You can’t talk about the 1990s and the golf course industry without talking about Family Golf Centers, Inc. In the roaring 1990s, a company came from nowhere, went public, and set out to become the largest operator and owner of “family entertainment facilities in North America. The company was known as Family Golf Centers, Inc. and traded under the symbol “FGCI”. At its peak, Family Golf owned or operated more than one hundred and fifty facilities. Its portfolio included golf courses, domed golf courses, pro shops, food service, miniature golf and batting cages.
Family Golf built quite a few facilities from scratch, but acquired most of its properties by buying out existing owners and operators. The typical deal was to offer the owner a substantial amount of cash, even more in FGCI stock, and allow the owner to recoup an exorbitant lease on the property. Many range owners have succumbed to these attractive offers. The effect on the industry was to increase prices for anyone else trying to get into the business. Publicly, Family Golf’s revenue projections artificially inflated the expectations of anyone entering the industry.
For us folks in the golf course equipment business, we’re all looking to capture that brass ring of earning exclusive supplier status to Family Golf. Many of us were able to do quite a bit of business with the company and even get paid most of the time. Some of us were able to grow our businesses to new levels with the help of Family Golf. All of us did our best to get closer to the decision makers of the company. What many of us saw very early on was a complete lack of focus on running the facility. There was this positive and always upbeat public image of the company and then there was a totally disorganized operational side of the company, always frantic and never hitting targets. One example of this frenetic operation was the construction of an outdoor shooting range and dome in western New York state. The dome facility had a projected opening date, the project manager was promised a ridiculous bonus for opening the facility on time and on budget. To save time and money, he forced artificial turf installers to lay the turf on a poorly prepared, non-draining base. The result was that the dome opened on time, FGCI received their press release, and the manager received his bonus. That spring, the artificial turf was swimming in the drain due to an unprepared base. Lost income, expensive repairs, and no one held accountable.
At the end of golf’s greatest decade in history, all that was left of Family Golf Centers, Inc. were destroyed facilities, class action lawsuits, a bankruptcy sale of proportions never before seen in the golf industry, and thousands of people altogether lost. money. Multi-million dollar installations sold for less than fifty thousand dollars.
Family Golf Centers epitomized the greed and excess of the 1990s. It benefited from the intensity of the golf business, optimistic investors who wanted to own a golf course, and the availability of cash in the 1990s. Let’s hope for the good of this industry that this debacle never happens again.