The average price of a tee time (across all types of facilities) has jumped 29.2% since pre-COVID.

State with the largest increase in guest fees: Idaho (+75.4%)

State with the largest decrease in guest fees: Alaska (-3.5%)

A Marketing Blunder

Next time you are having a bad day, be grateful you aren’t the marketing director at Mattel. The company apparently failed to do a quick Google search before printing its Wicked doll packaging. Instead of directing consumers to check out WickedMovie.com, the official site for Universal’s Wicked, they were directed to Wicked.com, the website for Wicked Pictures – a pornographic video company. The error will result in millions of dollars of lost doll sales and recall costs.

Investing in the Future

In the past year, America’s 14,000 golf facilities have spent about $3.1 billion in significant “discretionary” capital investments to enhance their operations (from the golf course to the clubhouse, infrastructure, technology, amenities, etc.).

Weather’s Impact

Need more evidence that weather impacts rounds played? Month of September: precipitation -73% from average in New England, rounds played +18.5%. Month of September: precipitation +67% from average in the South Atlantic (Florida, Georgia, Carolinas), rounds played -7.8 Month of September: across America as a whole, rounds played +3.8%.

New Development in Baja California

I just returned from a trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, for a meeting with Ken Jowdy, developer of Diamante (host to an upcoming PGA Tour event in a couple of weeks). To say Ken is passionate would be an understatement. His tenacity to complete his vision for Diamante is profound. His newest development within Diamante is The Legacy Club, an ultra-private golf club with a Tiger Woods Course. This will be Tiger’s third course on-property. The others are El Cardonal and The Oasis. As construction progresses on The Legacy Club, more than 200,000 dump trucks of sand will be removed to create the site.