Short Term Gain, Long Term Pain
I’m "wiser" these days, balancing the grumpiness of Walter Matthau with the optimism of Chunk from The Goonies. But unlike Forrest Gump’s “stupid is as stupid does,” the current state of the golf operations business is showing some short-term logic.
Golf Inc. recently published an article titled "Rising Greens Fees Reflect the Health of the Game." Amid the positivity, they noted a critical point: “Those increases came after 10 years of oversupply and saw prices chasing after US inflation rates.” This means we’re doing great when times are good.
But what happens when times aren’t so good? This could be any moment, according to most of the US population. Let's explore:
Consumer sentiment declines (for various reasons, which deserve their own blog post).
Consumers cut back on discretionary spending (including golf).
Venues panic as overhead costs remain, leading to price cuts to save what they can.
Capital investment for the next year drops due to a poor prior year and an uncertain future.
Courses struggle to balance their books with less revenue.
Customer experience deteriorates as courses cut costs.
This creates a vicious cycle: raising prices risks losing sensitive customers, while lowering prices devalues the offering and damages long-term relationships.
The Connected Course from CourseIQ can help break this cycle by enhancing customer experience, capturing incremental revenue, and reducing operational costs without huge investments. Work smarter, not harder (thank you, Scrooge McDuck). General Managers, this means saving hours daily, keeping owners happy, and maintaining customer relationships without personal interaction every day.
See you on the tee box!