going to take a bit more to improve relationship with GUI golfers.Will be interesting to see how things progress over next few months as we enter the end of summer season. I can go down today and play Royal Dublin for 115 - so why would you bother being tied into a 3 course deal , with a solid deadline. And I'd imagine the 115 will drop also. At about 250 - you would have considered such a deal. 350 is serious wedge for most - at this time, in one go.
Sultan_of_Ping wrote: » Will be interesting to see into next year, if there are still restrictions in place, how their prices might go. I'd imagine they are well resourced in terms of reserves etc but they'd also have a significant overhead to maintain the course quality so there may well be an economic imperative to get a bit more real on their pricing. As an aside, I played The Island recently as a guest and the member I was playing with mentioned they are "canvassing for members" - who'd have thought it!! Joining fee is "only" €10k - which, when you compare it to some of the idiotic joining fees being sought in the prevvious boom, is an absolute steal...... .......I'll freely admit to doing some mental arithmetic on the way home and having a hypothetical discussion with herself on raiding the savings :D:D
mike12 wrote: » Do they allow you to spread that over a number of years?
Benicetomonty wrote: » I dont buy the 'devaluation' arguement. Ballybunion has hosted opens every year to gui members at v reasonable rates (I played both courses for 50e in their 2013 scratch cup) and it is probably still the golf course that Americans want to play the most in the entire Republic. No devaluation there. As Mike says, it doesnt have to be wall to wall but hosting an open event or two would do zero to hurt the image of a club and everything to enhance its reputation. The illusion of exclusivity can be manufactured if necessary, as R Dublin have done with the Lumsden event Portmarnock will be in a particularly interesting situation going forwards as regards its appeal for tourists. It is likely the Amateur Championship may well be the last high profile championship they will host for the forseeable future owing to their membership policies and the Irish Open certainly wont be returning any time soon for the same reason. Whilst it is well established in the psyche of potential visitors as a must play venue, it doesnt have the aura or mystique that a Tralee or an Enniscrone does, and has, imo, been more dependent on tv coverage through the 80s and 90s than most Irish tracks, where it was broadcast in all its glory into the homes of foreigners who were subsequently able to cop that you could play arguably better courses in Ireland for far more reasonable rates than would have been required to set foot on an Open rota venue. That marketing avenue has now dried up, and whilst they will continue to hold an attraction for deep pocketed visitors, it will be increasingly word of mouth that determines what courses the next generation of American golf tourist will be seeking to play, as more and more of their elders come home with their experiences of golf in Ireland. This will, I believe, result in a subtle shift away from the east coast. The golf is better and cheaper and the weather equally unreliable, so why wouldnt you go North, West or South? All of which means our east coast links will need to make themselves more attractive to the domestic market. The reduced rates and golf passes are going to be here for the next year and probably well beyond. The other option is for members to start shelling out some substantial levies. I dont know what the Portmarnock sub is. But I do know what it is in Ballybunion because my uncle is a member. And what they take in in subs isnt enough to cover maintenence of 2 championship links, the clubhouse and the continuous upgrading and works they carry out on a yearly basis. Id wager the Portmarnock sub is equally insufficient to keep things there exactly as they are for very long. That means there is a reliance on tourism, foreign ideally, domestic if necessary. And I will predict, once again, that what they are offering currently as a GUI 'special' rate will not prove sufficiently attractive to a majority of Irish golfers.
