Industry Data and Reports

2021 Agronomic, Marketing & Operation Trend Reports

2021 agronomic trend report

This Trend Report investigates current conditions and strategies among thought leaders on the turfgrass side of the business. Working within the Multi-Course Owner/Operator’s facilities, we prevailed upon those Top Agronomic Officers — representing nearly 1,400 courses collectively — to identify current market dynamics and suggest trend possibilities for deeper investigation.

2021 marketing trend report

Marketing executives from the Multi-Course Owner/Operator community possess a unique vantage point on industry practices and policies. In this report, you’ll learn about branding and messaging, plus innovations these leaders put in place to meet those challenges. This report is a mix of creativity, message discipline, brand reinforcement, market segments, and timely insights about all the various components of this market.

2021 operation trends report

In this Trend Report, we again turned to our Multi-Course Owner/Operator community of members — representing nearly 1,400 courses collectively — to understand their vantage point on industry practices and policies, lessons and trends, navigation and innovation. This report offers a dynamic story of creativity, management ideas and strategies, and a plan for the post-pandemic economy and society.

So, You Want to Own a Golf Course?

2021 operation trends report

Are you new to golf course ownership? Do you know someone aspiring to own his or her own course but they don't know where to start? NGCOA's comprehensive 'So, You Want to Own a Golf Course?' is everything you need to know about owning a golf business, but didn't know who to ask. Within its 50 pages are 10 chapters dissecting a wide range of disciplines across the golf business, including specific data and research from notable leaders and experts in our industry.

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Golf Industry Compensation & Benefits Report

For Single Course Owners, Multi-Course Owners/Golf Management Companies, and Resorts


The NGCOA 2020-2021 Golf Industry Compensation & Benefits Report and the NGCOA 2020-2021 Golf Industry Compensation & Benefits Report for Multi-Course Owners are important resources provided by the National Golf Course Owners Association to its members. The information contained in these valuable 50+ page reports provides compensation and benefits levels based on 650 participating facilities, and represents the most complete, accurate and up-to-date compensation data in the industry.

Using the online portal, golf course owners and operators can filter and search fields to easily compare compensation levels and benefit policies of their peers, as well as build and download custom compensation benchmarks using various criteria.

MCO (6+ courses) and top resort officer (TRO) members who provided data for the study will receive a complimentary customized electronic report from Industry Insights comparing their facilities to other MCO facilities; all MCO (6+ courses) and TRO members will receive the standard MCO version of the 2020-2021 Compensation & Benefits Report from the NGCOA.

These reports were produced by Industry Insights and sponsored by Deluxe. For more information on the reports, please contact Jay Andersen, NGCOA Director of Membership, at jandersen@ngcoa.org or 843-471-2736.

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Beware of Barter: The Ins and Outs of Trading Your Tee Times

beware of barter reportThis guide reveals data, reviews and narratives every golf course owner or operator should know about bartering tee times away for golf management software (GMS) technology, and tee time distribution services. The guide begins with a definition and discussion of barter; it then explores Calculating the Cost of Barter, Price Elasticity and Golf, Rate Integrity and Parity - Protecting Your Brand, Is the Technology Worth the Cost?, The Hospitality Handbook, and various case studies and best practices. Research included academic studies, case histories, and expert observations and analysis; the findings have developed over the years, not only through a recent member survey, but through discussions with GMS providers and Online Tee Time Agents (OTTAs), and general industry awareness. Click here to download the report.

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Latest Discussions List

  • RE: Music Licensing

    By: Steve Graves , 3 days ago
    Posted in: Advocacy Alerts

    Dawn, Our golfers are indoors and so music is critical to their experience. We use commercial version of Pandora through a network of Sonos (wireless) ...

  • RE: Music Licensing

    By: Dawn Prebula , 4 days ago
    Posted in: Advocacy Alerts

    Thanks for the feedback! ------------------------------ Dawn Prebula Slippery Rock Golf Club & Events Center Slippery Rock PA (323)906-2774 --------- ...

  • RE: Music Licensing

    By: Steve Graybill , 4 days ago
    Posted in: Advocacy Alerts

    Dawn, One option to look at would be Direct TV. We moved that direction because Of the cost of local cable prices, the music that comes with the package ...

  • RE: Music Licensing

    By: Ronnie Miles , 5 days ago
    Posted in: Advocacy Alerts

    Dawn This is a challenge many operators have encountered. Unless you have the capability to control the songs being played via your system or service ...

  • Music Licensing

    By: Dawn Prebula , 5 days ago
    Posted in: Advocacy Alerts

    In July we were approached by BMI and ASCAP to pay their licensing fees which we did. Now we have been approached by another group SESAC ( The Society ...