By David Gould, Global Golf Post/Biz
Navigating current business conditions and stepping back to plan seriously for the years ahead are distinct challenges for any company. The core COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021 were a point in time when golf companies were best off staying in the present, hoping to thrive under strangely conducive circumstances.
But there’s a good chance that COVID-19 has ceased to be the absolute disruptor of commercial and societal life it once was. Deciding now to step back, look long-range and decide on strategies for the remainder of the 2020s seems pretty reasonable. Besides, projecting and crystal ball-gazing is more enjoyable than sanitizing every surface in sight or hanging lucite dividers all over the place.
Of course, peering into the future is a wide-ranging activity and difficult to do in a finite manner. One way around that problem, in an industry such as golf, is to confine the exercise to a single organization – but definitely one that is large, influential and innovative. It is hard to think of a candidate that would qualify for that role more than Troon, with its 11 business units, its 30,000 employees and its 665 golf courses under management.
We asked Troon sales and marketing vice president Dolf May to run point on this endeavor, entertaining a series of questions and drawing upon the expertise and imagination of his colleagues, as well as his own. Here are the six questions we posed, followed by the responses May provided:
Is golf “normalizing” its way toward a future in which the participation rate advances well beyond the historic numbers of 9 to 11 percent? If so, would that be due to the expansion of “golf entertainment,” and the comfortable entry point it provides?
Golf continues to increase in popularity as it becomes easier to participate. New golfers are being introduced to the game at golf entertainment complexes across the country such as Topgolf, PopStroke and similar concepts. In addition, resorts and existing golf facilities are adding putting courses and short courses to make it easier for beginners to take part. Seasoned golfers are also enjoying the increase in putting and short courses, as they can be played in usually half the time as a full-length course. Golf fashion has also become more mainstream. Brands such as Bad Birdie have become popular with golfers and non-golfers alike.
Where does that leave Troon, as a potential player in the golf entertainment sub-category?
Troon currently manages two golf entertainment complexes, with two more in development.
Consolidation in the ownership and management of U.S. golf courses has been a trend to watch for decades. Is there some “natural” or “rational” level of independent versus “chain-operated” greengrass golf facilities?
Today there are 200-plus multi-course operators specializing in everything from full club management to agronomy services to consultative work, and the list goes on. The trends over the past decade are evidence that more and more clubs are not happy with the self-managed status quo and are looking to an advanced professional management-operating model to secure a more sustainable future. Troon is built to support all types of clients, with all types of needs, in all types of locations. Given our talent and our resource-rich operating platform, we’re able to provide actionable solutions for any type of issues a client may face. We feel this ultimately allows for better business decisions.
Overbuilding of courses was partly due to the golf-community phenomenon, which served a demand for fairway-view homes among aging boomers, though less so among the generations that followed. COVID’s effect included a resurgence in real estate values in a lot of those developments. Seeing inventories go way down and home prices jump, you could ask yourself whether the dormant practice of building golf real estate might actually come back. Any chance it will, in your view?
I’m not a real estate expert, but we’re certainly seeing more planned golf communities on the drawing board. How quickly those get off the ground is to be determined. A key difference between these in-planning golf communities and the developments built in the 1990s and early 2000s is the amenity package. The new planned communities have a host of other non-golf amenities for residents to enjoy, everything from waterparks and pickleball courts to fitness facilities and casual, family-friendly dining options. Our company is a resource for this sector. Founded in the early ’90s as a golf management company, Troon is now a hospitality company providing strategic solutions for properties and communities with golf as well as non-golf assets.
On a societal level, lifestyle paths that are widely aspirational, such as home ownership and having multiple children, have taken a hit among people 25 to 40. That’s based on long-term affordability trends, among other factors. Is being a golfer and playing the game for a lifetime a lifestyle aspiration that could actually gain traction, given that it’s got a high status factor and is potentially very fulfilling, at cost levels that are relatively within reach?
One of the many wonderful things about golf, as you mention, is that it can be enjoyed for a lifetime, and the setting can be a local municipal course, a neighborhood golf course, a resort course, a country club or a golf entertainment venue such as Topgolf.
Finally, a cultural question about tradition versus the newer norms: Dress codes? Presence of music on ranges and on-course? Desire to walk versus ride? Incursion of recreational substances into the golf scene? LGBTQ+ trends within the golf landscape? We’ve been asking you to look out five to 10 years, so some of the factors just mentioned may be relevant to talk about within those time windows, while others may not, in your view. Please respond using your personal sense of whether these cultural trends and shifts seem near enough at hand to be talked about productively.
It’s safe to say the golf industry has not always reflected the diversity of our broader society, and as industry leaders, Troon is taking action to change that. Dress codes at Troon-managed facilities have been relaxed, playing music (at a responsible level) while on the course is allowed and walking while playing is encouraged (whenever possible). The key is to make the sport more fun, less stodgy and more accessible for all. Troon is committed to providing places of work and play in which all persons feel welcomed and valued.