Hello golf stakeholders:
September weather and the rounds/revenue preview by our Golf Market Research Center (GMRC) subscribers are now in and we got the hoped-for “return to normalcy” on the weather front (+3% vs. August’s -12% anomaly) and positive metrics on the majority of our 5 core KPIs. Net, the party continues for the golf operations sector of our industry.
Contributing Editor Stuart Lindsay headlines this month outlining our continuing pursuit to raise the bar on the breadth and accuracy of industry performance tracking measures tying them to real-life examples in recent engagements where they were critical to getting the right/best answer. The days of industry veterans and trade associations making generalizations about market conditions, financial health of operators, pricing dynamics etc. based on their historical experience and collective opinions are numbered as the data and tools to more easily extract quantitative answers grow with each passing month. We know because we’re at the vanguard of or tied into nearly every one of those developments as curious, diligent analysts.
Publisher Jim K. plays supporting cast with his gaze into Pellucid’s crystal ball regarding where we’ll land for the year on Rounds and whether we’ll eclipse the modern-era (since ’00 when Golf Datatech ushered in facility-reported rounds vs. NGF’s consumer survey-based projections pre-’00) record for demand. He’ll also illustrate that, using the weather-adjusted demand metric of % Utilization, we’ve already eclipsed the previous record and are on track to set yet another high-water mark in ’23.
See below for the headlines to each of our recurring sections from the regional September weather impact map to Comings & Goings (always entertaining commentary). Due to the continuing monthly diligence of our GMRC subscribers, we’ve already compiled the September rounds “preview” and it suggests that we’ll beat the modest weather favorability while Golf Revenue tracks with the general economy of consumers continuing to spend relatively freely, even in the face of inflationary pressures. If you want to know those numbers on a regular basis, you can either participate in GMRC (course operators) or sign up for a Publications Membership (everyone else).
FACILITY PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT
2) BetterToolsandDataMeanFewerAnswersLeft “Blowin’ in the Wind”, By Stuart Lindsay
’23 YEAR-END OUTLOOK
7) Potential 520M Rounds record year is possible, By Jim Koppenhaver
COMINGS & GOINGS
10) 15 Activities, Transactions continue healthy pace with 10
WEATHER IMPACT
14) Favorable September keeps Year-to-Date in positive territory
BY-THE-NUMBERS
16) Utilization Surges as Rounds Refuse to Yield to Wilted Weather
MARKET FOCUS
18) For Tampa, at #22, leveraging healthy golfer base is key to breaking Top 20 barrier
We recognize and thank our sponsors; Troon Golf, GOLFNOW, KemperSports and Club Caddie for their continued support of intelligent dialogue on key industry issues and health metrics tracking. For all those service providers and suppliers to the golf industry out there with the latest-and-greatest to offer our industry thought-leaders audience, might we suggest considering joining our merry little band through our most popular/best value 12-month sponsorship program? Twelve-month sponsors also receive all Pellucid industry-standard reports (State of the Industry, Outside the Ropes and Monthly Weather Impact Tracking (Nat’l, Reg’l, Markets)). Sponsorship provides monthly exposure to approximately 30K industry leaders and followers and associates your brand with Pellucid’s effort to expand intelligent thinking on today’s most challenging industry issues. For more “opportunistic” spenders, may we suggest one of our smaller-bite Ad Partner programs for those who may not be able to make a 6 or 12-month commitment (as short as 3 months are now available) or who may not need a half page or more exposure (quarter pages now available).
If you’re interested in knowing more about sponsorship opportunities or our ad partner options, contact Publisher Jim Koppenhaver (847) 612-6717, jim@pellucidcorp.com).
If you know of associates who would benefit from the topics and insights covered in this issue, feel free to forward this email and encourage them to register on the Pellucid website (http://www.pellucidcorp.com/news/elist) to join the discussion and healthy debate.
Finally, we’re excited to announce the debut of Pellucid’s Golf Local Market Analysis as an online, on-demand report. See Stuart’s article regarding one valuable use for the 10-dimensional report of the location of your choice (your golf course + 3 draw areas such as 15, 25, 30 minute drivetime) as it relates to understanding your demographics and shifts since the ’10 Census. Just in time for ’24 planning, you can now go online here, fill out the order form (facility name, your choice of 3 draw areas and which reports you want (we recommend all 7 views), provide your payment information and you’ll have your report via an email link in less than 10 minutes later. Using the above link you can also get a free sample report if you want to know what you’d be getting. Back in ’01 this was a week’s effort costing $1K+ and generally involving a market visit. Now it’s more robust (demographics, golfers history, rounds history, supply level/mix, average velocity and % Utilization) and delivered online in minutes for less than half the investment ($450); what a country! We’ll also discuss the results (30 mins) with everyone who orders and wants some perspective and color commentary.
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