NGF: golf's newcomers say game is fun, but too stuffy

 

"My family used to sell buggy whips. Once Henry Ford came along, the market dried up. It didn't matter how much you discounted the price, you weren't going to sell many buggy whips," said Lindsay, who has been helping golf courses in the upper Midwest maximize profitability since 1989 through his Milwaukee-based firm, Edgehill Golf Advisors. "Where is golf going? Is it a buggy whip? For years, people have been telling us in large numbers that they don't want our product. We're discounting it and telling everyone it's only worth 50 cents on the dollar. If you still can't sell it at a discount, then something is wrong with your product."

 

It's no secret that a slow and steady decline in demand has marked the golf industry since nearly 520 million rounds were played in 2000. According to the National Golf Foundation, 450 million rounds were played last year, signaling a decline of more than 13 percent since that high-water mark in 2000. Along those lines, a net 951 courses opened nationwide between 2000-2005. Since 2006, a net 768 have closed. How millennials and other groups view the game is part of the problem of declining interest in the game.

 

According to NGF, millennials view the game as fun, but see others who play it as stuffy stuffy, the atmosphere to be unfriendly and uninviting, the rules too restrictive and the dress as nonconforming to their lifestyle.

 

According to Lindsay, the NGF, other industry groups and many individual owners and operators have not done enough to recognize this and do what is necessary to attract new customers, including millennials, juniors, women and minorities.

 

Those barriers cited by the NGF, said Lindsay, are every bit as real as the other excuses often tossed about in the golf business.

 

"It is convenient in golf to blame time, economy and social changes," Lindsay said. "It does not change the fact that people will spend money on recreational pursuits they enjoy."

 

"That's the problem. (Golf course operators) don't get it. If they got it, then we wouldn't be having a conversation about people saying they're not treated right when the go to the golf course."

 

Jim Koppenhaver, Lindsay's partner during the annual State of the Industry Report that the two present during the PGA Merchandise Show, said he returned to the status of core golfer this year for the first time since 2000. After signing up for a package of lessons with an instructor and practice sessions on a simulator, he failed to schedule his final session. Equally guilty, the pro failed to contact him as well to schedule the session, ask how they were going or if he was interested in continuing.

 

"Instructors, by and large," Koppenhaver wrote, aren't particularly good marketers."

 

Although changing or relaxing USGA rules and openly accepting casual wear such as cargo shorts or jeans might seem like a bother to some, Lindsay says there is some truth to the claims that some who work in the business seem to go out of their way to make newcomers to the game feel unwelcome.

 

According to NGF, 87 percent of golfers and 63 percent of non-golfers believe the game is fun and 86 percent and 74 percent (respectively) said it is a good way to enjoy the outdoors. However, only 31 percent said golf was welcoming to novice players, 36 percent said the atmosphere at the course is stuffy, 30 percent said the rules are to restricting and 33 percent don't like generally accepted golf attire.

 

"(According to NGF statistics) 92 percent of the population has no interest in playing golf," Lindsay said. "We must be doing something wrong.

 

"Golf doesn't understand that it is in the hospitality business. Why would you want to join a tight little circle, put up with crap because you're a newbie, only to eventually not be a newbie any more and be one of the group?"

 

Private clubs are able to offer better service only because they have a smaller population to get to know, Lindsay says. It's a lot easier to learn names and faces for 300-400 people than it is the thousands of unique customers who pour through a daily fee facility.

 

 

Some of that lack of familiarity could be offset with if operators worked harder to collect contact information, especially email addresses, each time a customer walks through the door.

 

"You can have an iPad out there at the club drop," he said. "Staff can ask their name, tee time and get them set up with a cart. ?This is Mr. Smith, and the last time he played here was 10 days ago, or he's never been here before. Granted, that is expecting a lot from a bag boy.

 

"That's another problem. Who are we getting to work here? Most are working for minimum wage or close to it. We don't get much, but what do you expect?"

 

Admittedly, Lindsay said, those who patronize daily fee courses ? which comprise the bulk of the supply ? might be reluctant to give up an email address. Giving them a discount coupon by email, however, can help diffuse those worried about spam.

 

He points to a high-end resort course he has played every year for the past 27 years as an example of how a little effort to reach the customer could improve the experience for the guest and the golf course. Each time he approaches the counter, instead of being told "hi, Mr. Lindsay, welcome back," he is asked the same question: "Have you ever played here before?"

 

Lindsay has spent years crunching data for clients, and said it only makes sense to collect as much information as possible on customers. It makes them easier to recognize, easier to market to and, he added, data shows they spend as much as $150 more per year on services at the golf course than those who do not surrender contact information.

 

"It's no wonder people don't feel welcome at the golf course," he said, "when you have a staff that is not trained to take advantage of the technology available to them."