The Colorado club, which traditionally sees 28,000 rounds played each year, registered more than 36,000 in 2020. By reducing mid-level passes and increasing premium passes, the city-owned club hopes to free up afternoon rounds. “We wanted to create more availability on the tee sheet and move some Silver pass holders up to the Gold pass,” says Director of Golf Steve Aitken.
Aspen Golf Club is capping the sales of certain passes for 2021 in order to free up tee times, The Aspen Times reported. The Silver pass and Twilight pass, which restrict play to certain times during the day, mostly afternoons, will be reduced to 190 and 120, respectively.
That is 24 fewer passes than what was sold for the Silver in 2020, and 41 passes for the Twilight, The Times reported. The golf course also plans to eliminate the family Twilight pass, of which 81 were sold last year.
“We’ve never had a cap,” Steve Aitken, Director of Golf, said during the January 12 Golf Advisory Board meeting. “Matter of fact, we’ve tried to go and sign as many people up for a golf pass as possible in years past.”
City officials and the golf advisory board members said they believe eliminating the Twilight pass will free up tee times in the mid-to-late afternoon, The Times reported. However, the golf course is adding capacity to the more expensive passes with an additional 105 between the Gold and Platinum than what was sold last year.
The Gold pass price is being reduced by $300 to provide incentive for players to move up from the Silver or the Twilight, also to free up time in the afternoons, The Times reported.
“We wanted to create more availability on the tee sheet and move some Silver pass holders up to the Gold pass,” Aitken said. “Mid-to-late afternoon was very competitive for those tee times.”
The remaining passes will stay the same as 2020 prices, The Times reported. Based on hierarchy of pass status, pass holders will have between seven and 14 days to book a tee time in advance.
The changes are in response to an unprecedented amount of play last year as more people sought outdoor recreation during the pandemic, The Times reported. Historically, the club has seen roughly 28,000 rounds played annually, according to Aitken. In 2020, the golf course saw more than 36,000 rounds played.
An analysis of last year’s pass sales show they were on average with previous years, The Times reported. However, pass usage for each pass type was up over 30 percent, which led to the shortage of available tee times, particularly during the mid-to-late afternoon, Aitken said.
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