Often golf course management considers when a guest completes a vacation or becomes a member that it closes the book on their responsibilities. I would like you to encourage your staff to consider the relationship like a marriage. While the wedding ceremony may have been a “smash hit,” the real work on maintaining a bond is just beginning.
Courtesy from the National Golf Foundation
Non-golfer perceptions of golf who already expressed an unfavorable viewpoint:
2013: 57% unfavorable viewpoint
2022: 37% unfavorable viewpoint
To have a 20% decrease – in a span of a decade – of those with an unfavorable view of golf is quite incredible and a catalyst to future growth.
Crisis Management
We all are watching the tragic and horrific developments on Maui with sadness in our hearts. The State of Hawaii’s siren warning system is the largest in the world with more than 80 alarm towers on Maui and 400+ across all islands. Unfortunately, with such chaotic circumstances and the quick movement of flames, the warning system remained offline. Now would be a good time to review with your management team emergency plans you have in place. Just having the plan on paper is unlikely to be effective if you only have minutes to react.
Encouraging News
How are rounds played in 2023 trending? Rounds played across the U.S. are only 1% behind the record year of 2021…and up more than 5% compared to this time last year.
Affordability
U.S. News & World Report evaluated the 150 largest metropolitan areas in America assigning an overall retirement score for each city based in six factors:
(1) Housing affordability
(2) Desirability
(3) Happiness
(4) Quality of health care
(5) Retiree taxes
(6) Job market
Although I disagree…and you might too…here are the top 10 scoring cities. I imagine if weather/climate was included, the list would look dramatically different.
(1) Lancaster, PA
(2) Harrisburg, PA
(3) Pensacola, FL
(4) Tampa, FL
(5) York, PA
(6) Naples, FL
(7) Daytona Beach, FL
(8) Ann Arbor, MI
(9) Allentown, PA
(10) Reading, PA