Last month we took a mid-depth dive into which US golf markets, compared to CPI-measured inflation over the 10-yr period of ’16-’25, were running “hot” (well-above), pacing or lagging (room for continued increases) overall inflation. This month we’re going to take a different cut of the same data and ask the question, compared to the All Public Regulation-length (PRl) US facilities inflation rate over that same period, which of the 210 Designated Market Areas (DMAs) similarly are ahead of, pacing or trailing the cumulative US golf inflation rate over that period.
I’m having a lot of fun these days in the “AI everywhere/all the time” world in pressure-checking questions like this against the general AI engines such as Google Gemini and others to see what it produces and how it compares to our data/structure/answers so we’ll start there in this month’s missive and work our way into the “Pellucid answer” for the 104 DMAs where we have a stable sample of courses/pricing over the 10-yr period:
- “General AI” (free) fails once again, not because it’s not smart or gives up too easily but because it has limited accurate data in the public domain on which to construct its answers
- Looking at the 3 relevant Pellucid facility types (Public Regulation-length Premium, Value, Price) at the national level is a helpful perspective prior to diving down to markets
- At the market-level, our analysis produces the quantitative values and gaps to the US golf pricing inflation rate over the period allowing us to segment out the markets exceeding national golf inflation (35, caution), matching (25, stay-the-course) and trailing (44, potential continued pricing power)
This analysis has again proved that “all golf is local” and the happy medium in these types of analyses appears to be market-level which, again lacking consistent, accurate data across time, is elusive vs. national and state figures and prognostications. For our subscribers, read on for the “full Monty” while our non-subscribers pause to consider the price/value, risk/reward of joining our merry little band of progressive industry thinkers one of three ways:
- Subscribe to the comprehensive Pellucid Publications Membership for $495/yr or $45/mo (annual term), subscribers get access to the following:
- Outside the Ropes monthly digital newsletter
- Annual State of the Industry report & video (75-slide PowerPoint presentation plus online access to Jim/Stuart Orlando presentation video)
- Geographic Weather Impact Tracking (US, 45 regions, 61 markets) or Cognilogic for daily/monthly Golf Playable Hours/Capacity Rounds for individual facilities
- National Consumer Franchise Health Scorecard (expanded data and tables underlying this issue’s summary figures)
- Subscribe to OtR, 12 monthly issues for $250/yr or $25/mo (annual term), with a money-back guarantee if you’re not satisfied at any time during your subscription. Subscribers also get access to the historical archive of past issues (last two years) via the members-only section of the Pellucid website
- Subscribe to the Golf Market Research Center (for operators wanting a combination of insights and action tools) – Here’s what’s included in an annual GMRC subscription for either $500 annual or $450 for NGCOA members (or $45/mo or $41/mo respectively):
- Full suite of Performance Tracking reports – Market profile, comparative trends report and 7 KPI scorecard for any month and Year-to-Date for data provided by facility
- Facility-level Cognilogic historical weather impact portal/reports access, Golf Playable Hours & Capacity Rounds by day in current month, by months in current year and by day-of-week in current year with comparisons to Year Ago and the 10-Yr Norm
- Facility-level Foresight 60-day Capacity Rounds forecast, select forecast weather elements (hi/lo temp, daily precip etc.), variance to last year and long-term Normal. Not infallible but better than guessing or trying to collect all that yourself and organize it manually…
- Outside the Ropes monthly e-newsletter (consider this a sample of topics and treatments)
- State of the Industry Presentation, report & video (75-slide PowerPoint presentation plus online access to Jim/Stuart Orlando presentation video)
To learn more:
- Click here for 2-page program overview or
- Click here for 15-minute video demo (you do have to register to see video; don’t worry, you’re not signing up for anything)
- Click here to subscribe for a single facility
- Email us for multiple facilities or special situations
As always, samples of all our publications, reports and services are available on the Reports and Services pages of the Pellucid website.
