Rains Wreak Havoc on Golf Course Revenues

For golfers tired of the heavy spring rains keeping them off the links, local golf course owners feel your pain.

Several Lemont facilities have seen a decrease in patronage because of the weather.

“Business is dramatically down,” said Lisa Lutz, a spokeswoman for Ruffled Feathers Golf Course.

The 18-hole public facility, along with four other golf courses in the Chicago area, are managed by Eagle Golf.

“At all of our courses rounds are down for individual tee times,” Lutz said. “Last year [spring] was good for us. We’ve definitely gotten a lot more rain this year than last year. It’s been terrible.”

And even when the sun is out, “the courses are wet so business is slow because it’s limited to cart path only,” Lutz said.

However, Ruffled Feathers actually opened its doors for public play in mid-March, earlier than in the past.

“As soon as the weather breaks we open for business,” Lutz said.

Lutz anticipates more golfers hitting the links this month. “Anytime it’s sunny and nice out golf comes to mind,” she said.

Although Frank Jemsek, owner of Cog Hill Golf and Country Club  said the rainy spring has caused a slight downturn in the number of players, he said the facility’s topography has helped to lessen the impact of the excess water.

“Cog Hill has a huge advantage of being on top of the hill,” he said. “About 100 feet below is the Des Plaines River Valley, so that’s a good spot to send the water to. We’ve had 80 years to work on the drainage.”

And even when the grounds are damp, people are still coming to play on the four 18-hole regulation golf courses, Jemsek said.

“Most of the time, even on wet days, we’re not cart path only,” he said. “We do have cart paths so you can have a cart at anytime, no matter how bad the rain is. But it's a rolling piece of property and we've had a long time to work on the drainage.

"We are open when everybody else is closed and most of the golfers know that.”

Mike McNulty of Gleneagles Country Club said last month’s rains haven’t been devastating for business, but “just a little bit less than devastating.”

“It was one of the worst Aprils we’ve had in a long time,” he said. “If a person goes golfing, it’s not something you usually do on the spur-of-the-moment. You think about it and plan. But when you watch the news and it says tomorrow there’s a 65 percent chance of rain you start to say, ‘Wait a second, let’s do something else.’”

McNulty said officials made drainage at Gleneagles’ two 18-hole golf courses a priority over the last 60 years.

“We can have up to 5 or 6 inches of rain and it doesn’t destroy the ground,” he said.

McNulty said standing water on the course can be a problem because it acts as a magnifying glass, intensifying the heat.

“That kills the grass,” he said.

Despite the recent heavy rains, McNulty isn’t ready to chalk up the slowdown in business to the weather entirely. He also blames the recent spike in gas prices.

“When you’re talking about a senior on a fixed income paying above $4 a gallon for gas, that restricts his mobility,” McNulty said. “One of my rules in life is to never assume the obvious. Just because it’s raining, it could also be that people can’t afford to come out because of the gas prices.”