Carl Leibel’s arms arced high over his head, and with a swoosh, the golf club sliced the air.

There was a loud whack and a golf ball sailed high overhead and landed on the plush green fairway off the first tee of Leo Donovan Golf Course.

Leibel, of Dunlap, smiled.

For the most part, golf club officials in Peoria are smiling.

Golf is holding its own in Peoria, unlike some other areas of the country.

While golf wanes in some areas of the nation, officials at Mt. Hawley Country Club report play is level. WeaverRidge owner Jerry Weaver said play is up. The Country Club of Peoria reports play is up. And, the Peoria Park District said play is down only about 10 percent.

That puts Peoria in an enviable position, Bill Wollard, superintendent of golf for the Peoria Park District, said.  

Golf Business magazine wrote, earlier this year, the national real estate bust has huge implications for course owners.

“For an industry so inextricably linked to real estate, the timing of this market correction certainly couldn’t be any worse for golf, given the game’s own growth issues, the magazine reported.

The New York Times offered more evidence of bad news concerning golf around the country.

“Over the past decade, the leisure activity most closely associated with corporate success in America has been in a kind of recession,” the Times reported. 

“The total number of people who play has declined or remained flat each year since 2000, dropping to about 26 million from 30 million, according to the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.”

Golf courses in Peoria, however, are hardly emptying out, local golf observers say.
Scott Brownfield, golf pro at the Country Club of Peoria, said play there is up about 5 percent.

For more on this story see the 5/7 issue of the Peoria Times-Observer