Catta Verdera Country Club in Lincoln has attracted a lot of new golfers in the past year , says Jeff Wilson , who oversees its golf operations . ( Photo courtesy of Catta Verdera Country Club ) sional , says members who used to play two or three times a month upped their game to three or four times a week . Bob Stangroom , the general manager at Serrano Country Club in El Dorado Hills , says his club experienced the same dilemma . “ All they can do is golf , and it ’ s been a challenge for us to get them tee times ,” he says .
El Macero tried a novel approach to keep its membership happy . For a few months during the height of the pandemic , the club took grocery orders from members and had them delivered at the curb in front of the clubhouse .
“ We were trying to think outside the box ,” Rusty Seymour , El Macero general manager , says . “ Help our members and make a little money ” through the service . El Macero ’ s catering and banquet services typically bring in about $ 600,000 each year , Seymour says . During the pandemic , that figure plunged to $ 120,000 . At the same time , the number of rounds increased 67 percent from the previous year . “ It ’ s been a roller coaster ,” Seymour adds .
Attracting new recruits
Sacramento golf has experienced an up-and-down ride for the last 30 years or so . In the 1980s , there weren ’ t nearly enough courses , public or private , to meet the demand .
The 1990s and 2000s , the apex of the Tiger Woods “ golf-is-cool ” era , saw many new courses spring up within a 50-mile radius , including Granite Bay Golf Club , Serrano , Teal Bend Golf Course , Catta Verdera Country Club ( originally Twelve Bridges ), Apple Mountain Golf Resort , Darkhorse Golf Club , WildHawk Golf , Empire Ranch Golf Club , Lincoln Hills Golf Club , Timber Creek Golf Course and more .
Today , the market is either oversaturated or flat , depending on who ’ s doing the talking . “ It was definitely overbuilt as far as new golf courses were concerned ,” Morton says . “ People said the game ’ s in trouble , it ’ s shrinking . That wasn ’ t accurate . The pie kept getting more pieces cut out of it . The numbers of people playing stayed about the same .”
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