As seen in Golf Business November/December 2021 By Jay Karen, NGCOA CEO For an industry with a reputation for resisting change, it’s hard not to get whiplash trying to keep up with everything that is actually changing. Or, at least on the precipice of great change. There is something in...
As seen in Golf Business September/October 2021 By Jay Karen, NGCOA CEO I understand there is a labor shortage in the service and hospitality industries across the United States, including many golf courses. While I don’t think my idea will in any way solve the macro problem, I’d like to...
As seen in Golf Business July/August 2021 By Jay Karen, NGCOA CEO DoorDash. Amazon. Blue Apron. You name it. These companies, and more, have built businesses around the simple concept of meeting the customers on their own turf. Complex logistics and management for sure, but a simple...
As seen in Golf Business May/June 2021 By Jay Karen, NGCOA CEO “Why?” That’s the first question I get from friends inside and outside the golf industry, when I tell them I’m on the journey to becoming a member of the PGA of America. I can feel laced in those questions the assumption...
As seen in Golf Business March/April 2021 By Jay Karen, NGCOA CEO I am sitting down to pen this column nine months to the day after the death of George Floyd, which catalyzed an acceleration of the perpetual grappling and reconciliation of racism in our society. It can feel trite to try...
By Jay Karen, NGCOA CEO There are many cynics out there who like to scoff at New Year’s resolutions. I don’t count myself among them. I love this time of year. New beginnings. Level-setting what’s important. Resolutions come with a strong sense of optimism and aspiration. What’s wrong with...
By Jay Karen I’m writing this at the mid-point of 2020, one of the most unexpected years in my lifetime. The American economy and society have been rocked by racial tensions and a deadly viral pandemic. Thousands of golf courses were partially or totally shut down this spring. And yet the very...
By Jay Karen This issue of Golf Business happens to fall upon the five year anniversary of my homecoming at NGCOA. Only upon the exercise of reflection am I reminded of the good work we have done. I also can’t help but feel the weight of a few regrets and the work undone. I’m not one to...
By Jay Karen When news hit my desk a couple of weeks ago that some golf courses fell victim to a scam that involved a merchant processor, it didn’t surprise me to see the three letters “ETS” in the email. Perhaps it was no coincidence that my column in October referenced my greatest regret over...
As you may have seen in today’s news, the purchase of EZLinks by NBC Sports Group merges the two largest online tee time agencies (OTTAs) into one entity. This puts into one set of hands the lion’s share (some estimate now over 90%) of the golf industry’s aggregated, online tee time inventory....