HEATHROW, FL – Golfers who take part in a coaching or training program spend more time at their chosen golf facility and spend more money there, versus golfers who aren’t involved.
That’s the central premise of the Business Value of Golf Instruction, a.k.a. BVGI, and there’s growing data to back it up. Some of that data is generated by Proponent Group, which coined the phrase and its abbreviation. Some is provided to Proponent by various industry sources, whereupon it is collated and published in regularly updated papers and presentations.
A phase of the project called BVGI 2.0 is currently underway, as interest in the topic grows and more organizations get involved in tracking the behavior of golfers who get a certain number of “touches” from professional instructors.
“Golfer-tracking procedures throughout the Invited Clubs network of private facilities are integral to BVGI evidence-compiling, based on that company’s leadership in this effort,” says Proponent Group president Lorin Anderson. “Studies at a dozen or so other facilities have likewise contributed, using the POS function to flag instruction-program participants and track their behavior.”
A strategy followed at Invited (formerly ClubCorp) with their consultants at Retail Tribe, is built on staff pros connecting with golfers—in this case, all private-club members—using a “care group” structure and protocols. In this model, the golf professional is compensated, in some cases handsomely, according to various behaviors the golfers in the pod exhibit. We’re talking about frequency of visits, participation in events, spend-per-visit, moving up in member class, re-upping each year, providing new-member referrals and the like. So-called at-risk members are the first to be placed in these care groups. It all seems like an idea whose time has come.
“References to BVGI have shown up with increasing frequency, industry-wide,” Anderson says. A data-rich report published this year by the prestigious Gather Company (“White Paper No. 12: What’s the True Value of Golf Instructors”) is a notable example. BVGI, as a premise and a term of art, is mentioned prominently in the consultancy’s 29-page document.
Likewise, in the March 2025 issue of PGA Magazine, an article on the Coach Performance Review tool that is part of the PGA Coach platform described advice dispensed at the 2025 PGA Teaching and Coaching Summit. It discussed how to “determine the areas that are most important to [the coach’s] facility type, then easily enter data from smartphones or tablets to create a Business Value of Golf Instruction (BVGI) report.” This exercise, the article said, would“show the value of [coaches’] businesses to their stakeholders.”
A Proponent Group presentation summarizing BVGI 2.0, which was presented live at the January PGA Show, is available for viewing by industry professionals. To access it click here.
About Proponent Group
Proponent Group is the only organization solely focused on helping golf’s dedicated, full-time instructors grow their businesses and build their careers. Founded in 2007, Proponent Group recognizes that even accomplished teaching professionals need a unique array of professional services to build their teaching brand, create job security and grow compensation. For more information about how Proponent Group has benefited more than 1,400 instructors worldwide, visit proponent-group.com.
