Golf Weather Impact: June’s 9% Decline Adds Insult to May Injury
A favorite expression of my dad’s when we ran into compounding problems in life (there were few though) was, “Well, doesn’t that add insult to injury?” hence this month’s headline. June followed our May “surprise” of -6% with a 9% decline in GPH which now drags the Year-to-Date (YtD) in negative territory at -3%. Although we’re at the midway mark calendar-wise, our multi-year “norm” for rounds is 44% of total through June so we’re just shy of halfway. The YtD regional breadth metric also inverted but remains in our “neutral zone” at a 1:1 ratio comprised of 15 favorable regions vs. 22 unfavorables and 8 in the neutral zone (+/- 2%). Subscribers to either the Pellucid Publications Membership or the Geographic Weather Impact report get the 45 regional breakdowns, the 61 markets figures, the day-of-week weather impact and the Year-End National GPH forecast figure as well as our full commentary on the results every month.
National Played Rounds for May as published by Golf Datatech were -1% at the All Facilities level which would suggest a “ho-hum” month. It’s only when you add in incredibly unfavorable weather impact and look at the Utilization figure that you realize the -1% was very healthy as golfers fought off rain, heat and humidity resulting in Utilization registering 64% for the month (+3 pts) and, for the YtD, 62% (+1 pt).
A broader description of the June weather and May Utilization can be found at our website in the Featured Itemssection or you can get the full picture by subscribing to either the Pellucid Publications Membership or the Geographic Weather Impact report. Both provide the 45 regional breakdowns, the 61 markets figures, the day-of-week weather impact and the Year-End National GPH forecast figure as well as our full commentary on the results every month.
Another avenue for seeing your weather-adjusted performance is our recently-launched facility comparative performance and local market benchmarking tool, the Golf Market Research Center (GMRC). In light of recent, broad-based rounds and revenue gains, the $500 annual investment is more affordable than ever. Program participants have been able to view graphic, single page monthly trend reports for Rounds and Utilization from ’19-’23 as well as having a 7 measure KPI single page report for any month and YtD period for which they entered data. The GMRC gives you visibility to your Market Profile and, after you enter your Rounds, Golf Revenue and Peak Season GF Rate by month, to immediately see your results through our comparative reports with integrated weather impact. So how do you “get in on the action”? Glad you asked…
- You can email jim@pellucidcorp.com, to subscribe (see below for benefits) and get started by inputting your information through the current month or if you’d like to engage in the 2-wk trial
- If you’d like more information you have two options:
- Watch the 18 minute GoToWebinar recording of the program overview and a demonstration of the portal and reports (fill in your name and email and it will open the video link; you’re not signing up for anything)
- Review the 2-pg program overview
- Read the recent Outside the Ropes that illustrates, using the GMRC portfolio’s May results, the insights available using real data
Here’s the details on what you get in the current Promo:
- GMRC Market profile (golfers, supply/mix/demand balance, Utilization etc.)
- Monthly trends report (Rounds & Utilization, any month and YtD ’19-’23)
- KPI Scorecard (7 KPIs for month & YtD, single page, Year Ago comparisons)
- Cognilogic (historical facility-specific Golf Playable Hours and Capacity Rounds, normally sold as separate service at $180/yr) and
- Foresight (brand new, facility-level 60-day Capacity Rounds forecast and key weather variables used to produce it, normally sold separately at $360/yr)
- National Golf Consumer Franchise Scorecard (updated with the ’22 survey results) and commentary outlining the change in the size of the golfer base, the demographics (not as much additional diversity as advertised by the industry but expanding) and involvement levels (sold separately for $199)
- We think this package of services including GMRC at $500/yr ($450 for NGCOA members) is a great value and timely for assessing ’23’s performance and beginning your ’24 planning
Final cherry-on-top, GMRC is a product in the NGCOA SmartBuy program so there’s a member benefit (10% discount) for the annual subscription.
