Largo Golf Course Shows Steady Decline in Rounds Played, Revenue Taken Inby Leo CoughlinLARGO - Based on the huge amount of dollars taxpayers dump into recreation in this city, Largo would figure to be the playground of the South. Eliminating the flashy shows and glitter, Largo could rival Las Vegas, some might think, in the large menu of recreation offered by the city. In many respects the city is a losing proposition in some recreation aspects - money poured down a rat hole, so to speak. One such money gobbling sinkhole is the city's golf course, a flat, non-challenging links ideal for those with no or few golf skills. Yet figures released on a regular basis by the city itself shows it to be a first class loser. A look at some figures taken at random illustrate this. Take the week of June 15 to 21 and its 2009 figures compared to the same week a year ago. The number of rounds played this year measured against last year shows a 4 percent decrease. For the same week in the two years, revenue is off 13 percent this year. Where 786 rounds of golf were played in that particular week in 2008, 40 fewer, 746, were played this year and revenue fell by $1,522, $11,554 to $10,032. An examination of some of the figures lead to some questionable results. For example, if 40 fewer rounds were played this year during the week taken at random than the same week in 2008, and the dip in revenue was $1,522, dividing the money figure by the fewer rounds played indicate that each round in that calculation is worth $38.05. But total money in each week, divided by total rounds in each week give figures of $14.69 (2008) and $13.44 (2009). If a difference of 40 rounds fewer, 2008 to 2009, results in a loss of $38.05 per round, how to account for the $14.69 a round and $13.44 a round in the overall figures? The variance in dollars per round are accounted for by special rates for seniors, groups, etc. The week of May 18 to 24 this year was a disaster. There were six days of rain which brought the number of rounds played down to 370 (remarkable there were any at all, a testimony to the dedication of some golfers). And that almost halved the revenue ($6,502) compared to the same week in 2008 ($11,369). Even the week that included Memorial Day this year saw rounds played down 11 percent compared to the same week in 2008 and revenue was down a serious 17 percent. For the month of May, rounds at the course were down 16 percent and revenue 17 percent. Even accounting for the six days of rain in one week, interest in activity at the golf course shows dramatic decreases, both in rounds played and dollars taken in. The consistent decreases both in rounds played and revenue gained are reported week after week. Maybe the figures are telling a story that the somnolent City Commission ought to stir itself into wakefulness about.
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