A slump in tourism due to rising air fares, job layoffs and high gas prices make for economic hardship and it's keeping a lot of golfers from making their appointed rounds, according to a quick check of O'ahu's privately owned courses open to the public.

"It has hurt. We're down at least 12 percent from last year at this same time because of the visitor count. Even our local play is down," said Tim Herek, head golf professional of the Hawai'i Prince Golf Club. "I do a lot of charity events and even they have problems getting participants."

"Everybody's experiencing it. It's tough for us, tough for everybody," says Guy Yamamoto of Pearl Country Club, also the site of many benefit golf tournaments. "Cost of living is going up and golf's a leisure activity." He said play at his course dropped 10 percent from 2006 figures, which he used because last year's numbers were skewed as a result of damaged greens that kept golfers away.

"People don't have that extra money now to spend," adds Norman-Ganin Asao, Olomana's head pro, who says that play at his Waimanalo course is down about 2.7 percent from last summer.

They did not disclose how many rounds were involved in the percentage drops. But if they're anything near the number of rounds played at the Waikele Golf Course, which did release its figures, the reduction in play is significant. Waikele had 21,500 rounds of play in a three-month period ending last month, compared to 24,000 rounds over the same period last year, according to Gordon Tsujimura, its head professional.

One of the hardest hit was the Makaha Valley Country Club, which saw "a very big drop, 15 percent in local play," according to general manager Yoshio Sano. "Local people don't like to drive far, especially with the gas price going higher and higher," he said. Japanese tourist play remained about the same because of golf tour company packages, he added.

INCENTIVES HELPING

Interestingly, the rounds of play at the adjacent Makaha Resort Golf Club actually showed a slight increase of 10,995 rounds this summer from 10,639 for the same period last year, said head golf pro Stacy Amann.

"We did some 2-for-1 specials that did help, although the revenue was down about 2 percent," Amann said. "We're going well considering the high gas prices and that we're one of the farthest courses from town in terms of travel time."

Hawai'i Kai Golf Course similarly showed a slight increase in play — up nearly 4 percent from the 8,529 rounds played last August, the total including both of its championship and executive par-3 courses.

"But the figures are deceiving because the increases are local resident play and residents don't spend money like the visitors," said assistant pro Marc Mellor, who noted a dramatic drop in visitor count because of the fuel surcharges. "The non-resident count was down 195 players on the championship course as compared to July 2007, and the income generated shows a downturn."

As with all of the local courses, there is a difference in green fees for residents and non-residents, making the increase in play misleading in terms of revenue. "The non-resident pays a higher green fee (almost double) to play and a good number of those players rent clubs in addition to the green fee," Mellor said.

"These player count increases do not necessarily mean we are making more money as operating costs are constantly rising. Our green fees have remained the same for quite a few years now. We are considering a slight increase in November."

If anything, the increase in local play also reflects the tough times economically. The way Mellor figures it, locals are staying closer to home because of the cost of travel.

Kapolei Golf Course, once the site of LPGA events, has been the best of the venues in terms of holding steady in player count and revenue. Except for a .5 percent dip in revenue despite an increase in rounds of play in July, every month this year has been up from the 2007 monthly figures, according to Ken Terao, golf operations manager. But the slow economy locally is definitely hurting golf, he said. "The cost of travel is definitely a major factor. I've talked to a lot of hotel managers and they tell me that occupancy is down and travel from the West Coast is down, too."

VISITORS DWINDLING

Tourist walk-on play is also down at the municipal Ala Wai Golf Course, a walking distance from Waikiki's hotels, according to Garrick Iwamuro, the city's golf course system administrator, and that has affected the revenue, which dipped 1 percent from the previous summer.

"Rounds have increased but the revenue had a slight decrease," Iwamuro said, also citing that more retirees, who have a fixed income and less discretionary funds, are playing at the lesser senior rate.

For courses such as Mililani and Olomana, for the most part off the beaten path for tourists, they depend a lot on local players, especially local golf clubs to help keep them going in these hard times.

LOCAL CLUBS SOUGHT

Mililani was down only slightly, by 269 rounds, during June through September this year, compared to the same time period in 2007, according to Brian Tanimoto, director of golf operations for Mililani and the Pukalani Country Club on Maui.

"The vast majority of Mililani Golf Club's players are locals. As such, we are not dependent on the visitor market. However, it is not to say that our customers are recession proof against the current business and market turmoil in Hawai'i as well as across the United States," Tanimoto said.

"We were down last year and this year even more but we're doing OK considering what the economy is right now," Olomana's Asao said. But he notes that he's not seeing as many younger players as he has seen before on the weekends.

Having local golf clubs, which book tee times a year in advance, helps, according to Asao. "But there aren't that many (members) coming out. And I don't see a lot of new clubs."

Besides the slow economy, there's another reason why weekend golf is slow these days: It's football season. It could be why the number of rounds played at Royal Kunia Country Club dropped by 12 percent last month despite an increase during the summer with a 25 percent surge in June from the previous June.

"You definitely see a drop when UH is playing. That's a given," Asao said.