ORLANDO, Fla. (April 7, 2010) – Golf participation got off to a rocky and in many parts of the U.S. a snowy start this year, but courses using Golf Channel’s GolfNow.com online tee time booking service prove not everyone is suffering. Overall, rounds booked online were up 11.4 percent and revenues increased 10.6 percent in the first quarter at courses employing the GolfNow.com service.
GolfNow.com member courses in five of seven geographic regions reported year-over-year increases in rounds and revenues for the first three months of the year. Courses in the Southeast led the way with triple-digit growth in both rounds and revenues. Rounds and revenues were up 19.6 percent and 25.5 percent, respectively, in the East and increased 17.1 percent and 20.4 percent, respectively, in the Southern California region.
“We’re tapping into a huge database with a system that allows us to maintain control of our tee sheet, protect our rates and sell our dead inventory at a fair price,” said Anthony Holder, PGA head golf professional at The Westin Mission Hills Resort & Spa, one of nearly 2,000 courses that use the GolfNow.com service.
Holder attributed approximately 700 incremental rounds (a 261 percent increase) in the first quarter at the Rancho Mirage, Calif., resort to the GolfNow.com booking service, which interfaces with hundreds of other partner websites to increase course exposure.
“Our customers are changing; most of them are very comfortable booking their own tee times online because that’s what our culture is teaching us to do. As golf professionals, we have to change with the times,” said Holder, who called the GolfNow.com service “the future of the golf business.”
Many of the GolfNow.com participants’ results were in stark contrast to the slow start a number of courses are experiencing in 2010. With golf playable hours down significantly because of bad weather in many parts of the country, rounds played declined 22.3 percent and revenues were down 18.2 percent through February compared to the same period a year ago, according the latest report from PerformanceTrak in Cooperation with NGCOA.
“Unfavorable weather hurts everybody, but savvy marketers used GolfNow.com to capitalize on good-weather days and maximize their tee sheets,” said Gene Pizzolato, chief operating officer for Golf Channel New Media Ventures, a division of Golf Channel that works to increase revenues for its partners through online relationship marketing. “They’re taking an aggressive as opposed to a passive approach to their business.”
About GolfNow.com
GolfNow.com is the Internet’s largest and most comprehensive online tee time booking service. Since the launch of the service in 2001, GolfNow.com has expanded to more than 50 U.S. markets and now provides tee time access to nearly 2,000 courses for almost 1 million registered users. The site’s demand-based Dynamic Pricing Engine™ puts operators in complete control of their tee sheets and pricing. GolfNow.com is supported by the power of Golf Channel, which is seen in 821 million homes and by 15 million monthly viewers; as well as by GolfChannel.com, the Internet’s No. 1 golf destination. The service is part of GolfChannel.com’s online platform of Internet sites designed to help the recreational player enjoy every aspect of the game.
Contact:
Dan Higgins
407-355-4018
dhiggins@golfchannel.com
Bill Bryant
Bryant Marketing Communications
bbryant@bryantmarcomm.com
678-366-3232
Brian Kemp
Golf Channel Solutions
bkemp@golfchannel.com
407-355-4288
