December 10, 2025
By David Foreman
Treasurer, Jackson Park Men’s Golf Club
As the golf season comes to an end, we like to look back and assess our performance, good and bad–what we did right and where there is room for improvement.
This also holds true for the financial performance of our club.
Overall, the finances of our club remain solid. There are, however, challenges on the horizon that will test the ongoing strength of our financial position. Rising costs in two areas in particular, and a loss of revenue from a key source, will pose ongoing challenges to our fiscal state.
In 2026, the club will no longer be receiving revenue from associate members. WA Golf’s decision to retain membership revenue from associate members will result in an approximately $5,000 annual loss to our club, or close to an 18-percent decline in total membership dues, which are by far our biggest revenue category.
Meanwhile, the cost of our tournament software program Golf Genius, since its initial Implementation for our club five years ago, has risen 53 percent, from $2,800 annually to $4,275 (before tax), increasing on average a little over 10 percent each year. It does not show any signs of abating for the future. The lack of viable alternative software and our dependence on Golf Genius’ ability to manage our large number of tournaments deem this service a high priority for the use of our club resources.
The other cost to our operations that has risen substantially in the past six years is the number of stipends for club leadership. The use of Golf Genius has substantially increased the efficiency of managing tournaments, which in turn has allowed us to increase our offerings of a wide range of competitions, thus requiring an increase in the number of tournament directors. Fortunately, I believe this number has stabilized and I do not anticipate any significant increase in costs in this area.
To help address these issues, the JPMGC board in November voted to increase tournament fees for stroke-play events by $1 per tournament in 2026, which should largely offset the rising costs of our operations..
Wishing you a happy holiday season, and looking forward to another fun season of this game we enjoy so much.