Posted 1:04 PM 8/22/2012 : A Marana golf course defies the odds in a bad economy
TUCSON- While golf courses across the country continue to suffer, one course in Marana is having their best year ever.
Quarry Pines golf professional Steve Murphy says his course is defying the odds. "We are in our fourth consecutive best year ever. This year we are up forty-one percent over last year in our net operating income," said Murphy.
It's something to be proud of considering the trend of other courses across the country. The United States started the 2012 year with 15,753 courses. That is about 300 less than there were in 2005. 30 million people considered themselves a golfer in 2005. That number has dropped 4.3 million with the nation playing 37 million fewer round of golf than 2005.
Murphy says Quarry Pines has taken on a new mindset about the golf industry. "We treat it more like a retail environment rather than the luxury environment like most golf courses do. We figure if you offer a quality product at a fair price, just like any big box store, you are going to get people to come out."