Will Grass Prices Spike Golf Rates?

Golf Course Superintendents of America

A classic case of supply and demand has sent prices for ryegrass seed skyrocketing by as much as 20 percent and more this year.

This spells budget troubles for superintendents in the desert, where it's common practice to overseed with ryegrass for the winter.

Stu Rowland, director of golf course operations at Rancho La Quinta Country Club in La Quinta, Calif., says he budgeted for an increase of 15 cents a pound only to learn the actual increase was 23 cents.

Factored over an entire golf course, that kind of increase could result in as much as $20,000 in extra costs.

According to The Desert Sun in Palm Springs, the increase is believed to be due to a decrease in production. As the recession caused a drop in ryegrass demand and a backup in volume, growers over the past few years have switched to more profitable crops like wheat and corn.

Could this translate to higher green fees for snowbirds this winter?

Possibly, but the changes will first manifest themselves on ranges, common areas and less visible parts of courses, where overseeding will no longer take place.

But minimal increases in green fees and non-member guest fees at private clubs are probably inevitable, especially when you factor the rising cost of water, fertilizer, fuel and other necessities of course maintenance.

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