By any measure, 2020 has been a terrible year. Illness and death command the headlines. The follow-on social and political impacts have been severe. Governmental restrictions on commerce and mobility have created massive economic decline and high unemployment. Social unrest plagues many major cities. The world is a confused mess.
Amidst all this upset, it’s been a great year for golf. Rounds played, which have declined just about every year since they peaked in 2003, are up significantly across the country. This is the case even after accounting for a spring season that saw unusual restrictions on play in some states and lengthy course shutdowns in others.
The game of golf is benefitting during the pandemic because it is an outdoor activity where social distancing comes naturally. It offers access to friends, fresh air and green space in a cooped-up world. Country clubs report off-the-charts levels of participation and increased demand for membership. They are also benefitting from their status as a safe haven. In a world of smaller social circles, fellow members and golf partners are a safe choice.
The pandemic has confirmed the long-held supposition that the 20-year decline in participation was due to lifestyle factors, not disaffection with the game’s fundamental attractions. While the other challenges suppressing play have not gone away—difficulty, confusing rules, expense, gender bias, stuffy club culture—the prime culprit has clearly been the lack of time. A more flexible work environment has been good for golf. Many people are working from home, holding Zoom meetings and eliminating hour-long commutes. This makes it a lot easier to find an hour to practice golf or four hours for an 18-hole round.
It is difficult, if not impossible, to know the long-term impact of an event while you are in the middle of it. That is certainly the case with the coronavirus pandemic, especially since no one seems to know if we are at the beginning, middle or latter stages of the contagion. We’ve only been at it for about six months now, with varied results. Clearly, some of the things that have changed will never go back to the way they were, while others have already returned to their pre-COVID-19 level. Although golf is currently flourishing, there are anecdotal comments that we are already past the peak of COVID-19-driven play, as more people return to work and some players begin to report burnout.
Clearly, benefitting from a health crisis is neither a desirable nor reliable long-term growth strategy. So, while golf is having a good year, club leaders should be planning now to leverage the opportunities presented to them. They should be using the openness to change presented by the COVID-19 period to develop and adopt innovative programming. Let’s look at a golf program that was working before COVID-19 for tips on how to shape activities at your club.
A Formula for Success: Engagement + Enjoyment + Increased Play = Community and Retention
Joe Schwent, PGA, is the director of golf at The Country Club of St. Albans, a wonderful 36-hole club with two of the top 10 courses in Missouri. He didn’t need a pandemic to connect the dots for him. While rounds at St. Albans are up 75% year-to-date over 2019, this is just further validation that the programs he put in place years ago continue to produce results. Schwent gets it. You can distill his many years in the business to a simple formula: Player engagement and enjoyment increases utilization, which builds a strong golfing community and increases member retention.
One of the first things Schwent did when he arrived at St. Albans in 2006 was to restructure the fees golfers paid to participate in tournaments, leagues and events. The club was using a traditional program at that time, establishing a fee for each tournament, league or program based on its scope, i.e., the cost of golf, prizes and food and beverage were added up to set a target break-even on each event. This meant that something like the opening tournament of the year had a $75 charge. He thought this was too much, a suspicion validated by poor participation. He was certain the fee structure was working against the club.
Ultimately, Schwent was able to convince the Golf Committee that levying a one-time activity fee on every golfing member at the start of the year would create a kitty that he could use to subsidize events throughout the year. This, in turn, allowed him to reduce the fee for each event and market them as low cost/high value activities. All a player had to do to earn back their activity fee was to play in two to three events. By way of example, it cost $20 to play in the Senior Club Championship this year. On the club’s side, fields were larger, the events were more fun, and the golfing community grew stronger. The activity fee is used to subsidize the men’s, women’s and couple’s golf events as well as the 9- and 18-hole golf leagues and junior golf throughout the season. Participation has increased in all areas, especially among the women’s leagues, where the club boasts the largest leagues in the district. Female spouse play is an important part of the equation, as play by both spouses greatly increases value of membership in that household.
Golf Member Achievement Program
Like most brilliant ideas, the premise of the Golf Member Achievement Program (GMAP) is simple. Members who take lessons will see improvement in their game, so they will play more golf. Active users stay at their club, especially when multiple family members are involved.
The GMAP program was launched in 2017. It is a player engagement strategy that includes one-on-one meetings with the professional staff, free lessons and checking back to gauge progress. The process begins in the winter when the professional staff meets with players in one-on-one sessions to discuss their game and set goals for the year ahead. This also includes reviewing their equipment, checking grips, discussing the state of their clubs and the strategy behind what’s in their bag. This might cause someone to put new grips on their clubs or buy a new driver or wedge, which is good for business. More importantly, it creates a bond between the professional staff and member, and it gets the member excited for the year ahead.
In addition to strengthening the connection between the staff and member, this also gives the staff insight into where this player is on the golf spectrum. Are they at an introductory level? A recreational golfer who is most interested in casual rounds and social-golf activities? Or do they want to engage in a lesson program and play in competitive events? In a world where knowing your customer is king, this is essential research.
When golf starts up in the spring, Schwent and his team are available to provide one complimentary 30-minute lesson per membership, per month. Anyone in the member’s household can use this time to focus on any part of their game, from a general tune up to short game or putting. This makes it easy for a member to engage in a regular program throughout the year, or simply check in when things may not be going so well with their game. This leads to more practice and play, and perhaps spin-off revenue in the golf shop or in the dining room. It makes the club and golf more central to their life.
The golf program at St. Albans also includes a full range of events scaled to different interests. For some, that’s a happy hour clinic, 9-and-dine couple’s event or family fun night. For others, that’s skills-oriented clinics and golf leagues and for others, its competitive events.
Another working theory of Schwent’s bears mentioning. He believes many golfers are reluctant to take a lesson because they are concerned that they will have to scrap everything they are doing and adopt a new technique. This “two steps back, one forward” isn’t necessarily the case, especially in an ongoing program like GMAP. The more you know about the swing, the more you understand what you are doing and why you are doing it. It’s all about the journey to understanding how the life-long game of golf fits into your world.
Insight to the Future of Golf
The COVID-19 period, as challenging as it is, is a gift to the golf industry. While golf is a great game based on timeless values, it is clear from events of the past year that modern lifestyles, particularly the lack of time, has been negatively impacting participation. Successful leaders should use the insights from their 2020 experience to develop innovative programs that will engage their members and sustain the elevated level of play as the world starts back to work. As shown in the St. Albans example, take away the barriers to participation and then build a program to engage with your members so they can find the level that is enjoyable for them. This will create and strengthen their connection with the staff and other members and bind them to their club.