I read a couple interesting things about the golf industry. First, rounds for 2024 are up over 2023. +1.9%. In the Northeast, it’s almost +16%, and rain is down 54% from the fall of 2023. Hopefully you were able to capitalize. As I ride around, I ask everyone how rounds are. Some won’t share. Most who do are flat. Many truly don’t know – “we don’t track them”. This is shocking. How can you not know what your customers are doing, and how they use your facility? You should know everything they do at your facility. Do they use the fitness center? Pool? Eat there, and how often? Play golf in the simulator. Practice on the range. THIS is how you adapt to what the membership wants from your facility. If you are public, can you see how many rounds players play at other places (though a GHIN search)? Why aren’t they playing at your facility every time?

I digress. As we dig deeper, it’s important to know where the increase in rounds is coming from. On the heels of political season where we put everyone in buckets, let’s do some more of that, shall we? I know, UGH!! Rounds for men are flat. Seniors? Flat. We have said for the last few years that women were the fastest growing segment in the game. Move over ladies… You’ve been outgrown by Juniors. By a lot.

So if juniors and women are the fastest growing segments, what can you do with this information? This sounds a lot like golf is becoming more of a family activity, doesn’t it? Will it change the face of the player landscape at your club? Perhaps, and perhaps not. Rounds for men, while not growing, still make up the lions share of the rounds. Do we need to do something different to accommodate these new increases in player segments? Probably. Do we need to change the programming that we offer at our clubs? Most certainly. How about the merchandise that we bring into the shop? Perhaps. The point is, if you are aware of the changes, you can decide.

Here’s another one to think about. Data is starting to suggest that many of the “Avid” players we picked up in the COVID surge are playing less and less. They are still counting as players, but they are not playing as often. WHY? What did we do then that we are not doing now? Are we falling into the same old trap of what we did before COVID? Were some of the COVID Practices legitimate and worth revisiting? I say yes to all of this.

Consider this as an example. These may not work for every club (or ANY club for that matter), but… During COVID, we walked. We had to. Did golf replace fitness centers for a brief time because of this? Since most everyone rides now, are we losing fitness buffs back to the gyms? Do we need to refocus on the health benefits of walking and convey this to our memberships? Consider the health benefits to your golf course by not having as many carts on it… Do we need to come up with a unique set of programs that allow for this? Maybe a “walking Wednesday”, or a twilight 4 hole loop that is walking only. Maybe have a few push carts that players can use? Maybe have some of the bag staff learn to caddy and you can start a small caddy program? The solution is inconsequential – it’s the thought process that goes into WHY these players are playing less and what can we do about it.

Or consider this. During COVID, players were one player to a cart. Did they play faster? Or enjoy the time alone? This is the opposite of the health of the golf course, but would a single rider cart fee make sense? Do you have the cart fleet size to support this?

Or this… We couldn’t gather in public places, so we did a lot of things outside. Have we moved things back inside? Should our halfway house be situated so that tables and chairs are outside? Or have our gathering outside after Men’s league? Move some merchandise outside the golf shop every so often?

For as awful as COVID was, it was good for golf. Did we learn anything from it or just take the money and run while we bide our time to get back to the way we’ve always done things? That answer is up to you.

It’s the offseason. Spend some time analyzing your tee sheet to figure out who is playing, how often they play, and when they play. WHAT can you do to maximize the return on this group, grow the segment, and get the playing levels of each group back up to where they were during COVID. Remember, active members stay and spend. The more active they are, the better it is for the health of the club.