…if I asked, would you say that health care in Canada is free, too ? Do you believe businesses pay taxes ?

That is as convoluted an argument as I have seen in quite a while. It’s free…but it costs in other areas…so it’s NOT free. Google works because investors/businesses see an advantage to having their name in front of as many people as possible. It comes at a cost – that cost gets passed along to the people who go to those businesses and spend money.

On the island of Lana’i, a 45 minute ferry ride from Maui, also where Bill Gates got married – there are two spectacular, and expensive resort courses. The owners built a 9 hole “free” course for the locals – many of whom are employed at the resorts. They keep it up with the resort equipment. A VERY nice perk for the residents – but it the cost for the land and the upkeep don’t just get paid for out of thin air – it comes from other revenues. And they still have to buy their own clubs and balls.

Are you also going to suggest that club manufacturers give clubs and balls and shoes and whatever else anybody else might want/need to play the game ?

Here’s the thing – we don’t live in an episode of Star Trek where they can play on holo-decks and things just magically appear and disappear as they are needed. The reason we have better equipment and courses these days is because companies make profits and turn some of it back into research and development.

Golf courses require income from food and drink…which have to be paid for – and cart rentals…which have to be rented or bought, then kept up…PLUS greens fees to stay in business. How many $15 beers or cokes would you buy if you were at your local course just so you could delude yourself into thinking that the golf was “free” ?

… Nothing is free. Nothing is free. Nothing is free.

Using your example of you coming out at off hours paying $20, what possible incentive would the owner have to let you come for free just so you’ll maybe buy other “premium” services? He’s already getting $20 from you. A bird in hand, and all that.

Google’s model is more about subsidies. They make money with AdSense and with selling search appliances. That’s pretty much it (or at least was at some point). They then use that revenue to subsidize other ventures. It’s for the sake of developing new technologies that will eventually make money either through increased advertising exposure or through sales and the like.

And they’re almost forced to do that. I mean, who would have paid for Gmail or docs or YouTube, etc. in their early stages? Instead, they subsidize long development cycles with revenue from other areas so that they can do long term development on technologies that may never get out of the red in terms of money making potential.

Golf courses, on the other hand, stand to gain little or nothing by letting people come out for free. There’s just not a lot more to sell to make up the difference when tee sheets are already packed with people willing to pay a daily greens fee or a yearly membership fee. Not to mention, there’s nothing to gain by subsidizing greens fees with other sales as there is in the Google example because cramming more people in who might not even provide much more revenue is kind of pointless and may degrade the experience for everyone (longer rounds, more wear and tear, etc.).

If a golf course doesn’t have sufficient play to stay afloat, then it either charges too much or there isn’t enough demand in the market.

They sometimes offer free tickets to late season games, but they see higher revenue as they still charge for parking, concessions, etc.

I say “sometimes” because I think people would end up still try to save money if it were offered every game or weekly. Something like that may be viable for golf. Why not allow kids under 14 free range balls after school on Wednesdays, for example? It promotes the game, gives them time to practice, and it brings more people to the course on the least busy time of the week.

I definitely am getting the desired debate, so this is good :)

I thought about this some after I posted it. I think a better example than Google might be an amusement park. You can charge for an annual pass to the park. (Like the golf course in Golf Blogger’s post.) You then make the money based off of the extras when they come to the course.

A follow up question: other than the usual extras I thought of, what are some ingenuitive ones?

Chris Anderson is a massive asshat. So yanno…just something to keep in mind when basing biz models on his sage guidance:

http://gawker.com/5325619/chris-anderson-asshole-interviewee

Imagine there’s no greens fees
It’s easy if you try
No sand below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the golfers
Playin’ free todaaaaaaay….

Board and Membership Chairman, they asked me to withdraw any invitation to join our club I may have mentioned to you in the past. They are scared to death a proposal other than from them might actually work…

I can’t imagine paying money, a large amount or small, that would commit me to playing the same course all the time.

and the time that make being a member at a private club worthwhile to me.

I typically play 18 holes of golf, in a foursome, whether it’s a Wednesday afternoon or Saturday/Sunday morning, in no more than 3.5 hours. And that’s walking. Often we’ll grab a cart and play an extra nine holes in under an hour and a half.

There are also roughly 50 guys with handicaps in the +2 to 8 range that I can set up matches with on any given day. There are tournaments, interclub team events, and the list goes on.

Regardless of handicap level, age, gender, etc. there are always groups to play with on any given day.

There are plenty of courses in the area that I like as much, if not more than my club. However, it’s the overall experience and the people that make it worthwhile to me.

…we have a big Texas Hold ‘Em card game every Wednesday night ,, 52 weeks per year. There are usually 9-12 players and the ’ante’ is $150. Blinds are timed, rebuys in the first hour. Pot split either 3 or 4 ways. Winner usually walks away with a Grover Cleveland ($1,000)

Ketel One martinis, big cigars, three hour round of golf, steaks on the veranda AND Texas Hold ’Em. You can come up from Atlanta any time. Stop in Carolina for Charles, but leave Ryan in Columbia, MD. Anybody who comes up with a “get more for free” scam is way too smart for my club…