Everyone else is blogging about Tiger Woods’ and Phil Mickelson’s collapse this weekend. I am going to change gears. I read an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal this weekend. It is about the impact this summer’s weather has had on golf courses. Pretty interesting read. A few courses have had to shut down completely.
Who is to blame? According to this article….well…..everyone has a little blame.
The golf industry continues to look for ways to attract more golfers to the sport. Over the years programs such as U.S. Kids Golf and the First Tee have been established to teach our youth the game of golf. Our golf industry leaders continue to emphasize the importance of getting kids involved in the game of golf as today’s kids are the lifeline to growing the game of golf throughout the world.
So what can be done to attact more and more kids to the game? As we all know, in order to maintain the interest of kids, they need to first and foremost have fun. Now, if taking them out to golf on a traditional par 72 golf course is to be considered fun, think again. For kids, golf needs to be “easy” as well as fun. For a kid, a par 3 hole at 120+ yards over the hazards just does not equate to fun and ease! A 6,679 yard course is way too much of a challenge for a kid to really expect them to get hooked on the game. So, what’s the alternative? How about this little par 3 gem of a course….Boyne Rapids Adventure Golf Course in Boyne City, Michigan.
The folks at Boyne Rapids have designed a “pint” size course that is perfect for our future golfers. This course is all of 701 yards long with all the traditional features of a regulation course except for the hole distances. With its well-maintained Blue Grass tees and fairways and Bent Grass greens, the longest hole is only 95 yards and shortest two are 12 yards each! Imagine, your little one being able to par a hole or two! Now, that would get them hooked on the game. Remember, kids want fun and ease as well as a sense of accomplishment.
Perhaps short par 3 courses populated all over the world is the answer to get our kids getting hooked on golf. Not only will it hook the kids but might very well hook the adults too…..imagine, playing 18 holes in an hour and a half versus the traditional four or four and a half…. sounds pretty enticing to me!
Posted by Marilyn Harris
China is becoming a golf mecca in its own right and is now positioned to experience a 50% growth rate over the next 10 years. China is now in their 26th year of developing golf as a sport; all in all, still in the infancy stages of growing the game. There are currently approximately 4 million golfers in China and about 400 golf clubs. Each year they experience about 50% growth in golf. With those numbers, it is projected that China will overtake the United States with the largest population of golfers by 2020!
The average greens fees in China are between $150 to $200 a round. One of the neat things that the Chinese can do is go golfing anytime of day or night. Yep, that’s right….at night. The last tee time being midnight; therefore allowing one to golf until 2 in the morning! This certainly caters to those night owls out there and all those folks that work all day and want to play a round on a nice evening.
When it comes to player expectations…. for the Chinese culture, service and hospitality are in the forefront. A lesson our American culture should certainly take more to heart! As the United States continues to look for ways to grow the game of golf through junior programs, the We Are Golf efforts, special women initiatives, family golf events, and creative pricing options, we might think about the roots of the game and refocus efforts on the core values that made this sport so special. Remembering that exceptional customer service throughout the entire golf experience is what keeps bringing that golfer back time and time again.
The game of golf is an addictive sport and one that many truly enjoy. It creates character and integrity and offers unique challenges all with a nice walk in the park. Let’s all take a few lessons from the Chinese culture on service and hospitality and work on our own turf to grow the game of golf as well!
Posted by Marilyn Harris
If you’re looking to increase the number of rounds of golf at your golf facility, you may want to take a few tips from the Wall Street Journal and give your facility more “female appeal”. According to WSJ, women have a high level of standard expectations of the golfing facility where they choose to golf….. “course operators vastly underestimate the significance to women of top-notch conditions, speed of play and the length of holes. They also tend to trivialize concerns such as having adequate drinking water and clean bathrooms on the course, clear directional signage and tee markers, well-stocked women’s merchandise sections in the pro shop and a friendly, welcoming staff attuned to women’s needs.”
Research studies show that women are actually willing to pay a premium for this “ideal golfing universe”; yes, they are willing to pay 8% to 15% more for these course amentities and services. So why is this round generating opportunity overlooked or worse yet, dismissed by golf facilities throughout the country? Is is because of the stigma that golf is a good old boys sport and that the good old boys’ standards are no equal match for that of our women? Or, is it because the course designs have always catered to longer holes…hence, the male population? Why not incorporate into the design of the course, forward tees that provide an enjoyable, yet challenging, opportuntiy for the ladies to have a “good” hole? No guys, it’s not just as simple as putting a tee box in the middle of the fairway…..it’s creating the right distance while incorporating interest and challenge for that women population. From a skill challenge this would be a great feather in your cap! Then add a few niceties and you may very well be onto driving more women to your golf course.
Women’s golf has only grown by 1% over the past 30 years. Perhaps it’s time to make a change and create an enviroment that drives more women golfers your way……p.s. don’t forget the clean bathrooms and flowers!
Posted by Marilyn Harris
When this story first broke, it was the talk of the moment. No different than Dave Letterman a couple months back. Now most of us are saying Dave who????
Tiger’s transgressions. So now, we have all Googled transgressions to figure out what it means. And then we put two and two together and realized, he didn’t say transgression. He said transgressions – plural.
If there was one transgression while Tiger has been married over the past five years, that was more than likely forgivable. We Americans forgive virtually anything and everything. In fact, I felt the day after the story broke, had there been only one, everything would have been the same in a couple months. Tiger would be back on the course, winning tournaments. Maybe divorced, maybe not. But it wasn’t going to affect the golf world a whole heck of a lot.
Fast forward a week or so. Now we have the plural of transgression with no end in sight.
Here is the question. What impact does this have on the golf industry? And I am talking about the economic impact. Tiger has made a lot of people very rich since he came on the scene. The total purse for the Masters Tournament in 1997 was $2.7 million. He won that year earning $486k. This year Angel Carbera won earning $1.35 mil. Do you think Angel Cabrera would have had the opportunity to earn that amount of money had it not been for Tiger Woods? I don’t. Tiger’s impact on his fellow golfer’s pocket books has been huge. What happens now? Will Tiger come back strong – mind over matter – like he always has? Or will he fade away and impact his fellow golfers in a different way? Viewership is down when Tiger is not around. Galleries are lighter when Tiger is not around. That means money flowing away from golf.
Mike Greenberg of ESPN used the word “sad” to describe the Tiger Woods situation this morning. I agree. But I can’t help to think that the business revolved around golf is going to be sad too.
Submitted by Rod Snyder
I caught this article in the Wall Street Journal and thought it was interesting. The WSJ titled it Cash for Clubbers and you can access it here or just read the version below:
We thought cash for clunkers was the ultimate waste of taxpayer money, but as usual we were too optimistic. Thanks to the federal tax credit to buy high-mileage cars that was part of President Obama’s stimulus plan, Uncle Sam is now paying Americans to buy that great necessity of modern life, the golf cart.
The federal credit provides from $4,200 to $5,500 for the purchase of an electric vehicle, and when it is combined with similar incentive plans in many states the tax credits can pay for nearly the entire cost of a golf cart. Even in states that don’t have their own tax rebate plans, the federal credit is generous enough to pay for half or even two-thirds of the average sticker price of a cart, which is typically in the range of $8,000 to $10,000. “The purchase of some models could be absolutely free,” Roger Gaddis of Ada Electric Cars in Oklahoma said earlier this year. “Is that about the coolest thing you’ve ever heard?”
The golf-cart boom has followed an IRS ruling that golf carts qualify for the electric-car credit as long as they are also road worthy. These qualifying golf carts are essentially the same as normal golf carts save for adding some safety features, such as side and rearview mirrors and three-point seat belts.
Obviously, I’m a fan of golf and of saving our environment but really…free golf carts in the name of “going green”? Somebody in the Administration actually thought this was a good idea?? Another perfectly run Government program……
Post by Michele Minten
Tiger not only has phenomenal talent on the golf course but has the earnings to show for it. Tiger just won his second career FedEx Cup title with prize money of $10 million dollars. According to Forbes.com, Tiger’s 2009 earnings pushed him over the billion dollar mark for career earnings. More importantly, Forbes is branding Tiger to be the first “athlete” to reach this status in career earnings. One could debate whether or not other almost billion dollar athletic notables, Michael Schumacher included, should truly fall into the category of athlete. So should race car driving really be considered an athletic sport? We’ll let you be the judge on that one.
Needless to say, hats off to Tiger for attaining the ultimate billion dollar earnings mark! Tiger has built his financial empire over the years. Not one but two… his playing empire and his non-playing empire. Tiger is not only savvy on the golf course with 71 PGA career championships but equally as talented within his business empire. For eight consecutive years Tiger has been the highest earning athlete. In 2002 he struck his endorsement deal with Nike. It is reported that Tiger earns $30 million a year for this partnership, which in turn has been extremely profitable for Nike as well with their $800 million golf business. Tiger also maintains endorsement contracts with PepsiCo and AT&T to name a few. He’s ventured into a likely profession designing golf courses with three courses currently under development: Al Ruwaya in Dubai, The Cliffs at High Carolina in Ashville, North Carolina, and Punta Brava in Ensenada, Mexico. He earns an estimated $10 million per project. With all the various venues Tiger has for earnings potential, it’s a wonder he did not achieve the billion dollar mark sooner.
Keep in mind, Tiger is only 33! If he continues at this rate, he’s sure to reach the billion dollar mark many times over. He has about 16 years left to potentially play on the PGA Tour and then could likely move to the Senior Tour at the age of 50. Do the math folks… there’s a lot of earnings potential between 2009 and Senior Tour retirement!
Posted by Marilyn Harris
It’s not just the LPGA tour that is feeling the hurt of the economic downturn; the PGA is starting to feel the crunch as well. The impact of the recent court ordered General Motors restructing is not limited to the auto industry; Buick announced on Tuesday that it will end it’s 50 year history of PGA tour sponsorship.
Buick sponsors two of golf fan’s must watch tournament events on the PGA circuit: the Buick Open in Grand Blanc, Michigan and the Buick Invitational at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California. Both are big money-makers for the PGA, due in large part to the presence of Tiger Woods, Buick’s favorite spokesperson until his official endorsement deal with the car giant ended last November at the beginning of the auto crisis. The cancellation of tournaments is not new to the troubled automaker; Buick once had its name on four PGA events: the Buick Classic in New York, the Buick Challenge in Georgia, the Buick Open and the Buick Invitational. It also took over the Buick Championship in Connecticut for three years after its Georgia event folded.
The PGA Tour now has lost four title sponsors this year — Buick’s two events, U.S. Bank in Milwaukee and Stanford Financial in Memphis, which was played in June without a sponsor.
On a good note, though, the PGA has extended contracts with Zurich, Accenture and Travelers through 2014, and found a new title sponsor in SBS , which has signed up through 2020.
At least 10 other tournaments have title sponsorships that expire after 2010. It will be interesting to see how many of those sponsors are retained.
Post by Michele Minten
Struggling General Motors has had its fair share of publicity lately; today they announced a new bail out plan. They are opting out of their sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods after nine years of partnership and with one year left on his contract. Obviously the deal will save GM the annual $7 million it was paying Tiger; it’s nice to see that at least this auto company is looking for ways to conserve cash. The PR machine is saying Tiger will now have more quality time with his family (and now he can drive a car he actually WANTS to drive).
What kind of impact do you think this will have on GM; they might save the upfront money but will it cost them anything in exposure and long term sales? I read the average Buick driver is 65 years and older; is losing Tiger going to impact GM’s ability to get sales from a younger, hipper market? And, what kind of impact does this have on the golf industry? Is Tiger less bankable since his knee injury?
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