The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018 - 6

GOLF INDUSTRY
FINANCE

When you're the Director of Governmental Affairs for one of the
nation's largest golf associations, everyone asks you to predict how
both experiments are going to turn out for the golf industry.
showing that at least in economically robust cities like Seattle
and San Jose, minimum wages as high as $13 have had no ill
effect on employment levels, but have indeed contributed to
increased economic activity in certain sectors of those cities'
economies. On the other hand there are peer reviewed studies
that show that where the wage has already exceeded $13, there
has been a deleterious effect on employment levels, particularly on the bottom rung of the job market. And can anyone
who has seen a demonstration of those new driverless mowers
doubt the specter of automation?
What to make of this? Roughly $11.50 per hour would
approximate in real dollars the apex of the 80-year history of
the minimum wage; however, perhaps by exceeding that high
water mark by $1.50, such "economically robust" cities can
reach Henry Ford's sweet spot - a wage that allows those who
labor in today's equivalents of his assembly lines the capacity
to purchase some of the fruits of their labors. On the "other"
other hand, there aren't any credible studies yet of how the $13
wage works for the less economically robust regions of states

DIS COV ER

like Washington and California that have adopted a one-sizefits-all minimum wage. Many of the Northeast's blue states
have adopted differential schemes to eliminate that potential
problem.
On the "other," "other" other hand, an industry like golf that
has been rocked by fixed expenses rising at multiples of the
CPI for years without relief (e.g., water, energy and environmental compliance) may just be in the same position with respect to wage floors as the proverbial 6-foot man who drowns
in a river the average depth of which is 4 feet. Then again, if
more money in the pockets of those who labor on the bottom
rungs of the economy can expand the market for municipal and
low cost daily fee properties, well, you get the picture.
And if the "picture" you get is that all we can really understand with any confidence at this point is what to look for and
what questions to ask, you're ahead of all those prognosticators
who think they're smart enough to divine the future.
Craig Kessler is the Director of Governmental Affairs for the
n
Southern California Golf Association.

THE TROON EXPERIENCE

YOUR CLUB, OUR PASSION. YOUR SUCCESS, OUR PROMISE.
At Troon,® every member of the Troon Privé® team brings a competitive passion
for enhancing the success of our private clubs. By utilizing the professional
expertise of our team and collaborating with our clients, we reinvigorate private
club communities, making them relevant, healthy, and sustainable, resulting in
membership retention and growth. To learn more, contact the Troon business
development department at 480.606.1000, or visit TroonMGT.com.

FREE GOLF APPS
DOWNLOAD FREE TROON
GPS GOLF APPS IN ITUNES
A N D G O O G L E P L AY

Featured clockwise from top: Tiburón Golf Club, Naples, Florida; Bahía Beach Resort & Golf Club,
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico; The Reserve Club at Woodside, Aiken, South Carolina.

1
6 TGBD_Pellucid_7x5.indd
The Pellucid PersPecTive

January
2018
1/5/18 3:37
PM

https://www.troon.com/management-services/

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - January 2018