Is Irish golf pricing itself out of the international market for tourists? Philip Reid, golf correspondent, finds cause for concern
A group of wealthy Americans, the very type of golfing tourist that Fáilte Ireland is seeking to entice here as part of an industry that generates over €150 million in tourism revenue each year, came to Ireland this summer.
As they were going home, the group thanked their tour operator. "We enjoyed every minute of it," was the remark, "but we won't be back!"
Somewhat startled, the operator inquired why they would not be returning, and he was told that things in Ireland had gone "too expensive". The Americans were not talking purely about the price of green fees but pointed out that when they added on the price of accommodation, food and drink, as well as the almost mandatory purchase of clothing in the club shop, the package was over-priced.
The US market represents 19 per cent of golf tourism here and, this year, there has been an estimated drop of 10 per cent in that segment. Some of that fall can be attributed to the war in Iraq but the truth is there is serious concern in the golf tourism industry that prices have reached a level which can't be allowed to rise any higher.
Mr Damian Ryan, director of golf with Fáilte Ireland, last week took the step of writing to courses in Ireland asking for a freeze on green fees. "Call it a warning shot to the industry," Mr Ryan said. "There are genuine and obvious concerns that some courses - not all of them and, I must point out, not those at the top-end of the market - are setting green fees at a level where they are not giving the client the service commensurate with such prices.
"The courses we have are among the best in the world but the ancillary services, how we meet and greet visitors if you like, have got to be of the highest level and, unfortunately, there are some facilities which are not reaching the desired level."
The most expensive green fees in Ireland are at The K Club in Straffan, Co Kildare, which will play host to the Ryder Cup match in 2006, where it costs €265 to play a round.
By contrast, a round at The Belfry - last year's Ryder Cup venue - costs £70 (€98) while a round at Celtic Manor, which stages the event in 2010, costs £60 (€84). However, the price structure - and the level of service - at The K Club compares favourably with the €245 green fee that is charged at Valderrama in southern Spain, where the 1997 Ryder Cup was played. A round over the West Course at Wentworth, outside London, costs £155 (€217) in peak season. The top two courses in Portugal, San Lorenzo and Quinta do Lago, both charge €150 a round.
The point, however, should be made that despite charging the top price in Ireland, tee-times at The K Club are virtually booked up for the year and also well into next year too . . . as are the top links destinations like Ballybunion and Lahinch. However, the so-called "warning shots" from the Minister's office should be heeded if, as the Spanish discovered when over-pricing themselves, the goose that laid the golden egg is not to be killed.