117 | Larry Hirsh on Golf Property Value and Club Culture

Join us at the Leadership on the Links Summit on Monday, October 12, 2026, at Toftrees Resort in State College, Pennsylvania. This one day gathering brings together golf course superintendents, directors of agronomy, assistant superintendents, equipment managers, and industry leaders for education, conversation, and connection. Learn more and register at https://bloomgolfpartners.com/our-events/ Introduction A golf facility can operate as a farm, a restaurant, a retail shop, and a hospitality business all at once, and that complexity shapes both what a club is worth and how difficult it is to run sustainably. Few professionals have studied that intersection longer than Larry Hirsh, President of Golf Property Analysts, who has spent more than three decades appraising, advising on, and brokering golf and club properties across the United States and abroad. Larry shares how a background in real estate and a lifelong passion for the game led him to specialize in golf property valuation, why he believes club culture is too often overlooked in capital and operating decisions, and how golf course superintendents directly influence the value of the properties they manage. This conversation on Leadership on the Links with host Tyler Bloom offers club leaders and agronomy professionals a valuation minded perspective on spending, identity, and long term stability. What You'll Learn in this Episode •    Larry explained that clubs and owners engage Golf Property Analysts for a wide range of needs, including financing, tax assessment appeals, eminent domain matters, partnership disputes, estate valuations, and conversions from for profit to tax exempt status. •    He compared annual maintenance spending at some U.S. clubs, which can reach $2.5 to $3 million or more per 18 holes, with Royal Dornoch in Scotland, which he estimated spends roughly $1.7 million across 36 holes. •    He raised concerns about the rising cost of playing golf, the loss of roughly 2,000 U.S. courses in the years before COVID, and the debt some clubs have taken on for improvements, urging leaders to plan ahead for an eventual economic downturn. •    Larry described his book, The Culture of Golf, and his work with sports consumer behavior analyst Jon Last on culture analyses that help clubs align investment decisions with what their membership actually values. •    <span style= "font-size: 12.0pt; font-family: 'Ari