Conference Findings

2010 Annual Conference Insights - Coming Out of the Rough: What Your Customers Want in a Post Recession Market

More than 20 educational sessions designed to help course owners and operators better manage their facilities were presented during the NGCOA’s 2010 annual Conference. The following summarizes the session titled Coming Out of the Rough: What Your Customers Want in a Post Recession Market.

According to a Sports and Leisure Research Omnibus study completed in early January of 2010, there are reasons to believe 2010 will be stronger than 2009. However, concurrent with this welcome news is the conclusion that some fundamental belief systems and behavior have been systemically altered by the economic slowdown.

Perhaps most encouraging is a renewed vigor among golfers to tee it up with greater frequency in 2010. In the recent study, 94 percent of golfers said they expected to maintain or increase their play in 2010. “I wouldn’t necessarily take this to the bank and project a significant increase in rounds played, but our study does suggest that intent and commitment to play more golf has snapped back from where we were a year ago,” said Jon Last, president of White Plains, NY-based Sports & Leisure Research Group.

Other findings from the survey included:

• Golfers generally have higher price expectations for new equipment across all categories with the exception of putters and golf balls, which remain flat with 2009 price expectations.
• Two-thirds expect to spend as much or more on golf related purchases in the year ahead.
• More than half agreed that the year ahead will be better than the previous year. (Only a third of golfers expressed similar sentiments last summer.)
• Time constraints remain a significant challenge for golfers and a more significant barrier than the financial costs of playing the game.
• Sixty percent strongly expressed that they’d rather spend time with friends and family than with business associates. The clear implications are that golf facilities that place a premium on making golf time equate to “family time” may see greater success than those who are less inviting.

“Even those who have survived corporate purges show a tentativeness that forces lifestyle choices,” Last said. ”Golfers may want to get back in the game, but this new normal may ultimately slow down their actual march back into the fairway.”