Yep, that was one of the things I considered a couple of months after leaving my corporate career of 25 years.
Why not? My whole family golfs, my dad ran country clubs for many years after retiring from the Military so he has experience and we could work on it together, and it would be so cool to say I own a golf course!
Would I make money doing this one? Who cares!?
I requested the financials and started scouring over them. How many houses were on the course? What did each house pay for memberships? How many people walk on and play? Could I host tournaments here? How much does it cost to rent a fleet of golf carts? Should I just buy a fleet of golf carts? Could I turn the clubhouse around by offering craft cocktails? (You know I love a craft cocktail.)
I had so many questions, and the fantasy of owning a golf course was so exciting. But…
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Then the reality set in.
I closed the spreadsheet and sat back. I pictured myself on a tractor mowing the course, putting toilet paper in the bathrooms when they went empty, wiping down golf carts in the dark after a long day, staying late at the clubhouse hoping all of the people enjoying my craft cocktails would just LEAVE!
And then… I snapped back to reality.
The numbers didn’t make sense. The time commitment didn’t make sense. Exactly what sense of purpose would I get from this?
As I have said before, I need to feel like I am making an impact, and I just could not make the connection in this situation.
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Before you commit to anything — a business, a career move, a big decision — separate the fantasy from the reality.
Ask yourself: do I want this thing or do I want to be the kind of person who has this thing?
The golf course wasn’t MY answer. But somewhere in that spreadsheet, in that fantasy, in that very specific vision of me on a tractor at dawn, I learned something important about myself.
I wasn’t done with golf.
With love, Beth
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