What you have (Editorial)

John Walsh

Flat. That’s a good word to describe the golf business and the status of rounds this year – and for the past 10 years or so for that matter. Rounds played at U.S. facilities were down 0.8 percent through August compared to last year, according to the National Golf Foundation. (That’s the latest number NGF had prior to my deadline.) Rounds within the segments that make up the overall golf market (private clubs and public courses, which are broken down into premium, standard and value) range from a 1.7-percent decline to a 0.1-percent increase. That’s not much growth from the previous couple years, and as a result, many in the industry have been trying to figure out how to buck the trend.

As Pat Jones mentions in his column this month (page 62), there are many golf course owners who have come up with creative ways to generate rounds this year. And GCN columnist Jack Brennan has discussed with me how he works with his clients to help market their courses more effectively in the hopes of increasing revenue. In the current golf market, it’s difficult to accomplish.

Golf courses are challenged. And we’ve all heard the sad tale: Golf is too time consuming, too difficult to play, too costly and too exclusive – and it has stiff competition from a plethora of other sports and activities. Add to that, the news reports I’ve been reading throughout the country about golf courses being put up for sale because their revenues have been declining the past several years or because the land is more valuable as a shopping center or residential development. Even new construction has slowed and is expected to remain steady at between 120 to 150 new course openings throughout the next several years.

There’s a lot of less-than-positive news out there. There also are many frustrated public golf course operators. Many are looking out, away from their courses, to find answers for more business. Many also are looking at their operations to see where they can cut costs. Golf course superintendents are all too familiar with cost-cutting as they deal with big-ticket items such as labor, fuel, water, pesticides and fertilizer. They have done a good job spending money wisely.

Despite looking at those areas, maybe more operators should be looking at what they have, in terms of golfers and their habits, before looking elsewhere to help boost business.

How many operators survey their customers to find out more about them? How many know or have files about their customers? How many know the average age of the golfers playing their course? How many know the percentage of women, men and teens? How many know how far their customers are driving to play their course? How many know if there are other products or services they can offer to existing golfers that they want or are willing to purchase? How many know what other courses their customers play? How many ask golfers what they don’t like about the course or what should be changed?

I’m not saying some savvy operators of public golf courses don’t do this type of research. I just think more should be doing it and doing it more thoroughly because the data will give them a better idea of who to target and what to look out for based on facts, not supposition. It’s just like turfgrass management: You can’t improve the health of your turf until you have an accurate diagnosis of its strengths and weaknesses.

And it’s not just the owner or general manager who should be compiling this information. Everybody can help. Even superintendents, while talking with golfers, can acquire nuggets of valuable information they can pass along to the general manager. The general manager might be the one in charge of the database, but the superintendent can help add to it.

The bottom line is that you need to know your business inside and out before you can defy the trend, attract new players or generate more revenue from your existing customer base. Historically, companies that are aggressive about growing their businesses during economic downturns are the big winners when recovery happens. But, the first step is to conduct an honest assessment of where you’re at. If you do that, you will be better positioned for considerable growth during a time when the word “boost” replaces the word “flat.” GCN