The number of golf rounds being played at many Spokane-area courses has dropped in recent years as competition has increased and fewer young people have taken up the sport, course operators say.


At best, many are just hoping to equal last years activity in 2005.


Its getting tougher and tougher because of the new golf courses, says Bob Ross, president of Wandermere Co., which owns and operates Wandermere Golf Course, north of Spokane. They just keep on building them.


Courses that have opened in the past five years include two in Post Falls and one near Worley, Idaho.


Tim Morton, head professional at Prairie Falls Golf Club, one of the newer Post Falls courses, says even one new course can take a substantial number of rounds away from other links in the region.


You figure if a course comes on and takes 20,000 rounds, youre talking 2,000 to 3,000 rounds from a bunch of golf courses, Morton says. That becomes quite a bit.


Marshall Farnell, CEO of Spokane County, has been reviewing the decline in rounds at the three county-owned courses and is trying to determine how the county can reverse the downturn.


The three county courses, Liberty Lake Golf Course; MeadowWood Golf Course, in Liberty Lake; and Hangman Valley Golf Course, south of Spokane, all have suffered declines in activity since 1999, though the drops have been more pronounced at the two Liberty Lake courses, Farnell says.


Overall, the number of rounds at county courses decreased 16 percent from 1999 to 2004, to about 117,400 rounds from about 139,800.


Pamela McKenzie, golf-operations director for the City of Spokane, says each of the four city-owned courses also has seen a steady decline in the number of rounds played. Overall, activity has decreased 14 percent from 1999 to 2004.


So far this year, though, the number of rounds played is relatively consistent with last year, McKenzie says.


We are expecting to stay even with what we did in 2004, she says. If were able to maintain that, that would be better than recent years.


While both the city and the county have sustained declines in the numbers of rounds played at their courses, both Farnell and McKenzie say their government-run golf divisions remain self-supporting, which means no general-fund money is used to prop up course operations.


The pattern at city courses had been consistent with a national down trend until 2004. A National Golf Foundation survey found that the number of rounds played nationally rose 0.7 percent last year compared with 2003. In year-to-year comparisons in 2002 and 2003, the number of rounds dropped 3 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, according to the survey.


Ross says that at Wandermere, activity has paralleled the national figures relatively closely.


At Prairie Falls, Morton says the number of rounds is increasing each year, because the golf course is only five years old and hasnt reached its activity peak yet. The number at Prairie Falls last year reached 33,000, which was a new high for the course, but between 2,000 and 3,000 rounds below projections, he says.


Farnell attributes the decrease in activity largely to the opening of new golf courses over the past five years. Specifically, two young courses in Post FallsThe Links Golf Club and Prairie Fallsare a short distance across the Washington-Idaho line from the countys two Liberty Lake links and have drawn golfers away from those courses, he says.


The relatively new Circling Raven Golf Course, near Worley, Idaho, has hurt the Liberty Lake courses somewhat, but that upscale course typically draws golfers from a larger region and doesnt necessarily compete directly with the county operations, Farnell says.


The Club at Black Rock, a private course south of Coeur dAlene, opened about three years ago, but that course attracts an exclusive clientele that wouldnt likely play public courses.


In general, Farnell says, The area probably is overbuilt for golf courses right now.


Also, he thinks some avid golfers are traveling up to Canada for golf weekends more frequently, rather than staying close to home and playing here. Conversely, he says Spokane-area courses receive fewer visits from Canadian players than they did 10 years ago.


A number of other factors have led to the drop in rounds played.


McKenzie says the Inland Northwest golf market continues to follow a national trend in that fewer young people are golfing. In essence, she says, the people who are leaving the sportmostly older retirees who are no longer able to perform the sportfar outnumber the people who are starting to golf.


Also, working adults with families seem to be golfing less frequently than they did in the past. One concern golf course operators have heard from those people is that it takes too long to play 18 holes of golf. McKenzie says that on busy days, it can take between five and six hours to complete an 18-hole round.


One factor nationally that isnt particularly relevant in Spokane is the higher cost of greens fees. The city and county each raised their rates this yearthe city by an average of $2 a round and the county by $1. Posted rates for 18 holes at city courses currently range from $23 to $27. Rates are $18 to $23 for 18 holes at county courses. By comparison, average rates elsewhere typically are above $40, observers say.


Most privately owned courses here also keep their greens fees low to stay competitive with the publicly owned links. Ross says Wandermeres greens fees range from $23 to $27 for 18 holes, depending on the day of week.


Golf in Spokane is really inexpensive, Ross says. Overall, greens fees are too cheap in Spokane. The seniors who go south for the winter are paying a lot more for rounds of golf down there.


Courses here are taking steps to try to reverse the trend of declining activity.


At Wandermere, Ross says the course is marketing its ability to host tournaments and have meals and awards banquets on site at its restaurant and events facility.


McKenzie says the city has started marketing more aggressively its junior golf lessons and has started holding junior golf tournaments, both of which are targeted at youths between ages 8 and 17.