[l2ridehd]

I believe golf in TV is still a great bargain. I also still live in Northern VA (not for long I hope) and belong to a private club here. They just increased the dues by $125 a month, a special assessment of $1500, and doubled the capital improvement fund from $25 to $50 a month. Also the annual range fee price went up by 40% (no choice, you have to join this). I have to pay more in a month for golf then I will pay for a year in TV.

When confronted with this at a members meeting they brought out the cost increases they faced. Gas has doubled in the last 4 years, the cost of fertilizer, equipment, food, electric, golf carts, labor, insurance, all have gone up 10% to 60% in the past 12 months. This is a not for profit club, so those costs are passed on to the members. They even showed us where they have cut costs to limit the increases.

Even at home, every bill I open has gone up significantly. Insurance, car and home, gas, electric, water, fuel oil, food, maintenance contracts, and every other bill I get. Not a single one has gone down. My LTC insurance just increased 45%. In the past year my cost of living has gone up over 10%. Now I know the government reported inflation rate is much lower, but that is not my personal experience.

TV courses are faced with these same cost increases and if they want to stay in business they will pass those costs on to the customers.

We are facing a very high inflation rate that will hit us all over the next several years and all the costs we see have already or will go up. I believe this range ball increase the candy bar increase, are just the first of many you will see. The world economy is in trouble and we are seeing that results.