Golf Course Industry magazine recently released its “2016 State of the Industry Report,” which includes golf superintendent surveys results that point to major trends in the game and its operations. Below are financial and labor findings from the report. Financial Golf facility profits regressed slightly in
Herb Stein, an economic adviser to President Nixon (and father of actor and humorist Ben Stein), once offered this bit of sage advice: “If something cannot go on forever, it will stop.” Those of us who are trend-spotters have modified Stein’s Law accordingly: “Trends that can’t
Technology today is mostly about software; sometimes the software is “wrapped in hardware” such as a smartphone or moisture sensor, and sometimes it’s a software product such as a reservation system, but it’s useful to think of all this technology as software. Why has computer
Imagine being able to spot bottlenecks on the course before they begin to affect pace of play, and immediately message the slow group to pick up the pace—all from the comfort of the pro shop. Today, golf cars can stream information about your fleet, such
It is no secret that golf leaders have taken great steps to draw women to the game—and they have done so with some success. Despite these efforts, roughly only 20 percent of golfers are female says the National Golf Foundation, but with millions of women
The game of golf has been around for more than half a millennia, undergoing countless changes since its inception. New technologies, heightened environmental awareness and other variables all play a significant part in the sport’s evolution. The Metropolitan Golf Association in New York invited a
While there are many reasons a golf club may decide to make updates and improvements to its course and surroundings, two specifically stand out: making the game more fun and attractive to players, and the natural wear of a course requiring attention. Members of the
The National Club Association and other key golf industry leaders convened on Capitol Hill on May 21, 2014, for the 7th annual National Golf Day (NGD) to educate lawmakers about the sport’s far-reaching economic, environmental and health-related impacts. As part of the WE ARE GOLF
What are some of the strategies clubs can implement to help address the challenges—and opportunities—that face the golf industry? As the industry looks at ways to accelerate expansion of the game, here are a few observations to stimulate new thinking and action about the game
The economic issues that plagued the overall golf industry in the last decade were particularly hard on turfgrass research, affecting funding from sources inside and outside golf. Universities and colleges, which conduct the vast majority of research, were severely impacted, and programs were eliminated or