Munis Can Lead The Way

Who has played Indian Wells? What a beauty, right? Did you know it lost $4 million in 2020? Obviously, 2020 was an anomaly for everyone, but over 2500 municipal courses in the US struggle to break even, much less be a revenue source for its constituents. This creates a downward spiral, where the customer experience continues to go downhill, even as rounds are up. This short-term take is putting the future of the growth of the game at risk, even as management companies today sugar coat the situation to some extent.

Trevor Mason wrote a nice piece for Golf Inc Magazine that talks to this experience, and this opportunity. While it was great to read how courses are adapting to the needs of the customer base from a product offering perspective, the back-end operations are not meeting the needs of the employee base, and I would hazard a guess that GM burnout is highest at the public courses right now.

My local muni is a common showcase. 5 hour rounds, sand traps that are often water hazards, and nice people but certainly overworked and overwhelmed. When I told them what CourseIQ is building, they literally hugged me. There is no reason why the group can’t work smarter and enjoy their personal lives while improving their experience and balance sheet. The Connected Course will do this for them. We can’t wait.

See you on the tee box (but still not this week with a back that won’t cooperate!).