by

Revenue Management in the Golf Industry

 

Golf Industry Overview 

Golf is a great sport! Why? Because it is one of the few sports that you don’t have to be in shape to play it and play it well! Just google John Daly and you’ll know what I mean. Golf is a very popular sport because it’s social and it requires as much mental ability and concentration and it does physical.

There are more than 35,112 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf) golf courses worldwide and many of them are located in resorts and tourist hot spots. Half of all golf courses are located in the United States and it probably has to do with the abundance of real estate in the country. But of course, like everything else in the world, the next big thing is golfing in China, which has exploded in popularity since its introduction to the country in 1984.

The National Golf Foundation (http://www.ngf.org/) and Golf Digest (www.golfdigest.com) offer plenty of information about the golf industry and its latest news.

Golf is popular amongst both men and women and there are plenty of professional tours around the world. The PGA and LPGA tours and the most popular for male and female professional golfers and they have some of the biggest prize purses in the industry. I think golf is the greatest sport in the world and I am biased because I’ve been playing it since I was four years old. But this is how I convinced a friend: I told him that if I was a famous professional athlete of any sort I would pick golf. Why? Because it’s the only sport where your professional career could last as long as a regular job. I can be a professional golfer until I’m retired! And after that I can even join the Senior PGA tour where I can still make a great living. Just ask Lee Trevino of Chi Chi Rodriguez.

The problem with golf and revenue management is that it usually charges a fixed price and it’s hard to control duration, which places it in Quadrant 3 of the RM levers. Since it is a social sport and depending on the size of the group, type of course and weather, it is very hard to estimate how long it’ll take a group to finish a round of golf.

Space in golf is pretty fixed and it is defined

This is how a round of golf is usually priced:

–       The golfer pays a “green fee” that allows him/her to play a round of 18holes

–       The time it takes to finish the 18 holes varies greatly depending mostly on the size of the group

–       It is categorized as a “gentlemans” sport and it’s considered rude to hurry other players

 

Space

The golf industry defines space implicitly in that they are in charge of the space and they do not require to sell a specific part of that space but the whole course or golf range.

Golf courses divide their space up in different types, duration and distance for their holes. They also add other types of spaces like golfing ranges where they can get additional revenue from customers that don’t necessarily want to play a full round of golf.

 

They can also use the space to generate additional revenue, for example:

–       They have the golf range that serves the golf course

–       A golf pro shop to generate retail sales

–       Professional services like gripping clubs

–       Professional lessons (might not take space but generate additional revenue)

–       Bars (19th hole)

–       Other F&B outlets like restaurants

 

 

Some creative solutions to generate additional revenue using the space could be:

 

 

–      Offer spa and sauna services in their locker facilities if they have them

–       The space could also be rented out for events, such as weddings and outdoor concerts

–       They could do outdoor cinemas at night

–       They could have summer camps at night for kids

 

 

 

 

Time

The golf industry uses time implicitly because it is very hard to know how long it will take a group to finish a round of golf and it is very hard to control it without annoying customers. There are things that can be done, for example:

–       Discount if the group is done before X amount of time

–       Charge for time and not for rounds (problems with slow foursomes)

  • Slower ones must be willing to let faster ones go through

–       Charge different prices based on weather forecasts (a discount for a potentially rainy day, give they sign  a disclaimer)

–       Older people have to be 3 or less per group

–       Field marshals to help ease the time pressures

–       Use ball finders in certain holes to make finding the ball easier (reducing time). This could be very helpful in markets where labor is inexpensive

–       Caddies for bigger foursomes (time controllers and sell them as free caddies or charge)

–       Charge higher for “professional caddies” who will make play faster

 

Price

There are several rate fences that can be used in golf in order to charge different prices at different times or level of service. Some of them were mentioned in the previous point because they go hand in hand with time, but some additional examples are:

–       Charge different prices

  • Morning vs afternoon
  • Weekday vs weekend

–       Golf cart to have fences for bundling and other services

–       Charge for time and not for rounds (problems with slow foursomes)

  • Slower ones must be willing to let faster ones go through

–       Advanced payment to reduce no-shows and determine overbooking levels too

–       Cancellation Fees for no-shows

–       Booking curves in order to determine which days are the ones with the most demand

–       BUNDLING

–       Daily traffic curves to determine what time of days are the best tees (every half hour?)

–       Pay extra to pass a slow “foursome”

–       Charge different prices based on weather forecasts (a discount for a potentially rainy day, give they sign a disclaimer)

 

When it comes to Golf Ranges, which could be an add-on to a golf course or free standing, has a lot of RM opportunities too:

–       Different prices for the bucket at different times based on Curves by time and day of week (with length of stay too)

–       Offer unlimited balls for a pre-determined LOS instead of charging by the bucket… This way we know exactly how long they will last.

–       Offer different quality of balls and charge more or less for them (makes hard to sort them but could be worth the effort)

–       Charge more at night or day depending on demand

–       Offer virtual ranges

–       Time and price could also be enhanced by having some kind of set path:

  • 10 shots at three different distances with three different clubs

–       Be able to reconfigure the range and/or the booths where the players shoot the balls

 

There are many things that can be done with golf revenue management. But the most important thing to do before rolling out RM initiatives is to test it first. A new RM strategy might sound exciting but it could be a potential source of dissatisfaction with the customer and reduce revenue instead of improving it.

29,145 thoughts on “Revenue Management in the Golf Industry”

  6. Hi there! This is my first visit to your blog! We are a team of volunteers and starting a new project in a community in the same niche. Your blog provided us beneficial information to work on. You have done a extraordinary job! situs togel 88

  12. Interesting topic for a blog. I have been searching the Internet for fun and came upon your website. Fabulous post. Thanks a ton for sharing your knowledge! It is great to see that some people still put in an effort into managing their websites. I’ll be sure to check back again real soon. Skrota bilen Göteborg

  14. Yes, I am entirely agreed with this article, and I just want say that this article is very helpful and enlightening. I also have some precious piece of concerned info !!!!!!Thanks. 1 Dolar Berapa Rupiah

  15. Great artical, I unfortunately had some problems printing this artcle out, The print formating looks a little screwed over, something you might want to look into. situs togel88

  16. 귀하의 게시물을 읽는 것은 큰 기쁨입니다. 내가 찾고있는 정보로 가득 차 있으며 “귀하의 게시물 내용이 굉장합니다”라는 코멘트를 게시하는 것을 좋아합니다. 훌륭합니다. 토토사이트

  18. Beneficial info and excellent design you got here! I want to thank you for sharing your ideas and putting the time into the stuff you publish! Great work! situstogel88

  21. Looking to boost your Stamford business s online visibility Our expert Stamford SEO services are your solution Elevate your search rankings with our tailored strategies Click to discover how.

    seo

  23. Nominal total wages – including employers’ Central Provident Fund (CPF) contributions – of full-time resident employees who had been with the same employer for at least one year rose by 6.5 per cent last year. 토토힐

  31. Hi there! Someone in my Myspace group shared this site with us so I came to give it a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m bookmarking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Outstanding blog and wonderful style and design. situs togel88

  33. No.1 먹튀검증 사이트, 먹튀사이트, 검증사이트, 토토사이트, 안전사이트, 메이저사이트, 안전놀이터 정보를 제공하고 있습니다. 먹튀해방으로 여러분들의 자산을 지켜 드리겠습니다. 먹튀검증 전문 커뮤니티 먹튀클린만 믿으세요!! 먹튀검증

  34. Great write-up, I am a big believer in commenting on blogs to inform the blog writers know that they’ve added something worthwhile to the world wide web!.. bidencash bid

  36. Thank you for sharing excellent informations. Your web-site is very cool. I’m impressed by the details that you¡¦ve on this web site. It reveals how nicely you understand this subject. Bookmarked this web page, will come back for extra articles. You, my friend, ROCK! I found simply the information I already searched all over the place and simply couldn’t come across. What a perfect web-site. rentacarkosova situstogel88

  38. I simply couldn’t go away your website before suggesting that I actually enjoyed the standard information an individual provide on your visitors? Is gonna be back frequently in order to inspect new posts. situs togel 88

  43. Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I to find It truly helpful & it helped me out a lot. I hope to provide something back and aid others such as you helped me. dofollow backlinks

  47. Good day! This post could not be written any better! Reading this post reminds me of my previous room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this write-up to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Thanks for sharing! situs togel 88

  49. After study a few of the blog posts on your website now, and I truly like your way of blogging. I bookmarked it to my bookmark website list and will be checking back soon. Pls check out my web site as well and let me know what you think. situs togel 88

  50. I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get got an edginess over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again as exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this hike. situs togel88

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *