Welcome to The Golf Scene — Your Weekly Golf Fix

If this is your first issue, welcome.

If you've been following along, thanks — I appreciate it.

This week we'll look at some real numbers of buying a golf course, ask a curious question “How did I get here”, and wonder why the dreaded “over-the-top” syndrome requires scientific investigations?

And somewhere in there, we'll help you hit a few better shots.

Let's get into it.

💰 The Business of Golf: Part 3 – The Numbers - Getting real

🚢 Cruise Ship Chronicles: How did I get here?

🏌️ Swing Insight: Over the top syndrome - Do you suffer?

Second Mortgage Golf & Country Club — Let's Run the Numbers

So far, we've talked about the dream.

And we've talked about the expenses.

Now let's do something even more interesting.

Let's put some numbers to it.

Let's say you're looking at a semi-private golf course about an hour outside the GTA.

We'll call it:

Second Mortgage Golf & Country Club

(A beautiful property... with a slightly stressful name.)

This course does about 24,000 rounds per year.

That's roughly 135 rounds per day over a 180-day season.

Not packed every day, but busy enough to keep everyone moving.

Let's assume the average revenue per round is $60.

A mix of:

So...

24,000 rounds × $60 = $1,440,000

That's your starting point.

Because golf courses don't survive on green fees alone.

They survive on everything around the round.

Let's say about 60% of players ride.

Average revenue per rider: $22

14,400 riders × $22 = $316,800

👉 Approximately $315,000

Range balls, practice sessions, and the occasional golfer who says:

"I'm just working on something."

Let's estimate:

👉 $120,000

(About 45 large buckets per day at $15 each.)

Gloves, golf balls, shirts, rain gear, and things people swore they didn't need until they walked inside.

Sales: $175,000

Cost of goods: ~$105,000

👉 Margin: ~$70,000

Hot dogs, drinks, and post-round conversations about how everyone almost shot their personal best.

Revenue: $300,000

Costs and labour: ~$240,000

👉 Margin: ~$60,000

A semi-private mix of leagues and limited memberships.

Let's call it:

👉 $200,000

👉 Approximately $2.2 Million

Nearly two million dollars sounds impressive.

And it is.

Until you remember you're about to maintain 150 acres of grass, employ a small army of staff, feed golfers, repair equipment, insure everything, pay taxes, and somehow pray Mother Nature cooperates.

Without turning this into an accounting class, let's keep it simple.

Greens, fairways, bunkers, irrigation, fertilizer, chemicals, fuel, and labour.

👉 $900,000

Mowers, utility vehicles, service work, and replacement parts.

👉 $200,000

Lease payments, maintenance, batteries, and repairs.

👉 $200,000

Pro shop staff, starters, marshals, management, payroll taxes, and benefits.

👉 $500,000

Hydro, water, internet, software, accounting, insurance, and all the things nobody notices until they stop working.

👉 $250,000

👉 Approximately $2.05 Million

Revenue:

👉 $2.2 Million

Expenses:

👉 $2.05 Million

Operating Profit:

👉 Approximately $150,000

At this point, you might be thinking:

"Wait a minute.

The course did more than two million dollars in revenue and only made $150,000?"

Exactly.

Some years you'll do a little better.

Some years you'll do a little worse.

Some years a dry summer arrives and everybody plays golf.

Other years it rains every weekend and you're suddenly on a first-name basis with your banker.

On paper, it works.

In reality?

It's tight.

Very tight.

The average golfer sees a busy parking lot and assumes the owner is getting rich.

The owner sees a busy parking lot and thinks:

"Perfect. Maybe we can finally afford that irrigation repair."

Which brings us to the real question...

If the margins are this thin...

Why would anyone do it?

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Chapter 1 — Golf Pro Meets Cruise Ship

I'm standing in line at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, waiting to board a cruise ship and start a brand-new job.

It was early September.

Hot.

Very hot.

The kind of hot Canadians spend all winter dreaming about...

...right up until they're standing in it.

It was also humid.

Very humid.

The sort of humid where, if someone had handed me a bar of soap, I honestly think I could have taken a shower while waiting in line.

There were about a hundred crew members ahead of me and behind me, each carrying their lives in a suitcase.

Directly in front of me stood a stunning woman in her mid-twenties with eyelashes long enough to clear snow off a windshield. I would later discover she was one of the dancers in the ship's nightly productions.

Behind me stood an older gentleman with four enormous suitcases and the calm, distinguished look of someone who had seen a lot of the world.

He turned out to be the ship's piano player.

As the months went by, I became friends with both of them.

Slowly but surely the line crept forward until we reached a plain metal door near the waterline.

Passengers usually board a cruise ship several decks above the ocean.

Crew members apparently enter somewhere much closer to the engine room.

Welcome aboard.

A crew member checked my passport, asked a few questions about who I was and what I would be doing on board, handed me my room key and a deck plan, and pointed me inside.

This was my very first time on a cruise ship.

I honestly had no idea what to expect.

What surprised me most was how beautiful everything was.

The ship sparkled.

Everything was spotless.

Every crew member I encountered smiled, welcomed me aboard, and genuinely seemed happy to be there.

I remember thinking...

"Wow... this could be a lot of fun."

I found my cabin, which was considerably smaller than a passenger cabin, parked my suitcase, and did what I suspect most people would have done.

I went exploring.

I stepped into the elevator and rode it all the way to the top deck.

Then I wandered over to the starboard rail and looked out across the Atlantic Ocean.

The view seemed endless.

The warm ocean breeze felt incredible after standing on that blistering asphalt.

And that's when it hit me.

I looked out across the water and quietly asked myself,

"How did I get here?"

The answer actually began about fifteen years earlier.

I was browsing the PGA of Canada job postings when one particular advertisement caught my attention.

Golf Professional Needed to Work on Cruise Ships in the Caribbean.

I remember staring at the screen for a few seconds before thinking...

"Well... I suppose somebody has to do it."

As it turned out...

...that somebody was me.

As this series unfolds, I’ll share some of the people I met, the places golf took me, and the adventures I never saw coming.

And perhaps, together, we'll answer the question...

How did I get here?

Most issues contain at least one thing intended to improve your golf swing.

Below is this is week’s version, which, by the way, was requested by scientists working on a theory…

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(A Public Service Announcement for Golfers Everywhere)

Do you suffer from Over-the-Top Syndrome?

Do your playing partners occasionally duck when you start your downswing?

Have innocent range baskets been struck from angles previously thought impossible by modern physics?

Do you generally hit the ball two clubs higher and three clubs shorter than your playing partners?

(Unless you've joined a self-help group where everyone in your foursome suffers together.)

Do you aim at the fairway beside yours in the hope you'll eventually finish somewhere in your own?

Have you ever produced a divot that started six inches outside the target line as if you were widening a local highway?

Does it feel like the Earth shifted the moment you struck the ball?

If any of this sounds familiar, don't be alarmed.

You're in good company.

You may be one of the millions of golfers currently living with Over-the-Top Syndrome.

Experts claim Over-the-Top Syndrome may be contributing to the earth's changing axis, climate change, and the recent recession.

Scientists are still working on the details.

Over-the-Top Syndrome, often referred to as "What the hell are you doing?" by golf professionals, affects golfers of all ages, abilities, and income levels.

It is commonly found in golfers playing with their grandfather's clubs discovered in a dusty basement.

However, golfers carrying $5,000 worth of the latest equipment are equally susceptible.

A condition that once again proves one of golf's great truths:

"You can't buy a golf swing. You have to earn one."

Especially among golfers who secretly wish the game was not played on the ground.

Symptoms may include:

• Pull-hooks that start left, go more left, then continue left until you're legally required to warn shoppers in the adjacent plaza.

• Divots so large they are occasionally mounted on plaques and displayed above fireplaces.

• Slices that start left before making a hard right turn and disappearing into another postal code.

• The inability to track a golf ball for more than three seconds after impact.

• The overwhelming belief that swinging harder will eventually solve the problem.

Researchers estimate Over-the-Top Syndrome is responsible for the majority of golf balls currently residing in adjacent fairways, parking lots, maintenance compounds, and environmentally protected wetlands.

Left untreated, sufferers may experience chronic frustration, excessive loss of golf balls, and double and triple bogies stacking up like planes waiting to land at JFK.

They may also develop an unhealthy dependence on the phrase:

"Got another ball?"

But don't be glum.

There is help.

Try keeping your back facing the target a little longer during the downswing to reduce the overwhelming urge to launch your trail shoulder directly at the golf ball.

Or, for the more sophisticated sufferer, allow your arms to drop toward the ground before performing Chubby Checker's famous "Twist" toward the target.

Many golfers report immediate improvements, which may include:

• Actually hitting the ball where they intended.

• Actually hitting it lower and farther.

• Reduced sightings in adjacent fairways.

• The course superintendent no longer following them around with a seed bucket and repair tools.

• Playing partners becoming less concerned for nearby homeowners.

• A dramatic reduction in the use of the phrase:

"I'll just hit another one."

• Increased confidence, improved ball striking, and fewer apologies to complete strangers.

• The sudden realization that golf is considerably easier when the club approaches the ball from the correct direction.

Some golfers have been known to make full recoveries.

Others simply learn which adjacent fairway offers the best angle to the green.

Results may vary.

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Closing

If you've made it this far...

👉 you've probably thought about buying a golf course and then woken up in a cold sweat.

This week we've learned three important things:

And please...

If you do feel the earth move under your feet ask a scientist if it’s “over-the-top” syndrome at work.

If you found this useful (or at least mildly entertaining), feel free to share it with:

And if you're looking to take your game a step further...

👉 I'd be happy to help — in person or online.

David Govan
PGA of Canada Professional

Golf Excellence Academy
Modern Golf Instruction

Creator of the 5C Golf Performance System
👉 GolfExcellence.ca

P.S. Next issue we'll look at what happens when those expenses meet reality.

Beyond that, the editorial strategy remains remarkably similar to my golf game:

We have a general direction, but the exact landing area is still unknown.