Miami Valley golf courses struggling to stay open
Beechwood Golf Course outside Arcanum in Darke County will remain open in 2019 even though the facility did not sell in an auction late last month.
The owner, Bruce Mikesell, put the course up for sale but did not receive sufficient bids during the auction.
Jerry Smith built the course in the late 1980s and again in the early 1990s after a devastating tornado ripped through Arcanum.
Beechwood is an another example of courses in the Miami Valley that have struggled as golf play has decreased and the cost of upkeep and maintenance has increased.
Steve Jurick, executive director of the Miami Valley Golf Association, told me the number of courses closing in this region has slowed down in the past few years. He said many of the more than 50 courses in the region are treading water as they have adapted their business models.
One example is the increase of indoor facilities using computer simulated graphic programs to allows players to hit balls during the winter months.
‘We’ve seen probably a 25 percent increase in places that offer indoor play now during the winter,” Jurick said.
“It’s another revenue stream for them and allows players to sharpen their golf skills.”
Golf professionals predict an increase in golf course closures nationally in 2019 and Jurick told me there are several in the Miami Valley that are on the cusp.
He wouldn’t give me specific names, but said he was surprised several have lasted this long.
The past golf season was particularly tough on courses due to poor weather conditions. Jurick said courses received 10 to 15 inches of rain above the normal average for the year.
“It was one of the wettest summers I can remember,” said Jurick, adding the extreme conditions have been taxing on infrastructure at area courses.
The Miami Valley Golf Association will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2019.
Gas prices to increase
Hope you filled your gas tank up last week.
Just as we were enjoying below $2 a gallon prices for the first time in the more than a year, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries voted Friday to decrease production, which will surely increase prices.
The cost of crude oil increased nearly 5 percent on Friday. A barrel is still about $20 cheaper than in early October but that will increase in the near future.
“There may be a bump around Christmas time as travel picks up and that means demand will increase, but for the short term, I’m thinking that we’re going to see these prices low,” said Kara Hitchens, spokeswoman for Miami Valley AAA.
Boston/Las Vegas flight?
We’ve reported in the last week that Dayton airport officials are recruiting airlines to add flights directly from here By Holly Shively Staff Writer
Retail is changing quickly and as the calendar rolls into December, consumers can begin anticipating what their shopping experience will look like in 2019.
Retailers continue to evolve in a highly competitive world where delivery, customer experience and convenience can make or break a store, forcing some into bankruptcy and others on an upward trend with growing sales.
Here are five things to look forward to in retail next year, and
grocery shopping
Despite only 2 to 4.3 percent of grocery sales happening online now, industry experts expect the digital sales to reach 20 percent of the total grocery market by 2025. As more retailers add third-party delivery companies like Shipt and Instacart, consumers will increasingly order online.
This includes both delivery and ordering online to pick up
Retail
to Boston or Las Vegas.
Dayton airport director Terry Slaybaugh said the announcement may be a little premature, but it’s a goal they have to improve traffic from the airport.
Slaybaugh said it took them six years to add the Houston flight that arrived this summer in Dayton.
“We know what the issues are,” he said. “We don’t control the solution; all we can do is try to influence it.”
We reported the number of passengers flying out of the Dayton airport has decreased 24 percent in the past decade and the average airfare has increased by nearly $100.
Rich Gillette is the Dayton Daily News business editor. He can be reached at rich. gillette@coxinc.com or follow him on Twitter @richgillette.