I was filling at a survey for a trusted turfgrass management magazine last night regarding the state of the industry. The survey basically asked in anonymous fashion, if the maintenance budget for fiscal year 2017 would increase, decrease or remain the same. However, rather than ask what the total number budgeted was, they asked "cost per hole." Now for the useless info:
Did you know at Highlands CC, Labor alone cost $47,000 per hole per year? With supplies/ fuel/ equipment maintenance etc., it costs $88,000/year to maintain 1 hole!
Lets break it down per acre: Labor: $12,142 per acre/year. Of course, this is misleading because an acre of greens is far more costly to maintain than an acre of rough. Turn key works out to $22,800/acre per year!
How about every square foot....turn key maintenance costs $0.52/ft2 per year. That's not a bad deal! Of that $0.52, $0.27 is labor.
That certainly makes you look at the golf course a little differently. Again, this is simple math; averages. I am not getting into each type of surface (greens/tees/fairways etc.). It would be easy enough to do. One interesting thing that would come out of that would be the cost per square foot to maintain a sand bunker as opposed to rough. Bunkers are one of the more costly hazards at any club!
