A blog by Golf Pipeline

A blog about all things golf according to Golf Pipeline through the journey of building a golf business and impacting an industry full of tradition and legacy. www.golfpipeline.com

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The Seven Sins of Golf Course Marketing - Sin #7: Ignoring Social Media and Online Influence

To wrap up the Seven Deadly Sins series and put this email series in our rear view mirror, the last sin forces us to break out our crystal ball. Not only must we look at the future of the game, we need to look at the future participants who will play it. The game of golf is steeped in tradition, from its dress code to its major tournaments. But how people discover the game, and interact with the game, is rapidly changing. From TopGolf to FootGolf to GolfBoards to online bookings, and all points in between, modern society and our obsession with technology is pushing our sport into unchartered waters. And the next generation of golfers’ version of golf consumption will look nothing like today’s version.

This “new” golfer won’t call to make a tee time. Everyone knows that their phone is used for Internet activity and not human-to-human conversation. They’ll check in at the counter and pay with their phone. Heck they might even pre-pay while they’re driving to the course. They won’t use sprinkler heads to get their yardage, the scorecard and pencil on the cart for scoring, or their car to get to and from the course. Every one of those traditional functions will be replaced by their favorite apps on their phone.

And how will they find you and decide which course they’re going to play? Or whether they’re going to play at all? We know one thing, it certainly won’t be the Yellow Pages. The consumer of tomorrow (and today) is driven more by what their friends think or by their peers who have already experienced that business. These future golfers are already doing that for movies, restaurants, apps, phones, concerts, classes, and every other meaningful transaction in their life. Golf will be no different.

So let’s take a glimpse into the future and analyze how the golf industry can stay competitive with our next sin. Marketing Sin #7 – IGNORING SOCIAL MEDIA AND ONLINE INFLUENCE

The Problem – Golf courses are traditionally slow when it comes to building their online presence and communicating with their customer base via social media. But that technology implementation problem isn’t unique. Golf has been slow to adapt to any new technology, whether it’s a customer database, a computerized POS, or online bookings. As a small business with a limited budget, and limited human resources, there is only so much a stretched owner and operator can do. When you talk to most experts, the positive is that all it takes to engage these online platforms is a little bit of marketing know-how and a time investment. Unfortunately, these are the two things most operators lack! Adding to that problem is the fact the world of social media is constantly changing, and the expectation of this new generation is IMMEDIATE response. If they don’t get their questions answered now, then they’re moving on to the next business. Or even worse, they’ll leave a scathing review online so that the rest of their friends or potential customers can hear their complaints. So what is a golf course to do?

How You Can Fix It – While there isn’t one “magic bullet” cure, there are a few steps a golf course should take when it comes to engaging social media and improving their online influence:

1.       Google Yourself – As we covered in Sin #5, you first need to see what problems exist online, and then you can start the process of fixing whatever negative items show up. Are there bad reviews, inaccurate information, or other companies buying your trademarked keywords? Take a look and find out what information is out there.

2.       Claim Your Business on Google and Yelp – These two sites will act as a good starting point for helping your online reputation and directing conversations with customers/potential customers into the proper spot. Visit https://www.google.com/business/ and hit the ‘Get on Google’ button, and then visit https://biz.yelp.com/support/claiming and hit the ‘Claim Your Business’ button. Both of these things are free and can be completed in a matter of minutes.

3.       Claim Your Business on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn – While you’re on a hot streak of claiming your business online, make sure you do the same for the three major social networks (as a start). Here is some good information for Facebook https://www.facebook.com/help/257661877677443/, Twitter https://business.twitter.com/basics/create-a-profile-for-your-business?lang=en&location=na, and LinkedIn https://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/28406/bid/61/pid/55. You are now setup to start the dialogue with your online and socially plugged in customers.

4.       Start Posting Content, or Put Someone in Charge of Posting Content – Unfortunately, being setup on the various platforms is only part of the solution. Your business must stay involved with those platforms, and post content on a frequent basis to keep your “fans” engaged. It is also important to “listen” to all of those platforms for any users that have questions, complaints, or glowing reviews. If you don’t have the time, then a good idea would be to appoint someone else at your facility as The Social Czar. This task can managed by them, with updates and issues being brought to your attention.

How Golf Pipeline Can Help – One of Golf Pipeline’s roles for the golfer is the ability to bridge their golf life to their various social networks. Through Golf Pipeline, golfers can share information about tee times they book, invitations they accept, scores they post, or other comments between their golf buddies. While it may seem far-fetched to most of the current golfing population, this next generation of golfers uses their social networks constantly. Their social obsession has the potential to be a huge FREE win for the golf industry. If somebody shoots a good score on your course, or takes a beautiful picture of the sun setting on the 18th green, you WANT that content being shared with the golfer’s social network. What’s better than free advertising? Free advertising that comes from a trusted source. Golf Pipeline facilitates the sharing of this information and getting more social exposure to the courses on our platform. While it might seem insignificant now, every positive “share” or “like” or “retweet” only helps the golf course’s business. And ignoring this growing trend, could be the biggest sin of all. Golf Pipeline marries rack-rate distribution with the sharing and collection of player data at ALL times. This mirrors what your course strives to implement every day, and just another way that Golf Pipeline is building a sustainable model for our future. To learn more about Golf Pipeline you can watch our overview video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_qjDGUK2E) or email us at [email protected]. We hope you enjoyed the series and will help spread the word about Golf Pipeline! Scott Merchant Director of Golf Course Sales [email protected]

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The Seven Sins of Golf Course Marketing - Sin #6: Ignoring the Downward Spiral of Players per Group

The last stretch run in our Seven Sins of Golf Course Marketing series will focus on two macro trends that have been ignored for far too long in the golf industry, and as such everyone’s business has suffered. When the industry and every individual golf course operator ignores these two aspects, “Declining Players per Group” and “Social Media and Online Influence”, everyone suffers. But since these changes have happened slowly over the last 7-10 years, it is similar to boiling a frog; you don’t realize the harmful effects until it’s already too late. So let’s see if we can get out of the hot water as we analyze our next sin.

Marketing Sin #6 – IGNORING THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL OF PLAYERS PER GROUP

The Problem – The problem of declining players per group started around the time of the “Great Recession” for golf. Prior to the actual Recession in the United States, golf had already begun to struggle. The oversupply wasn’t matching up with the stagnating demand for the sport (cue the Pellucid commercial). But when combined with the economic downturn in 2008, that’s when the players-per-group statistic really started to take a tumble. We would monitor this statistic at Fore Reservations (at the time the largest purveyor of online bookings), looking at the total number of tee times booked online, and then analyzing how many players were being booked for. From 2003-2006, the players-per-group number hovered around 3.3 to 3.4 players per group, which is a good healthy number. A lot of full foursomes, and the occasional threesome or twosome meant that the yield for each available tee time was doing pretty well. But then during the 2006-2008 time span, that number started to trend in the negative direction. By the end of 2009, as homeowner’s value was plummeting, people were losing jobs, and the economy was adjusting to “The New Normal”, the golf player-per-group statistic fell all the way down to 2.7 players per group, which is right where it sits today. Less people employed, less people taking up the game, less available cash, and less available time due to more family obligations, and all of a sudden your “regular Saturday tee time” goes from a steady four players to maybe you and one other person. Multiply that scenario times all of the golfers in the United States, and we have ourselves a nasty problem. If we are off a half player per group, that adds up to BILLIONS of dollars in losses for the golf industry. Yuck!

How You Can Fix It – This issue might be the hardest to reconcile on an individual facility basis, but that doesn’t mean we should continue to ignore it. A few ideas for your facility could be:

1.       Promotion for Singles and Twosomes Waiting Around – We all know that the days of a full waiting list of potential golfers milling around the putting green is a thing of the past. Golf is too over-built and golfers don’t have that sort of free time. But maybe there is a way to bring it back to life on a limited basis? Perhaps you can encourage those single or twosome golfers that have a little more free time, and a desire to get paired up, to wait around for a tee time. Perhaps it is an offer to pay their green fee without a tee time, and while they wait, they get free range balls and free coffee. If you can’t get them on the course in an hour, they get their green fee money back. This “Free While You Wait” promotion isn’t for everybody, but it would only take a couple of loose singles or twosome to get on the course for it to pay off! Plus who knows, these paired up golfers could become friends and start golfing with each other in the future.  

2.       Form Your Own Leagues – Why wait around outside companies and leagues to bring their business to your course? Start building your own social community of golfers by forming leagues that your golfers would want to participate in. These leagues would be sponsored and administrated by you and your employees, and can go from a small one-tee-time thing to a full-blown league with a waiting list to play. I’ve seen it happen! Groups like a Low Handicap “Wolves” League, a “Micro-Brews and Golf Too” League (partnered with local breweries), a Business Networking “Golf-and-Learn” League, or a Families League (capitalizing on the early success of the PGA Junior League). The point is, there are ALL SORTS of great social reasons for people to want to golf together. The end goal of these leagues would be to get golfers playing your course with new people, which hopefully gets them playing more rounds outside of their traditional “comfort zone”.

How Golf Pipeline Can Help – This statistic is one of the reasons Golf Pipeline was founded, and shapes our technology road map for our product. Golf Pipeline was created to connect golfers to other golfers, and we knew the current process of “texting a few buddies” or “calling some friends to gauge interest” and trying to put a golf group together was painful, and downright archaic. This is why our Tee Time Invitation Process is one of the bedrocks of our company. Our belief is “if more people are invited, more people will play” or to take that philosophy even further “if I’m aware that the round is being played (by friends or other like-minded golfers), then I’m more inclined to play”. Our platform was built on social tools to increase connectivity between golfing friends, which will hopefully lead them to golf more. If the invitation process just gets one more golfer to play one more round, then it was all worth it! The early results have been phenomenal with our technology with the player-per-group statistic of reservations through Golf Pipeline are 3.4 players per group, back to pre-recession levels. With Golf Pipeline a golfer can invite 5, 10 or 100 of their friends to a tee time and watch their group fill it. This is a win for the golfer because now they have a full foursome headed to the course, but it is the golf course (and the industry at large) that are the real winners.

Golf Pipeline marries rack-rate distribution with the sharing and collection of player data at ALL times. This mirrors what your course strives to implement every day, and just another way that Golf Pipeline is building a sustainable model for our future. To learn more about Golf Pipeline you can watch our overview video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_qjDGUK2E) or see us at Booth #1860 down in Orlando. Until next time! Scott Merchant Director of Golf Course Sales [email protected]

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The Seven Sins of Golf Course Marketing - Sin #5: Getting Exposed In The Name of Exposure

We’ve passed the halfway point of the ‘7 Deadly Sins of Golf Course Marketing’ series and the end is in sight (for previous sins, click HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE). And like our next sin, what you think is the “light at the end of the tunnel”, could actually be an oncoming train. One of the biggest benefits of tee time distribution, more eyes (exposure) on your available tee times, might actually be doing more harm than good with this next sin; Getting Exposed In the Name of Exposure. So let’s see if we can avoid the oncoming train and get right to Golf Course Marketing Sin #5… Marketing Sin #5 – GETTING EXPOSED IN THE NAME OF EXPOSURE The Problem – People use Google. I don’t mean that in the traditional way of a person going to Google on their phone or computer, and typing in something they want to know. I mean, they USE Google. They implement marketing techniques to help steer a potential customer to choose their good/service over their other competitors. This is most commonly done through the Google’s AdWords platform or a technique called ‘Digital Remarketing’. With AdWords, the company will “buy” certain words or phrases that they think will lead more customers to their door, and then pay Google for the privilege of having their advertisement show up first in the rankings (this service makes Google upwards of $50 BILLION every year and it’s growing at a 10-15% rate). With the amount of people using Google, it would make sense for a golf course (or tee time reseller) to want to advertise there. But the problem for the golf industry isn’t the Google platform itself, it’s the words these third party tee time resellers are buying through AdWords. Instead of buying general terms like “Chicago tee times” or “San Diego golf courses”, there are multiple entities in the golf space that buy up specific names of golf courses and use those words to drive traffic to the third-party site and away from the golf course’s own webpage. In the Internet world, this is called “brand hijacking” and has been expressly prohibited by the NGCOA’s Best Practices dating back to 2009. This is a major issue facing the golf industry, and can cost your business hundreds of thousands of dollars. So how can a golf course protect itself? How You Can Fix It – Even if you’re not an expert at Google and online advertising, there are some easy steps you can take to protect your golf course from these sorts of business practices. 1. Google Yourself – It’s not as dirty as it sounds. Go ahead and check your golf course out online, and see what comes up. Is it your course’s website or other marketers’ websites that come up first? Are there any ads coming up that use your course’s name? Also be sure to perform this Google check every few weeks (on your computer, phone, Google.com and Google Maps) as keyword buying and brand hijacking is a fluid situation that may appear and disappear throughout the golf season.

2. Trademark Your Golf Course Name – I know wading into legal waters is about as much fun as spraying a couple of new golf balls into actual water, but in this case the process is pretty painless and well worth the time and small monetary investment. LegalZoom has the price of trademark application starting at $199 (https://www.legalzoom.com/business/intellectual-property/trademark-registration-overview.html) plus some filing fees. Trademarking your brand name is an important step in protecting your business from online brand hijackers.

3. Ask Offending Parties to Stop – If you do find somebody who is buying up your golf course keywords, the first tact is to ask that particular company to cut it out. Find their contact information on their website, and email, call, or communicate with them that they should stop this practice immediately. In most cases, this will usually do the trick.  

4. Report Offending Companies to the NGCOA/PGA – If you still are having problems, the NGCOA and PGA have recently formed a Task Force designed to help golf course owners and operators in these situations. This new “Golf USA Tee Time Coalition” will eventually fund a compliance officer dedicated to monitoring companies that engage in these tactics. In the meantime, all inquiries can be directed to Joe Rice, Chief Strategy Officer for the NGCOA, at [email protected].  

How Golf Pipeline Can Help – Since the inception of Golf Pipeline, we have been in compliance with the 2009 NGCOA Best Practices including Clause #8 which prohibits the practice of brand hijacking. Golf Pipeline doesn’t engage in this form of marketing, and we never will. While this tactic definitely would help drive traffic to Golf Pipeline, we believe that it is a destructive shortcut; and like the game of golf itself, there are no shortcuts to success. This is similar in principle to mass discounting. Nothing would drive site traffic faster to Golf Pipeline, or to the course’s own website, than selling green fees for $5.00. But is that what the industry really needs? We think there is a better way. One of the great aspects of the game of golf is the unique ability for competitors to call a penalty on themselves. When it comes to brand hijacking, it’s time for the industry to speak up and call the appropriate penalty.   Golf Pipeline marries rack-rate distribution with the sharing and collection of player data at ALL times. This mirrors what your course strives to implement every day, and just another way that Golf Pipeline is building a sustainable model for our future. To learn more about Golf Pipeline you can watch our overview video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_qjDGUK2E) or see us at Booth #1860 down in Orlando. Until next time! Scott Merchant Director of Golf Course Sales [email protected]

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The Seven Sins of Golf Course Marketing - Sin #4: Not Making Your Customer Base Younger

As the countdown to the PGA Merchandise Show shrinks, the list of golf course marketing sins grows. We have already discussed “Data Collection”, “Data Targeting”, and “Attempting to Discount Into Prosperity”, and next we will tackle the industry-wide sin of “Not Making Your Customer Base Younger”. With a sport that caters to the older population, finding new customers and younger customers to replace the previous generation is of critical importance. So let’s tap into the up-and-coming generation as we address Golf Course Marketing Sin #4… Marketing Sin #4 – NOT MAKING YOUR CUSTOMER BASE YOUNGER The Problem – Ben Franklin said “nothing was certain, except death and taxes”. With the golf industry, both are significant problems that can lead to your business’ demise. While we’ll leave the ‘taxes’ issue and the high cost of levies incurred while running a golf course for another day, the issue of death is a unique aspect that golf course owners and operators must confront. In a sport where over 60% of the participants are 50 years of age and older, how the industry can replace and refresh its customer base is a large problem. And more importantly, can the game of golf evolve to the world around it and survive (maybe even thrive) with the new on-demand, immediate gratification generation?

When you look at your customer base, day-in and day-out, what is the percentage of “new blood” coming in the door? Statistically, only 17% of golfers nationwide are under the age of 40. That pales in comparison to almost every other sport. However the silver lining of golf’s age dilemma is these same statistics play into the “golf is a sport you can play your entire life” narrative. Try participating in a pickup game of basketball in your mid-40s and golf will start to look real appealing. From a business standpoint however, if a golf course continues to only focus on the customers, and types of customers, that are already there, as the golfers die off, so will their revenue. So, what can be done to address this problem?   How You Can Fix It – There are a few easy steps you can take to start reversing the trend and getting younger players into your facility.

1.       Analyze Your Age Data – If you’re not collecting your golfers’ birthdays for the valuable marketing opportunity, start collecting them so you can analyze key data points like: what is the average age of my golfer, is that better or worse than the national average, and are my youth-driven marketing efforts moving the needle in the right direction.

2.       Programming That Encourages a New Generation – While trying to ignore unhelpful tongue-in-cheek articles like this one (http://www.golfdigest.com/story/a-baby-boomers-9-step-guide-to-millennial-golfers) in Golf Digest, take a look and see what your business can do to adapt to the new generation of golfers. Some good background on millennial buying habits can be found HERE and HERE. Quicker rounds, experiences that focus on the social and fun side of the sport, and involvement with their peers and friends should all be a focus. Also, use ancillary parts of the property in a different way, like: a part of the driving range that has music, golf lessons for millennials and their friends (a hipper version of Get Golf Ready), or a Wii golf/PlayStation League in the bar and grill.

3.       Look to Other Industries For Help – Some of the most beloved millennial brands (the Top 5 are Apple, Nike, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft) all have a few things in common, but one binding factor is that none of them are discount players. In the golf sector, the lessons of TopGolf and how they reach out to the non-traditional millennial customer can be a good blueprint for success. Focus on a fun, social experience and the cost becomes irrelevant.

How Golf Pipeline Can Help – The younger generation of consumers demand things blend into their technology usage pattern (as their entire life does), and they want their experiences to be hassle-free. The golfer of the present and future will want new cutting edge technology like Golf Pipeline, and they want the search-and-book process to mirror how they book a hotel (Hotels.com or Orbitz), a restaurant (Open Table) or a movie ticket (AMC.com or Fandango). An aggregated portal that simplifies getting a tee time can get these golfers on the course, all without the lure of discount (remember they love Apple and Nike). Also, our “all-in-one” solution can relate to them using technology concepts that they’re accustomed to in different industries. Golf Pipeline marries rack-rate distribution with the sharing and collection of player data at ALL times. This mirrors what your course strives to implement every day, and just another way that Golf Pipeline is building a sustainable model for our future. To learn more about Golf Pipeline you can watch our overview video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_qjDGUK2E) or see us at Booth #1860 down in Orlando. Until next time! Scott Merchant Director of Golf Course Sales [email protected]

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The Seven Sins of Golf Course Marketing - Sin #3: Attempting to Discount Into Prosperity

In our first two posts of the “7 Deadly Sins of Golf Course Marketing” series, we touched on the data topics of ‘Collecting’ and ‘Targeting’. If you missed either of them, you can always catch up by clicking HERE and HERE. In this edition, we touch on the hot-button topic of rate integrity and the sin of “Attempting to Discount into Prosperity”. In the golf industry, it seems that discounting is everywhere, and no golf course is impervious to this negative trend. So let’s take a deeper look at this topic and see if there is a way, in the words of Rudyard Kipling, to “keep your head when all about you are losing theirs”. On to Sin #3…

Marketing Sin #3 – ATTEMPTING TO DISCOUNT INTO PROSPERITY

The Problem – In one simple word…discounts, discounts, discounts. Ever since the invention of great tee time marketing tools like e-mail messaging and online tee times, there have been operators abusing these same tools with “Last Minute” discount email messages and online discounts for golf. Although some like to blame tee time aggregation platforms, it is ultimately the golf operator who controls their participation in such a relationship (See our previous blog HERE). The easy answer for “How do I get more players on to my tee sheet?” is to lower the price. But that isn’t the right answer, and it certainly doesn’t qualify as ‘marketing’. This problem gets right to the core of what you’re trying to do with your business. Are you trying to get one golfer to pay $1,000,000 for his round of golf, or a million golfers at a buck? It might sound like a drastic analogy, but it should help shape your marketing and pricing decisions going forward. Additionally, when you look at this golf discount problem from a math perspective, for every 50% offer a golf course runs, the course will need to do more than double the amount of rounds to turn a profit (due to the increased costs of servicing additional golfers). With a flat/declining supply of golfers, collecting less money and expecting more golfers to fill up that 2-for-1 promotion is unrealistic at best, and business suicide at worst.

How You Can Fix It – When it comes to the Internet and golf, those two words are often married with the word ‘discount’. From 2005, when the Internet really started to take off, the golf industry has seen the proliferation of Groupon-based, coupon-based, and discounted-barter-based business models that steer the golfer into paying less for their round of golf. But what can be done to reverse this trend? Here are a few ways that a golf course can fight back. 1. Think Value-Add Versus Straight Discount – The strategy of taking a $50 green fee and making it $25 might help in the short term, but will damage your brand and price-perception for golfers, making them less likely to ever pay the original $50 again. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to climb back out of that hole! Instead, think of how you can bundle other services to drive value to the golfer, but still maintain the $50 price point. Hotels often times do this with free breakfast or complimentary Wifi. Southwest Airlines does it with free checked bags. The golf course could use small ancillary add-ons like Food & Beverage, warm-up balls, or a 15-minute putting lesson prior to teeing off as incentives to help move lower-demand tee times. 2. Look at Variable-Pricing Versus Straight Discounting – We’re not saying how a golf course should price their tee times, but perhaps the straight weekday versus weekend and peak versus twilight rate structures aren’t cutting it any more. Historically, the twilight price break was created decades ago to help sell those tee times when you couldn’t get 18 holes in before sunset. Is that what is happening now? Weekday price breaks were created because every single American worker reported to an office from 9:00AM to 5:00PM and your demand for those times were less. Is that what is happening now? The key component of this methodology is to look at your data and make utilization-based and analytics-based decisions that will generate more revenue. If you see Thursday mid-day and Friday mid-day filling up faster (and usually by more flexible workers on their iPhones), then perhaps you can price more strategically and generate more revenue. The increased revenue can help you avoid the nefarious 2-for-1 golf, play more/pay less mentality, and non-analytic based “dumb discounting”.

How Golf Pipeline Can Help – This might seem simple, but Golf Pipeline does not discount. Ever. Golf Pipeline is unique in the world of aggregated tee time portals for a variety of reasons. We have on online marketplace that doesn’t allow for discounts, an interface that doesn’t show the golfers a perceived deal like “save X% on this tee time”, or a marketing strategy that communicates to the golfer that they should be saving money when they play golf. Other industries (hotels, restaurants, airlines, etc.) have seen disruption with this aggregated discount philosophy, and we believe that Golf Pipeline and the golf industry can do the same. There are certain consumers who want to shop based on convenience rather than price, and actually sort their buying decisions by high-to-low as opposed to what sort of deal they’re going to receive. A different marketing and technology approach can help reinvent how tee times are distributed online; and together we can make that change!

Golf Pipeline marries rack-rate distribution with the sharing and collection of player data at ALL times. This mirrors what your course strives to implement every day, and just another way that Golf Pipeline is building a sustainable model for our future. To learn more about Golf Pipeline you can watch our overview video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_qjDGUK2E) or see us at Booth #1860 down in Orlando. Until next time!

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The Seven Sins of Golf Marketing - Sin #2: Not Utilizing Data and Targeting Your Customer

We hope you enjoyed the first post in our “7 Deadly Sins of Golf Course Marketing” series. If not, you can always click HERE to check out the first sin of Not Collecting Data. So now that you have data, what exactly are you supposed to do with it? That leads us right into the golf industry’s second deadly sin…

Marketing Sin #2 – NOT UTILIZING DATA AND TARGETING YOUR CUSTOMER

The Problem – This sin is one of the easiest traps to fall in, and one of the reasons why your marketing efforts might fail to connect with golfers. Does your “come play this week” email hit a golfer who lives 1,000 miles away? Are you trying to sell special golf deals to somebody who always pays full rate and already has a tee time booked? If you treat every golfer the same, whether they’re a weekend warrior guy that plays with his buddies versus a wine-and-nine couples golfer, your message can easily fall on deaf ears. Most golf course operators are stressed and want to send out their email marketing message so it’s one less task on their list, but if you’re not careful, bad target marketing can actually COST you money.

How You Can Fix it – A remedy for this sin doesn’t take much other than some pre-planning, an analysis of your customer database, and a marketing strategy that lines up with these enhanced tactics. Here are a few quick tips that can help you utilize targeted data more effectively. 1. Relevant Messages to Relevant Targets – Think about the message and more importantly who you’re sending it to. Does this message appeal to your target golfers’ spending habits, playing habits, or overall use of your facility? If you were the golfer on the receiving end, would the message make sense to you?

2. Continuously Collect Data to Segment Your Customers – This tip is easy to say, but hard to do. The key is consistent effort throughout your organization with all employees engaging the proper database tools. Every piece of information you can collect from your golf customers is critical, including: tagging all POS sales to specific customers, collecting more meta-data about your customers’ buying patterns, using their spots of the tee sheet to narrow down their buying profile (can they play on Tuesdays? etc.). The more data you collect, the more you can segment, and the better your emails will be received.

3. Setup an Email Schedule – Proper implementation takes planning, and the “let me quickly send an email so I can do the other 100 things on my list” strategy won’t work. Plan out what emails you want to send and when. With each email, decide who the target customers are, and use your database to segment who receives the message (next week’s golf promotion only goes to golfers within a 50-mile radius that usually play on Thursday or Friday).

How Golf Pipeline Can Help – Besides helping you grow your database of golfers, Golf Pipeline collects additional information that can help you target them and communicate in a more strategic way. For the golfer who makes the reservation, Golf Pipeline passes down ALL demographic information including the email address, home address, and zip code. For the other golfers in the group who use the invitation process, Golf Pipeline passes down their email address and zip code. Now you can easily geo-target your customers based on where they live, when they play, and who they play with! This data is all part of the Golf Pipeline package and our course-centric business model.

Golf Pipeline marries rack-rate distribution with the sharing and collection of player data at ALL times. This mirrors what your course strives to implement every day, and just another way that Golf Pipeline is building a sustainable model for our future. To learn more about Golf Pipeline you can watch our overview video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_qjDGUK2E) or see us at Booth #1860 down in Orlando. Until next week!

[golfpipeline]

The Seven Sins of Golf Marketing - Sin #1: Not Collecting Golfer Data

With seven weeks left prior to the PGA Merchandise Show, rather than sending out unoriginal “Visit Us at Booth # Blah Blah Blah” emails, Golf Pipeline (the golf industry’s ONLY rack-rate tee time distribution platform) will try to rise above and break from the pack. This week we are beginning our seven-part educational email series designed to provoke analysis and inspire change in the industry we all love. The series is called “The Seven Deadly Sins of Golf Course Marketing: How You Can Fix It, and How We Can Help”. We’re excited to get the dialogue started, so let’s dive right in with Marketing Sin #1… Marketing Sin #1 – NOT COLLECTING GOLFER DATA The Problem – This sin, in our opinion, is the Achilles Heel of the golf industry when it comes to effective marketing and growing your business. There are many critical questions when it comes to golf course marketing. Who are your customers? What are they buying? How many times do they play your facility; and when? Did they leave this year to a competing facility? Do you have their valid email address so you can communicate with them? Only proper data can help you provide the answers to these vital questions. However, collecting the data to provide these answers isn’t a priority at many golf courses. Did you know, that during the last national Tee Time Reservation Test (conducted by Fore Reservations in 2012), that only FIVE PERCENT of golf courses captured an email address when a golfer booked over the phone? That is an astonishing rate of failure, especially when compared to other reservation industries. Airlines, hotels, and rental cars are all at, or near, a 100% capture rate. So what are some possible solutions? How You Can Fix It – There are a number of quick tips and ideas for helping you collect more customer data, but it starts at the top! Direction and discipline must come from the head of the organization and trickle down to every customer-engaging employee. Once you make the decision to gather as much information as you can from your customers, here are our “Top Five Ideas” you can implement right away.

1.       Scripts – The best way to eliminate the guesswork of what an employee might say to your customer is to create a script and MANDATE what they say. A script for taking a reservation, how to ask for the email address (Sir, let me confirm that reservation for you, what email address do you want your confirmation sent to?” seems to work well), how to check in a golfer and get their email address, or what to say if a golfer questions why you’re asking for their information. Take a few minutes and create the exact verbiage you will be training them to repeat to golfers.

2.       Employee Incentives – Come up with a simple plan to incentivize employees based on the data they collect. Easily tracked goals could be; a certain number of emails to get in a month from booking golfers, number of successful transactions tied to specific customers, or additional emails added from 2nd, 3rd, and 4th golfers. The incentives can be positive in nature (gift cards, team dinner, cash), or negative in nature (you get to keep your job). The point is to let employees know that their work is being tracked and benchmarked.

3.       Promotions for Data Capture – Give golfers a reason to WANT to give you their information. It can be something as simple as requiring it for over-the-phone reservations, or it can be something more promotional like “Daily Drawing for a Dozen Balls”, “Weekly Drawing for a Free Foursome”, “Monthly Drawing for a Free Membership”. We’ve seen many courses successfully implement a promotion with a survey flyer placed on the cart telling golfers to come in after their round, bring in their completed survey (which also requires their email address), and their first drink costs the score they shot that day (i.e. an 87 means an 87-cent drink). So now you have golfers giving you their information, filling out a survey about their experience, and posted up at the bar for possibly additional F&B and beverage sales. Sounds like a winner to us!  

4.       Awards Program for Data Capture – Another incentive could be an invitation to join the course’s Rewards Program offering them some percentage back on all qualifying purchases. One course even used their Fall/Winter rates as this promotion. “If you fill out this information card, you get our Card Holder Off-Season rate of $40 versus the regular rate of $65”. At that point the golfer wants the off-season rate and will do anything to get it, so handing over their demographic information won’t be a big deal. The best way to implement an awards program is through the use of a computerized system. Speaking of computerized systems…

5.       Proper Tools – Ideally your golf operation should have a computerized tee sheet, POS, and customer database software system. If all else fails and you don’t have a system, a backup plan could be to enter golfer information into Excel or a cheap tablet and start creating your email customer list. After the first email blast you send, there should be enough extra cash to pay for a basic software package. Make sure your staff is trained on where the information is to be entered and how to type quickly so the customer experience isn’t bogged down.

How Golf Pipeline Can Help – One of the guiding principles of Golf Pipeline is that we help golf courses collect data. We are the only third-party that passes down data UNCONDITIONALLY, the only third-party that helps you identify the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th golfers in the group, and the only third-party that doesn’t rely on discount gimmicks to get golfers to your course (seriously, check out all of these tee time sites that are out there…it’s all about “Low Cost”, “Last Minute”, “Save 80%” and “Play More, Pay Less”). Golf Pipeline marries rack-rate distribution with the sharing and collection of player data at ALL times. This mirrors what your course strives to implement every day, and just another way that Golf Pipeline is building a sustainable model for our future. To learn more about Golf Pipeline you can watch our overview video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN_qjDGUK2E) or see us at Booth #1860 down in Orlando. Until next week! Scott Merchant Director of Golf Course Sales [email protected]

[golfpipeline]

A Checklist for the New NGCOA CEO

So I read a great article the other day from Jason Calacanis (http://calacanis.com/2015/06/17/what-i-would-do-if-i-were-ceo-of-twitter-a-seven-part-plan/) that outlined what the unannounced CEO of Twitter should do when he or she takes the job. This got me thinking about the NGCOA, their recent trials and tribulations, and what the new CEO could do to help steer that organization back on course. No announcements have been made by the NGCOA on who the final candidates are (or even what they're looking for in a candidate), but I think there are some major challenges ahead. Here’s my checklist of what the new CEO should focus on when they arrive in Charleston…

1.       Re-establish the Value Proposition of the Association – You have to begin at the beginning. Go back to the basic mission statement of the association and decide what you want to be, and more importantly what you stand for. In my opinion, the organization isn't going to “enhance the lives of course golf owners by making their business more profitable” by sitting on the sidelines. The recent trend towards education instead of action needs to be corrected. It is extremely difficult to educate 10,000 different owners, and the current plight of golf course owners suggest that education should take a back seat to advocacy. Concrete actions that benefit the membership at large should be the priority. So what will redefine the value proposition of the NGCOA? It’s easy…the members will tell you! Listen to your members and potential members about what they want, and the issues and causes they want you to take up. The Greek philosopher Epicteus (thanks Google) said “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” I think the NGCOA should let that math guide the process when it comes to reestablishing their value proposition.

2.       Change the Financial Under-Pinning of the Association – Another difficult one (I didn’t say these were going to be easy), but the NGCOA leadership needs to look at the forest through the trees. It’s tough to make big decisions and lead the large equity-controller of the golf industry unless you've got enough gunpowder in the barrel. To me, it all starts with growing membership numbers. I mean INSANELY growing membership numbers. The goal should be to have a 95% success rate with United States golf courses. Find out who the owners are, sell them on why they should be an NGCOA member (see Item #1), and get them into an NGCOA relationship. The focus needs to be on internal execution within the walls (and people) at the NGCOA to transform into a course-sales-first mentality. If the NGCOA asks first, “Is it good for the golf courses?” and then takes action on behalf of the owners, people will gravitate to the organization and want to be a part of it. There is always strength in numbers and that mantra is especially true for the NGCOA. In this case however, there is also financial security in numbers. Knowing that you have a solid foundation of owner support, and owner financial support, to operate in the future will be key to long-term success. (Another idea to help change the financial base of the NGCOA is to possibly implement a “golf tax” but we'll shelve that idea for a future blog.)

3.       Create a TV-Rights Based Event That Benefits the Association – This is a subset of the point above, but something that deserves a shot due to the long-term ramifications. As Jim Koppenhaver outlined in the Pellucid article “Best of Times/Worst of Times,” the organizations that have TV event money are flush, and those that don't are on the outside looking in. I know this will be tricky because the PGA Tour owns TV broadcasting rights to their players, but tricky does not equal impossible. Is it feasible to bring back the now-cancelled Skins Game? Could you add a celebrity component, Tour star/LPGA star/celebrity in a 3-person alternate shot? Are there other ways to create a golf tournament “out of thin air” that has sponsorship/TV value and benefits the NGCOA? To me, it’s worth a shot to find something that can bridge the financial/TV divide and get the NGCOA on the better side of the coin.

4.       Bring all States Into the Fold – This one is so obvious I almost feel bad listing it. The new CEO must make it a priority to get all states (or clusters of states) under the NGCOA tent, leaving no state behind. To truly be a national association and speak for all golf courses, everyone must be accounted for. For those states thinking about leaving, find out what their concerns are (two ears versus one mouth) and deliver what they need. Do they want individual course autonomy to decide whether to pay national dues? Fine, give it to them. Remember the first task was to reestablish the value proposition and give members so much value as part of the national group, they would be crazy not to join. Having states leave the national organization doesn’t advance the cause. The goal is to have chapters in every state (or clusters) and have them all represented at the National Conference. Anything short of that goal is unacceptable.

5.       Get a Grip on the Third-Party Technology Issue – Yes I have a financial interest in third-party distribution with Golf Pipeline, so take everything with a big grain of salt. But this fact remains, since 2007 the general membership and the most vocal on the NGCOA List Serv have been clamoring for decisive action in the third-party tee time space. Nothing the NGCOA has done with their Best Practices and new “Guidelines” have solved the issues that owners are experiencing. So make decisive action happen. The NGCOA may not get consensus among the owners as to what the best course of ACTION might be, but there are clear steps the NGCOA can take to get off of the sidelines and into the arena. Again, find out what concerns members the most and do your best to provide solutions to their problems. To sit on the sidelines while the owners struggle and ask for help is not the mark of an effective association. And for those thinking this is all a ploy to get Golf Pipeline into some sort of NGCOA “deal”, in my opinion partnering with a company or multiple companies isn't necessarily the course of action I would recommend.

6.       Take the Lead on Grow-the-Game Initiatives – The recent collaboration with the PGA of America and getting them to endorse the new Third-Party Guidelines is a good start on what should be the next item on your mutual agenda…growing the game. We are way overdue for something like “Get Golf Ready 2.0”. To borrow a skiing analogy, if Get Golf Ready is the bunny hill, what is being done to move golfers up the mountain and eventually return to the resort? Ever since the initial push in 2010, I've been thinking to myself “now what”? The PGA and the NGCOA need to work on this next phase together. The NGCOA should lead the effort at all of their facilities and the PGA members should make sure implementation is followed through. The last key element of Get Golf Ready 2.0 should be financial tracking through the tee sheet and POS system at the course. This is paramount! If the industry can show positive results and the financial outcome of getting golfers from the bunny slopes to skiing on their own, we can help stop the decline in golfers playing the sport. The ideal model is something that engages the entrepreneurial blood of the PGA Professional (http://blog.golfpipeline.com/post/108183488304/the-death-of-the-pga-golf-professional) and incentivizes them finacially while the owner/facility gets revenue and the industry-at-large benefits from new golfers. It seems simple right? Then let’s go implement it!

7.       Partner With TopGolf in a Major Way – There is no greater force in exposing people to golf than TopGolf. Approximately 60-70% of Top Golf players do not consider themselves golfers. Their age and demographic mix is right in the wheelhouse of people we “should” be attracting to the game. It’s time to get involved with that business, support their venture, help it grow as fast and as wide as possible, and turn TopGolfers into golfer golfers. This initiative will be a separate initiative than Get Golf Ready, our new Get Golf Ready 2.0, and any other program currently available in the industry. All of the factors that appeal to TopGolf customers (fun, music, atmosphere, social, speed of play) must all be incorporated into the transition program, and the courses where they begin their transition must welcome them with open arms. Instead of 20 TopGolf facilities with no conversion programs in place, the goal should be to have 100 facilities in place by 2022, and use their millennial reach to increase golf round participation among TopGolf clients in each market. 

8.       Change the NGCOA Conference to a TED Format – This is something that I have covered before (http://blog.golfpipeline.com/post/113792424794/more-questions-than-answers-from-the-golf-industry), but the NGCOA Conference at the Golf Industry Show could use some tweaking. The conference portion should capitalize on the creative and energetic owners who are bringing innovative solutions to the industry. The educational component should cover a wide-range of topics, but focus on the issues that are most prevalent to their owners (another chance to listen to owner feedback). Videos of each presentation should be made available to NGCOA members which will continue to make the NGCOA the industry’s primary resource for valuable educational content. And while we’re updating the conference, the “Day at the Facility” branching out to non-traditional facilities would be a good tweak as well.

The NGCOA is the organization with the most to lose as golf’s deck of cards continues to get reshuffled. The PGA Tour, their leadership in Ponte Vedre, and the Tour stars will continue to thrive and fly private jets from tournament to tournament. The PGA of America has the PGA Championship, Ryder Cup, and Grand Slam of Golf to fall back on if golf participation continues to slide. And the USGA can do a Scrooge McDuck swim in ONE BILLION DOLLARS thanks to Fox and their new TV deal. But the golf course owner? Their butt is on the line, and they don’t have the luxury of a cushy fallback. The owners are the ones who have the declining revenues, stretched payrolls, and threat of bankruptcy. They operate their business with fire, and they need a CEO who has that same sort of fire…the fire of desperation and relentless pursuit that this particular business NEEDS to succeed.

To succeed and be viable in the future, the NGCOA must lead, whether they like it or not. It might be comfortable to just ‘go with the flow’ and do what they've always done, but then you'll get what you've always gotten. I hope the new CEO is a man or woman of action, and one who doesn't back down from a fight. It’s going to be a tough job and I hope they are up to the task…the industry needs them to be.

[golfpipeline]

More Questions Than Answers From the Golf Industry Show - Can the NGCOA Remain Relevant?

After spending the better part of a week down in San Antonio for the Golf Industry Show, I came away from the trade show, and more importantly the National Golf Course Owners Association Annual Conference, with more questions than answers. First let me say that I am a big proponent of the NGCOA and their mission statement “to enhance the lives of golf course owners by making their business more profitable, more efficient, better managed, and more stable”. It’s essentially my professional mission statement as well, and one I wish was supported more by the PGA of America, the USGA, and the PGA Tour. Unfortunately, the lion’s share of money in the golf industry is locked up in TV rights, and quarantined by the associations that own those tournament rights (as pointed out by Pellucid and Jim Koppenhaver in last month’s Outside The Ropes). Although the NGCOA has a smaller organization with a PGA-Tour rounding error for revenue, it doesn't make their mission less important. Their organization can and should be at the forefront of any grow-the-game efforts, major industry decisions, and business modeling of how golfers enjoy the game of golf. Unfortunately without a major TV-rights contract to support them, they are going to have to do more with less, and they must execute on everything in front of them if they expect to be relevant in the future. That’s what makes the following NGCOA and Golf Industry Show questions so important. I believe that the NGCOA can't afford to stumble as they redefine their value proposition to current and potential course-owner customers. So let’s take a look at some of the questions I had, and how the NGCOA could evolve in their responses to each of the questions.

Question #1 – What’s Going On With the Search for a New CEO? – Given the fact that Mike Hughes announced his retirement a month before the meeting, let’s assume the NGCOA was aware a few weeks or months prior to that. In addition, Mike has led the organization for 25 years, so some sort of NGCOA succession plan would have been a reasonable expectation from the owners. How will the new candidate get picked? What exactly is the NGCOA looking for from their new CEO? Is there a search firm in place? What is the timeline to announce, train, and transition the new leader? At the national meeting, there were no answers to any of those questions, and there have been no formal announcements since.

-The Solution – As Chubbs said to Happy Gilmore, “Just TAP it in”. In this case T.A.P. stands for Transparency, Action, and Plan. Use the List Serv, the NGCOA member email database, the Golf Business Magazine, and any other forms of communication to keep members updated on all steps of the process. If you’re using a search firm…great. What are their criteria? Who are the final candidates? If you have a timeline of the process…even better. Share it with your members and execute to that timeline. This will help the new CEO hit the ground running with full membership support on his or her first day of work!

Question #2 – Why Didn't the NGCOA Visit TopGolf San Antonio? – Another annual conference and golf outing, and another course tour of another management company running a high-end 18-hole facility. Sorry, but we've been there and done that. I really like the idea of touring a course and I'm glad the NGCOA has brought that into the mix, but how about we shake it up a little bit? And what better way to shake it up than with a brand new TopGolf 10 miles from downtown San Antonio. A group of us took an Uber out to visit and absorb the TopGolf experience, and man was it worth it! Millennials, families, non-golfers, serious golfers…this place had it all. In my opinion, TopGolf is the hottest lead for golf courses to snag (pardon the pun) golfers into the ecosystem, and an event out there would have been great. Learn what TopGolf is doing, examine the millennial and non-golfer behavior, and use those lessons to help convert TopGolfers to golfer-golfers.

-The Solution – Mix it up! The day at the facility is nice, but perhaps have that on the agenda every other year. Mix in something that is outside “the norm” when it comes to golf. TopGolf would've been great, but next year in San Diego presents another unique opportunity. Instead of a golf outing at a large management company facility, how about a day at the First Tee of San Diego/Pro Kids Academy? This was the very first First Tee program in the country, and this type of facility can teach the attendees a thing or two. The academy and golf course are centered in the poorest part of San Diego with some of the most at-risk kids coming through their doors. The Pro Kids staff uses golf to help elevate these kids to high school graduates, college graduates, and most importantly (tongue in cheek here), golfers! A day at THAT facility, with golf, giving free golf lessons, interacting with the students, etc. would make for a much better use of time than learning about yet another championship 18-hole course.

-Additional Solution to Shake Up the Conference – Part of the appeal of the NGCOA Conference is hearing about the successes of other innovative owners. Judging by the informative sessions I attended, along with the engaged audience give-and-take, perhaps the NGCOA expands on that concept and makes their conference more like a TED conference. People can apply to present on a bunch of different topics, and the conference runs with a variety of talented owners and operators talking about all of the hot issues of the day. The NGCOA records them all, similar to TED talks, and uses that to drive more owners to their website, and eventually to their conference.

Question #3 – What Is the NGCOA Doing With Regards to Third Parties and Their Task Force? – Yeah, yeah, yeah, people can accuse me of being a little self-serving here, so forgive me in advance and flame me later in the comments. However, I can’t be the only one who sees a problem with the NGOCA announcing a Task Force that would help find a partner in the tee time distribution space, promising “swift action”, and then glazing over another delay at the National Conference 18 months later. It’s not like the NGCOA List Serv and the tee time technology landscape has died down regarding this issue. Even if the Third Party Task Force hit a few stumbling blocks along the way, what were the stumbling blocks and how are they addressing them? What have been their findings over the first year and a half of the Task Force? What was their analysis of each of the companies they interviewed? Are they going to allow all NGCOA members to comment and give feedback on their current progress? Maybe what the Task Force feels are problems, the membership at large might feel differently. Who knows? It gets back to that “transparency and communication” issue raised in Question #1, so I'm sensing a trend here with the NGCOA. To me, it’s becoming clear that this question is tied to the CEO question raised earlier. The new CEO should be well-versed in the marketing/communication/PR fields, and knowledgeable and courageous enough to tackle this third-party issue head on.

-The Solution – Do I even need to say it? Fine, I will. The NGCOA needs to take a stand and make a decision. Remember that whole mission statement thing? Let’s use that as the guideline, along with the well-established NGCOA Best Practices. Now if only there was a technology company that had the tee sheet software interfaces, NGCOA-compliant business model, social tools, and industry momentum that could tie everything together AND help grow the game. Oh yeah, that company exists and it’s Golf Pipeline.

So with these main questions raised, I believe it raises even more. Questions like…Where is the NGCOA going? Are they going to advocate, lobby, educate, or just ‘hope’ everything works out for the industry? Are they going to lead and take action? Can the next CEO take them where they need to be? What (if anything) can be done to change the financial underpinnings so their budget isn't 1/240th of the PGA of America? I'm not saying I have all the answers, but the old Henry Ford quote comes to mind. “If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.” I think it’s time for the NGCOA to start coming up with some good answers…the golf industry needs them now more than ever!

[golfpipeline]

The Death of the PGA Golf Professional Entrepreneur

THE DEATH OF THE PGA GOLF PROFESSIONAL ENTREPRENEUR (Born 1916, Died 2015) With the upcoming PGA Show and the promotion of our entrepreneurship known as Golf Pipeline, I have had a few conversations recently with owners and PGA professionals where we talk about the large problems of the industry, what is prohibiting real grow-the-game efforts, and why has discounting become so prevalent. Some of the answers we come up with revolve around absentee ownership, the need for national organization improvements, and the changing consumer behavior/adapting society that clashes with a traditional 4 ½-hour round of golf. But one theme seems even more prevalent, and it hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. That theme is the death of the entrepreneurial golf professional and golf course operator. This “death” isn’t a recent issue as the degradation of the skin-in-the-game PGA professional and business relationship between the owner and course operator has changed over time, similar to the golf industry bleeding by 1,000 cuts. The PGA Professional of years gone by was a hell of an entrepreneur. And when you look at that historical business model, they had to be! The golf pro of yesteryear traditionally was compensated with a combination of green fee revenue, cart fees, merchandise profits, F&B revenue, basic salary, and then maybe lessons (if they had time after dealing with all of their other revenue centers). This sort of business relationship lined up the business goals of the golf course owner (revenue, profits, higher green fees, more players) with the compensation of the course operator/PGA professional, and served as the “birth” of the entrepreneurial PGA professional and golf course operator. The high-value compensation package led the PGA Professional to become a highly-motivated, long-hour-working, customer service guru who focused on the business fundamentals and made sure customers paid top dollar and were treated accordingly. There was no need to get in the discount game because that would negatively affect HIS OR HER pocketbooks. Plus the discount-seeking customer doesn't buy merchandise or additional F&B, therefore limiting the entrepreneur’s revenue even further. The pro of yesterday was well paid, but they busted their ass to make sure the golf course was successful, as that meant they also would be successful. Great idea, right? So what changed?

Today’s golf professionals and course operators are just as hard working (the long-hours and O-C shifts haven't gone anywhere), but the underpinning business model has completely flipped. And that change was implemented by one entity and one entity only…the golf course owner. My guess is the golf course owners at the end of their successful year looked at the take-home pay of the golf professional and thought “Hey, that’s a lot of money. Rather than giving Pro-A $100,000 or more for their efforts and giving away a piece of my revenue, I could pay Pro-B a flat salary MUCH less and keep the remaining savings for myself.” The owners probably thought that way because the golf course was always busy and the industry wasn't in the supply/demand tsunami that we find ourselves in today (cue the Pellucid music and Jim Koppenhaver reminding us not to shoot the messenger). So what was the result? When the business model changed from revenue-share to flat salary, the owners got exactly what they paid for; somebody in charge of the operation who wasn't motivated by the facility’s success. Whether green fee revenue went up or down wasn't their concern any more. The only entrepreneurial crumb that was left was a large portion of lesson revenue. So as a red-blooded capitalist, the PGA Golf Professional’s focus migrated over to the lesson tee while the major business received less attention. Combine that decades-long compensation shift with the over-supply/declining-demand, along with a real estate bubble that evaporated a golf course’s exit strategy, and you have the mess we're in today. Unfortunately that mess was created by the people that have all the money. You can't pin all of the problems on this one business decision, but in my opinion, it certainly adds to the mix.

Unfortunately, PGA Performance Trak and all salary/compensation metrics are new and can't go back in time to show us exactly how the business model has changed over the years, but I would be interested to see how many golf professionals have these “older style” deals where their compensation is reflected by the facility’s success. And how many of these legacy arrangements are in the public golf sector versus the private club? I challenge the PGA to include that in their next compensation survey (if it’s not being done already), and I challenge the successful courses to share their strategies with the rest of the industry. The recent trend for golf course owners and industry stakeholders is to complain about the death of the golf industry, how their course is losing money, and what they think the problems are. But before we let them voice their opinion, we should evaluate their own business and employee structure first. Like the saying goes “Point the thumb before you point the finger” which means one needs to look internally before placing blame outside. Does your course reward the top-level managers with serious skin in the game and profit sharing? Are their compensation metrics determined by average green fee increases, overall green fee revenue increases, top-line revenue growth, and customer database and email growth? Are these metrics compared with their local weather and local competition (sorry…another commercial for Pellucid)? If this isn't happening, why not? I believe that for the industry to go forward, we actually need to take a step back. Let’s look at the previous relationship of the PGA Professional being tied to the golf course business and use that as a framework to structure the compensation plan of tomorrow. Find the win-win relationship and incentivize the General Manager and Head Golf Professional accordingly. If we resurrect the PGA Entrepreneur from the dead, I bet we'll be amazed with the results.

[golfpipeline]

The Golf Course Racing to Zero

THE GOLF COURSE RACING TO ZERO

What type of golf course are you trying to be? It seems like an easy question to answer. Your course could be value-based, medium-to-high-end, the Cadillac/premiere course in your area, or a national premier course that only appeals to the world’s richest golfers. But this question gets more complicated when you bring in third-party discounters and the barter-for-discount model. You might think that you're a high-end golf course, but when golfers can find your $100 product on sale for $20, then you are actually a $20 golf course. The mind of the golfer gets conditioned to what they see online, and it’s impossible to bring that price perception back to its original value once you have begun the discounting game

For some golf courses, it appears that they are so heavily involved in the discounting world that they can't lower their price enough. Deep discounts, Groupons, 2-for-1 coupons, and last minute deals are their normal way of “marketing” and pricing their product. There’s an old saying in business that “There’s only one winner in the race to the bottom”, and with third-parties offering heavy discounts, it is helping that race go even faster. This got me to thinking, if your golf course truly is trying to be the low-cost provider, what are some steps to help you “race to zero” as fast as possible? It’s a fun exercise to think about and a scary vision for what a golf course might become.

The first thing to do is realize that your goal is to provide the bare minimum experience and do “just enough” to have commodity golfers continue to use your facility. So that starts with the condition of the course. Maintenance budgets need to be stripped down to the core (if that hasn't already happened). Salaries, turf equipment, fertilizer, and any other expense needs to be eliminated. Just enough manpower and maintenance work to make it seem like a golf course, with some barely puttable greens, and some flags in the ground. Let’s get that maintenance budget as close to zero as possible.

Next, we’ve got to reduce the customer experience to the lowest possible level. No outside staff and no need for clean carts, let’s do just enough to make sure they work. There is no need for computers tracking anything (you need to sell those on eBay), no fancy kitchen equipment (maybe a functioning hot dog machine), and certainly no expensive inventory to keep in the shop. The range balls need to be barely serviceable and that’s assuming that you have enough time to pick the range and put them back in the buckets. Sell every asset you can, reduce or eliminate every expense, and then price the product so low that the “commodity golfer” chooses your low-price facility over the competitors in the area. Every discount-seeker, Grouponer, and senior with nothing better to do will LOVE your new and “improved” course with its extremely low prices. Your course will be busy with lots of low-fee paying golfers. They may not take care of the course, or enjoy the round of golf they're playing, but who cares? They're getting it for so cheap there’s no way they can complain!  

Now ask yourself, does this sound like the sort of business you want to run? Does this sound like the sort of golf course you would want to play? Are your third-party tee time partners pricing your product like this? (Hint, yes they are!)

It’s time to expect something better. It’s time to deliver something better to your golfers. And it’s time to change the mentality about your course, and your business to the golfing customers you serve. Unless you are the low-cost “McDonald’s-type” golf course in your area, stop pricing your product like you are. Stop letting your golfers think you are. And stop letting your third-party “partners” price you like you are. 

[golfpipeline]

Discounting Golf and "Death by 1,000 Cuts"

By Scott Merchant, Founder, Director of Golf Course Sales

The following is a recent story as relayed to me by my business partner, Graham, about his experience checking in for a round of golf this summer. A few notes before we begin; first, Graham is a golf addict. He can't play enough rounds and has no problem paying for his addiction. Second, discounts aren't his thing; nice courses offering great experiences and great service are. His buying patterns go from high-to-low, not low-to-high. He does this for hotels, dinners, green fees and many other things in his life.

Graham is his real name…other names shall remain anonymous to protect the guilty. We pick the story up with Graham walking into the golf shop to pay (rack rate) for his round of golf.

Golf Shop Attendant: “Hi, are you checking in for your round of golf?”

Graham: “Yes, I’ve got the 1:08 tee time.”

Golf Shop Attendant: “Cool. It looks like you booked your tee time online. Did you book it through (Third-Party Site that shall remain nameless)?

Graham: “No, I booked it through Golf Pipeline.” (Points to the logo on his Golf Pipeline shirt)

Golf Shop Attendant: “Oh I thought you booked it through (Third-Party Site that shall remain nameless).”

Graham: “Nope, I booked it through Golf Pipeline. Here’s my credit card.”

Golf Shop Attendant: “Great thanks. Also, even though you didn't book your time through (Third-Party Site that shall remain nameless), I’m going to charge you guys the (Third-Party Site that shall remain nameless) discounted rate for today.”

Graham (concerned): “Why? I didn't ask for the (Third-Party Site that shall remain nameless) discounted rate. Is something wrong with the course? Do you guys have bad conditions or aerated greens and that’s why you're offering me the discount?”

Golf Shop Attendant: “No, the course is in great shape. We're just giving everybody the (Third-Party Site that shall remain nameless) discounted rate today.”

Graham (more concerned): “Is the pace of play slow or something? I mean it is a nice Friday afternoon and there’s lots of players out there. What’s wrong with the course where you're giving me a discount?”

Golf Shop Attendant: “Nothing’s wrong with the course and the pace of play is really good today. Everybody is just getting the (Third-Party Site that shall remain nameless) discounted rate.”

Graham (angry now): “But I don’t need the discounted rate.”

Golf Shop Attendant: “Well I'm giving it to you and your group anyway.”

Graham (sternly): “Is (golf course manager that shall remain nameless) here?”

Golf Shop Attendant: “No he’s not. Is something wrong?”

Graham: “Yes. Something is wrong.”

Graham ended up receiving a discounted rate for his group’s round of golf. To add insult to injury, Graham had a new glove in his hand that he wanted to pay for. The shop staff member didn't see it and just swiped the credit card without up-selling his group on range balls or pro shop merchandise. Rather than waiting for a re-swipe and re-sign situation to purchase the glove, Graham told the shop attendant to forget it. He signed for his now-discounted golf and went to go play, shaking his head the entire time. He walked out mumbling to himself about what just happened, and unfortunately the General Manager wasn't at the facility to talk about this situation. When Graham called me to relay the story, we both had the same question; “Is this an isolated incident or has the golf industry lost its mind with discounting?” It should also be noted that this situation had nothing to do with the third-party reseller (who shall remain nameless), and EVERYTHING to do with the golf course itself and their business decisions.   If we run the math on this particular scenario that Graham encountered, you can see what a costly mistake this discounting strategy was. Graham was paying for all four players, and the new rate per player was $21.00 cheaper. The course lost $84.00 for no reason. Also, the tee sheet had approximately 200 players on it, costing an approximate total of $4,000 in revenue on a gorgeous summer Friday in Chicago. Most golf courses I have come across could use an extra $4,000, whether it’s for capital improvements, new computers, additional maintenance items, marketing, or labor salary/incentives to help collect golfer information and upsell your existing clients. Every little bit helps! This scenario reminded me of the old saying “death by 1,000 cuts” which references a major negative change that happens slowly, and thus goes unnoticed. Is this what we're experiencing in the golf industry? To me, offering a $21.00 per player discount on a beautiful summer Friday in Chicago, for every player regardless of their buying pattern or knowledge of the discount, seems like insanity. But over the last 10 years the golf industry has been slowly discounting more and more, and discounting without segmentation (first time customers versus repeat incentives) so now this scenario seems more commonplace; and yet counterintuitive to running a profitable business.

A random discount for a player, now a random discount for a foursome, and eventually discounting the entire day, maybe the entire week, heck even the month. Along with missed opportunities to upsell each transaction (no revenue from Graham’s un-purchased glove), and the acceptance of these incremental discount practices, these are the little “cuts” that continue to happen and now seem to be unnoticed. It’s no wonder the industry revenue numbers (Pellucid) are down and so-called “experts” are forecasting the steady decline of the golf industry. These media sharks see blood in the water and offer up their opinion on where the industry is going. Unfortunately, some of that blood is from the golf course’s self-inflicted cuts. It’s time to stop the bleeding… Agree? Disagree? Please comment and let us know your thoughts.

[golfpipeline]

Sunday Stressers

By Mulligan Max.

How do you cope with stress? for some it is meditation, others it is mental visualization, mental blocks, or maybe repeating your pre-swing routine over and over and over again until you are comfortable on the tee box. I remember watching Keegan Bradley in a tournament a while back. His focus was so intense that he would spit multiple times before a shot. Later he was asked about it, and wouldn't even know he was doing it. As we get closer and closer to the season of golf, I look at how I can manage my stress levels on and off the course. 

The idea of the Sunday Stressers came from an article from the New York Times titled The Pressure Test. The article talks about how Pro's can't really prepare for the Sunday battle that they are about to begin, because if you have never had that type of stress put on you, then you can't imagine how it feels. The same for preparing for Sunday stress too. McIlroy says, "“There’s no better way for me to prepare than to be in it.” His point is that no matter where you golf or what you do to prepare for Sunday, you can't know how you will react unless you are actually in that situation.

I think of standing on the first tee on a round of 9. No matter if I am in a foursome, on my own, or a crowd is watching me, The nerves start to show immediately. I can't even imagine what I would look like if I had to tee up on a Sunday on tour! Sure things calm down as I get my head in the game, but as much as I tell myself that I am ready for that first shot, I feel that knee knock right as soon as I hit the tee box. It's hard to describe, but it's exhilarating. You are nervous but excited at the same time.

I'm surely not trying to say that I am anything like the pros, but I am just trying to understand what type of weight they are feeling on there shoulders. Reading through the Times article the authors talk about what kind of things pros do to find that mindset. From pre-shot pushups and calisthenics to caffeine consumption and raising the stakes in practice rounds, many have tried to add stress to their game but in the end you don't know until you are in that scenario. 

Golfers sure are an amazing breed of people. Coping with those high stress levels is quite amazing.To me it's similar to public speaking or turn-key athletic games today. As much as I say I am ready, I can't tell you exactly how I will feel until I am in that zone. 

Someone once told me, "Do one thing each day that scares you." Find a method that works for you to cope with those sunday stressers, not just in golf, but in everyday life and your focus will be much more fine tuned than you remember it being. Mostly, attempt to plan for it. Find out how to prepare yourself for those moment of high pressure. 

Thanks for reading and keeping up with Golf Pipeline. You can find more about the New York Times: Pressure Test article here.

[golfpipeline]

What's a Bogey Box?

Golf Pipeline is both pleased and proud to announce a great new service in golf, Bogey Box Golf. They like to call themselves a golf-discovery company, and we would definitely agree. The team at Bogey Box has set themselves up to bring you $50.00 worth of golf items featuring both up-and-coming products and well known brands at a discount.

What's the kicker and how does it work? Bogey Box Golf gives out monthly subscriptions that will bring you a Bogey Box every other month. Inside of each box is ultimately a surprise. You will find items that focus on improving both your game and your time on the course. Each Bogey Box is packed with $50.00 worth of golf gear that you'll get for a 30-35% discount (depending on your level of subscription.) Yes, they DO emphasize phenomenal retail value!

It's always hard to keep up with new products in golf and really most people just don't have the time to do it. We encourage you to check out their website www.bogeyboxgolf.com right away. Whenever you are looking for new golf ideas or even an awesome golf related gift, go to Bogey Box Golf!  

Hop on board!

[golfpipeline]

Q&A with Mulligan Max

Golf Pipeline has recently had the opportunity to have a guest blogger join the GP team. His name, Mulligan Max, and he has done a series of golfer stereotype articles and written a few other articles for us. We had the opportunity to sit down with him in a short interview to find out more about him and some of his golfing experience. 

Who Is Mulligan Max? 

I'm a golf pro in my own mind but that is actually far from the truth. I actually grew up not really knowing what golf was up until my freshman year in high school. I took lessons for a few years throughout middle school, but we usually just messed around on the range. In high school I decided that hockey wasn't enough and I needed to find a spring sport. Baseball, Tennis, and Track just couldn't spark my interest, plus I knew a hockey team mate or two that got me to go out for golf. I wasn't all that great of a golfer my first two years in school, but I sure tried hard! I would put up scores of mid to low 50's per nine. Towards the end of my junior year and into my senior year, my golf team was good, and I was slowly getting better. My scores were dropping eventually into the high to mid 40's. I was able to play alternate position when my team made it to state, and we even won it too, but the team ended up throwing out my score of 113. I had two birdies though!

How Did You get the Name? 

The name comes with my ultra aggressive swing from the tee box. My swing has always been alright, a sultry mix between that of Tiger and Jesus, but my accuracy has never been completely on point. Golfing with friends for fun in the summer months, I would take more than the occasional single breakfast ball, and people just started to call me Mulligan Max. It has a catchy ring to it, but most of all fits my golfer stereotype.  

What's Your Handicap?

Well thats a great question. And to be completely honest I don't really know. I would assume that my handicap would be somewhere between 15-25, and just to err on the safe side I will say its around a 20ish. Ever since high school I haven't played much competitive golf, and I didn't learn about score tracking until I found out about Golf Pipeline. So this year I am committed to tracking scores and establishing a real gauge of my game. 

How about your best hole? Do you remember it? 

My best hole I ever played was about 2 years ago. It was a short par 4. It was right around 340 yards and it was a slight dogleg left. There was a cross wind with me and it was quartering from right to left perfectly towards the hole. I had been playing a slight fade for the last two months so I was confident that the ball would end up quite straight. As I swung the wind picked up slightly and I actually hit a pure straight shot. The ball followed the right side of the fairway, and with the help of the wind, got pushed left towards the center of the fairway. I'm no power hitter by any means, but I somehow, either really got a hold of this ball, or there was a fat jet stream above the tree line that I couldn't see. The ball carried over 310 and rolled just shy of the green. If I had a ruler, I swear it landed dead center of the fairway. Ecstatic, I knew the hole wasn't over, and I'm no Phil Mickelson with my wedges, so I took a few moments to compose myself and then went for the pin. The ball left the wedge different than normal and I thought I hit it way too hard. Trajectory was low, but I put a little extra spin on it this time. I thought my line was way off, but the spin caused my ball to check extra hard on this hole. Once it slowed, my line looked to be dead on with the cup. At 10 feet I started to do the Tiger walk down, but as I got ahead of myself, the ball stopped just inches from the pin...Needless to say I've never had an easier birdie putt before. It was a great series of shots. I have no clue how the pros can stay that composed through 4 rounds of 18!

What is your favorite part about the sport? 

I would have to say that my favorite part about the sport would be golfing with people that are better than me. I have quite a few friends that understand the game better than I do. It has taught me to learn a lot more about the sport than I could ever learn on my own. It has taught me to appreciate the game much more too. I love watching people's approach right before they hit. The concentration is really amazing. Something I need to practice on for sure.

Do you have a most embarrassing moment on the course?

I'll embrace the fact that I am clumsy on and off the course. I've had many mishaps. I've slipped on mud, crashed a golf cart, duffed shots, duffed putts, fallen down a 5 foot ravine searching for lost golf balls (yeah, that one sucked), attempted to hit shots out of the woods that came back and hit me, 4 putted, 5 putted, taken more than 3 shots to get out of the sand, and even skipped a ball over the water, so there is no single moment that stands out, but just a lot of them added together that make me realize I'm only a golf pro in my own head. I did play from the ice once though. There was a pond that had not quite defrosted from the previous winter, and it was late March when we played. My ball hit the ice, didn't break through, and was just hanging out on the ice berg. I took off my shoes and socks, walked through two feet of water, was actually able to stand on the ice and play the shot. I hit it back into play and made a bogey on the hole. it wasn't pretty at all,but it's one of those holes I'll remember for a while. 

Do you have any final words for our fans?

Absolutely! For some golfers, especially like me, natural talent isn’t up front in your vocabulary. It takes a lot of time and effort to get better at the game, or whatever it is that you are passionate about. I personally have spent countless hours watching golf, playing golf, and trying to get better and it HAS worked for me. My swing has gotten better over the years, and my score is ever so slightly getting lower. If you have a love, like golf, don’t let the bad days get in your way. Try to learn from them. Everyone needs an escape from the real world. Hold on to that passion and always try to get better!

Thanks for taking the time to get to know Mulligan Max and keeping up with Golf Pipeline. You'll see more articles coming every month. 

#lookbookgolf

[golfpipeline]

Golfer Stereotypes Round 3

By Mulligan Max

In our next round at the Golfer Stereotype Open, the contenders are ones you see on the course quite frequently. From someone who seems to steps in your putting line every time, has to be told what to do on every hole, or the one who is a lost ball bounty hunter. These guys might provide some of the reasons you challenge the definition of common sense.

In the line-up today is Step in the line Sammy, No Focus Felix, and Lost Ball Larry. Make sure to give them a big round of applause for making it this far.

STEP IN THE LINE SAMMY Sammy is the average golfer who makes up for hooks and slices with a better than average putting stroke. He takes pride in saving strokes on the green. When Sammy's first putt does not fall however, he'll finish out on his terms (as many strokes as it takes to get that ball to drop.) The best part is his finishing touch. Sammy likes to leave his mark, if you know what I mean. He'll place his size TWELVE shoes in the line of his playing partners. If that first putt falls, Sammy gets excited and sprints to the hole. Those size TWELVES seem to make Grand Canyon size crevices in the green surface. 

Of course all that matters are the accolades for the putt and at no point does he pay any attention to the positions of his playing partners. Your only hope when playing with a "SAMMY" is that you putt first and finish. If you don't, your putt will almost certainly be affected by the canyons created by your new best playing partner. Your score will also be affected due to your multiple 3-putted greens. Moral of the story: Lets hope Sammy is putting last...

   NO FOCUS FELIX

This is the golfer who is the social butterfly in the group. He has no competitive juices, lousy equipment, and could care less what he shoots, if the round is canceled by weather, and what course the group is playing. He tells family and friends that he is a golfer when in fact everything he spouts out on the course is about his family and friends, and not about golf. He just does not comprehend why the majority of us play. It's not always cocktail party social hour. 

Ways to determine if you are golfing with a Felix; 

- He has to be constantly reminded that it is his turn to hit, his turn to putt, and to shut his 'PIE HOLE' when a playing partner is executing a shot.

- He has to be told it is not cool to start the cart motor before his playing partners are finished. 

- He needs to learn how to start and stop stories in between turns.

Felix is just a guy who enjoys the outdoors, being with friends, knowing that they will direct his every move for 9 or 18 holes. They fulfilled his goal to have NO responsibility or FOCUS on the course. But hey...he is a golfer. Moral of the Story: Felix shouldn't be on your scramble team.

  LOST BALL LARRY Golf course designers thrive on incorporating sand, water, woods, and knee high rough into their masterpieces. There are even some municipal courses that offer multiple challenges to the average player. As we all know the name of golf is COURSE MANAGEMENT, or avoiding hazards at all cost...well maybe not for Larry.  Lost ball Larry seems to be in EVERY group on EVERY course. This is the guy who, despite playing the CHEAPEST balls, is absolutely PANIC stricken when it comes to finding the ball he just hooked 30 yards into the WOODS or the one he dubbed into the fairway pond. Larry's ball has a hazard magnet inside of it's core, I swear! The water could be located 50 yards behind the green, and he'll accidentally 'skull' it into the center of the pond. Don't put it past Larry to go swimming for that sunken treasure either.

In fact, Larry forgets that he is not actually on a TREASURE HUNT but is playing a game. He has no clue that his partners are losing patience, or that there are two groups on the tee behind him. Occasionally, Larry appears from the MAN WOODS with bountiful collections of all the dirt stained Molitors, Maxflis, Condors and Top-flites. Occasionally He'll pull out a ProV1 that a club member just didn't have the time to find.  He'll emerge with  buttons bursting on his shirt and sweat dripping from his hat. He then CELEBRATES, by slicing his next shot some 50 YARDS into the opposite woods. Oh boy, another hunt is about to begin! The MORAL of this story, when Larry is in your group, NEVER let him put a SNORKEL in his bag..

Concluding this round we realize how much each and every one of these characters bring to the sport of golf and give us all something to talk and laugh about. They all help keep us accountable for our own game simply because we can't and won't play to their style. With the theme this year being "Get Better at Golf" don't be afraid to give these cats some pointers once in a while. 

Like always, Thanks for keeping up with Golf Pipeline!

[golfpipeline]

New Years Resolution: Get Better at Golf

First of all, Happy New Year from the Golf Pipeline Team! We are extremely excited to make our way into 2014. This past year has been phenomenal and we are set on making our new years resolutions stick this year too! On deck: Get better at golf. 

There are still a few cold months left as the northern snow blankets our fairways, and since we need to let Mother Nature run her course, we have to get as much out of our off season as we possibly can. Hit the gym. Shaun T and the Insanity program are great if you are looking at shedding off some of those holiday pounds. But we sincerely want you to "Get better at golf."

You can always feel free to take the Ben Crane Approach 

Otherwise here are three areas to focus on. Rotation, Core and Balance. Each exercise will help get you in better shape for the upcoming season.

Rotation.

    Why? With the proper rotational motion you can get way more distance out of your swing. 

Core. 

   Why? One of the most important areas to focus as this is where your energy transitions from lower body to upper upper body. A strong core helps that energy transition remain most efficient.

Balance. 

   Why? Solid balance is necessary to hitting consistent shots. Balance is best learned by doing things slowly, and learning the motions so that your body can get used to them time and time again. 

  Add a few of these to your workout routine. Swing your clubs to keep the motion alive. Rust builds over time and if you don't keep those joints properly oiled...well than you'll need to play catch up at the start of the season. It's like that quote from the Disney movie Brink, only for golfers, "Golf BETTER!"  Thanks for keeping up with Golf Pipeline.