The primary question that we get asked these days, as respected industry analysts, is “When will the current growth cycle end and how will we know it?” If we had the definitive answer to that, we’d be out making bank on Kalshi. That said, what one needs to track and call a cycle “top” is frequent, consistent, reliable information and that is in short supply in the golf industry. We established the Golf Market Research Center (GMRC) to collect and harness what we believe are the leading indicators which we’re calling “The Essential 8”.
Below is the August scorecard (relatively flat between puts and calls) providing guidance on what metrics are slowing down and how they’re related:
Our Pellucid Publications subscribers and Golf Market Research Center (GMRC) participants have already seen the above scorecard, with the values inserted, for both the month and Year-to-Date for the 8 KPIs. For the rest of golf’s stakeholders, two options exist to have that monthly visibility for the current and future months:
- Non-course owner/operators – subscribe to Pellucid Publications-National and receive:
- State of the Industry presentation (annual)
- Nat’l/Reg’l/Mkts weather impact tracker (monthly)
- Outside the Ropes digital newsletter (monthly)
- Essential 8 KPIs scorecard (monthly)
- US Golf Markets Strength Score and Ranking (annual, all 210 US DMAs)
- Course owner/operators – subscribe to GMRC, submit your “3 numbers” monthly (Rounds, Golf Revenue, Peak WE GF) and receive:
- Monthly trend analysis of % Utilization
- Facility-based Golf Playable Hours (daily update, historical & 60-day fcst)
- 8 KPI scorecard for your individual facility vs. year ago
- 9 KPI scorecard for GMRC portfolio & reporting markets (24 currently)
- State of the Industry presentation (annual)
- Local Market Analysis workbook, customized draw area (7 reports, 100+ facts)
- Outside the Ropes digital newsletter (monthly
- Essential 8 KPIs scorecard (monthly)
At <$500/yr (annual, monthly options available at slightly higher rate) for the 35 monthly and 3 annual reports (State of the Industry, US Golf Markets Strength Ranking, Golf Consumer Profile), that comes down to ~$13 per deliverable (compare that to any other subscription or membership you currently buy). Our subscribers tell us that understanding industry performance and trends shapes their local and individual business thinking as well as judging their comparative performance. While we don’t (yet) have perfect knowledge on where and when the current “top” will be (or has been) reached, our subscribers will know it before any of the industry veterans solely relying on “instinct or experience” do.
