It is going to be brutal and there is nothing we can do about it. I think the best thing to do and something that all golf tour around the world must try is to try and hold on to the tournaments they have in hand instead of trying to invest their time and efforts in trying to add new tournaments to the schedule.
I think my guess would be that everyone should try and protect what they have this year, perhaps stay low for another year and 2011 onwards things should start looking up on all fronts. It is going to be all about saving costs till then.
Interesting that you mention golf courses taking drastic measures to retain playing memers. I heard about one golf club taking desperate measures to try and hold on to their members.They were willing to add a nanny to the membership costs for just $50 a year. Now that is one desperate measure and is just a sign of the times. Many golf courses are struggling quite simply because the real estate that they have invested in around the course has no buyers. A lot of clubs have based their financial models on selling villas and condos around the course and if that does not sell then there is serious problem.

Cheers

Andy
http://www.HomeofGolf.tv

An excellent point,Andy, regarding the real estate element of many new courses and resorts. They ARE dependent heavily on the sale of property.

I, too, am deeply troubled by the challenges the game of golf must face in 2009, so much so that I created a blog last month to explore the subject. This is a topic I want to find more about, and I appreciate your post and link to the article on Golf.com. It seems apparent now that the industry over invested in Tiger’s success and began opening courses at a rate the market could not support. I agree with you that the data looks gloomy, but if you get the chance, check out the January 2009 PGA PerformanceTrack data (I linked to it on my blog). The study compares 2008 data to 2007, and actually states that green fees went up last year. It sure is different from what the NGF is saying. I was rather surprised when I saw their data last week, it seemed too good to be true. They report that rounds played were down only 0.8% last year compared to 2007, and most of that looks attributable to poorer weather.

Anyways, what do you think course managers will have to do to keep people on the course? I came across another entry this week (also linked on my blog) that talks about a private course in Ohio that will allow public golfers to play on weekdays after noon and weekends after 2 p.m. You mentioned that golf courses are going to have to get creative, do you think this will work? I guess time will tell. I take comfort in knowing that at least this week, fans across America will actually watch the game, though. Thank God Tiger Woods is back.

Great comment, Malcolm. As far as what the PGA Performance Track data is saying, keep in mind that it's trailing data. In other words, it deals only with 2008. The consumer didn't begin battening down the hatches with regard to spending until the fourth quarter of 2008. When the PGA tracks its data for 09, you can be guaranteed it will be a far different picture painted. As for what golf courses can do, your example of the private club in Ohio is an excellent one. Will such moves work? Hard to say. But I can say with certainty that if they do nothing, they will surely perish.