The PGA is telling the pros to fasten their seat belts, says Lou Dechert, the club pro at The Golf Club at Timber Trails who attended last week's PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando.

"That's what I was forced to do for the past five years since the twin giant tsunami hit the area in the form of The Links and OakWing," says Dechert, who has 54 members at his (9-hole course) club off Highway 71 in Tioga.

"The housing industry is very much involved in golf. Most new facilities over the past 10 years were built with surrounding residential neighborhoods. With the housing market slowing, many facilities will see fewer members and players. This comes when the industry has already flattened out the past five years, with more courses closing than opening for the past two years."

Stonebridge Golf in Shreveport and Olde Oaks in Haughton are for sale, says Dechert, and many more are "on the edge." He predicted tough times ahead for golf, "especially for those of us that do not get the support of the state of Louisiana, as do the Audubon (Trail) courses."

The State of Louisiana (i.e., taxpayers) financially supports the Audubon Trail golf courses just as it does the Office of State Parks, the Office of Tourism, the Office of State Museums, the Office of Cultural Development and the Office of Libraries.

This is good in recruiting tourists to the state in search of golf destinations, but it also gives such courses a huge financial advantage over mom-and-pop courses operating on shoestring budgets such as Timber Trails, owned by Lou and Paula Dechert.

But despite the gloom and doom in today's headlines about the economy, Joe Beditz, the president and CEO of the National Golf Foundation, suggests the golf industry is "holding its own" during tough economic times.

While some point to the number of rounds being flat as a negative, Beditz says in the January issue of Golfdom, "Rounds are holding. It's surprising they are holding under these economic conditions."

With oil selling at roughly $90 a barrel, people tend to tighten their belts, not only playing less golf but dining out less frequently. According to a November survey in "Nation's Restaurant News," 59 percent of Americans planned to eat out less.

"When consumer confidence is low and consumer spending is down, golf will suffer," Beditz says. "But the golf industry is not dying. It has a cold."

One of the ways the Decherts attract interest and activity at their course is by hosting The First Tee of Central Louisiana, even winning a national award from The First Tee national organization a few months ago. Another way they are trying to attract interest is by making veterans honorary members, calling them "Veterans In Play" (VIP) members.

VIP members can play on any weekday at Timber Trails and pay only for the cart rental, and on guest days (Thursdays) they can bring up to four friends and be charged only for cart rentals. There also is a Veterans Scramble Night on Thursdays and an annual tournament in November, the week of Veterans Day.

"This is our way of saying a big thank you to those who have sacrificed so much to secure our freedom," said Dechert, who initiated this program in honor of his father, Col. Louis T. Dechert, who has been the president of the Korean War Veterans Association the past four years.