Springs Ranch GC in Colorado Springs reported that it had to turn away 250 golfers, representing $10,000 in lost revenue, when the week after an early-February blizzard was followed by beautiful weather, but the course remained snow-covered and unplayable.
Two weeks after a storm dumped a foot of snow on the region in early February, golf courses in Colorado Springs, Colo. said they were still feeling the effects of lost business, Fox 21 News of Colorado Springs reported.
Golfers in Colorado are “somewhat spoiled” even though they live in a cold-weather state, Fox 21 News noted, because ample sunshine usually clears courses quickly and makes it possible to still get out on the links for much of the year, including the winter months.
But when a big-enough storm is followed by beautiful weather, Colorado courses find themselves facing a flood of golfers who are disappointed to learn that they still have to wait for all the snow to melt. And the potential revenue that is lost in these cases can be significant, Fox 21 News reported.
Ed Kujalowicz, Head Golf Professional at Springs Ranch Golf Club in Colorado Springs, told Fox 21 News that his staff had to turn away “probably two hundred to two hundred and fifty” would-be golfers in the week after the snowstorm hit the area in early February.
With Springs Ranch’s green fees running between $40 and $45, that amounted to around $10,000 in lost revenue, Fox 21 reported.
“It’s quite a lot of money for this time of year,” Kujalowicz said. “When you’re in the golf business, you put all your money in the bank in the summertime and hold on for winters like this, so when you do get the snow you can hold out.”
The effects of the storm won’t put Springs Ranch out of business, Fox 21 News noted, but it will deprive the course of the opportunity to get the year off to an especially good start.
“It’s accounted for that you’re going to have days where you’re closed, but two weeks is kind of a long time to be closed,” Kujalowicz said. “Usually, it’s three to four days at a time. But it definitely would be a cherry on top [to have the extra revenue].”
Leon McGraw, described by Fox 21 News as an avid golfer, told the station that he was “anxious” after being deprived of the chance to play for such an extended period.
“It’s kinda like being cornered,” McGraw told Fox 21 News. “There’s no way out. You look out there and there’s snow. It doesn’t go away until it goes away, but being an avid golfer you just love doing it, and anything less than that I’ll call it a hindrance.”
Kujalowicz did acknowledge to Fox 21 News that having so much snow on the ground for so long would have benefits for the course.
“The ground and the dormant grass needs the moisture, so the conditions are a lot better after the snowstorm,” he said.
And Springs Ranch, which was finally ready to open two weeks after the storm, has actually been one of the luckier courses in the area, Fox 21 News noted, because its course encourages faster melting than others. Some other courses in the region were still completely closed and others were working feverishly to at least get nine holes open for the weekend of February 20-21, when sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s were forecast.
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