For more than 400 years Golf has been played by businessmen…and women.
The Kings and Queens from the UK in the 16th century would talk with their court about the state’s affairs while walking to find their golf ball. Since then there have been millions of rounds of golf played where business relationships were developed.
Fast forward to today with the new directions being made in how golf is played and the question comes up on how will golf be used and played in the next 100 years.
Better yet, what will Golf look like in 100 years? One could ask..will there even be Golf in 100 years?
New Ways to Play Golf
Obviously, with all of the hybrid golf ranges and indoor golf simulators being developed we can safely say there is going to have to be a New Age for Business Golf?
I was recently asked how one would use these new forms of non-traditional golf as a business tool.
To answer that question I went out and took a look at how golf is being played today.
First I went out to my old stomping grounds …the private country clubs… to check out how the movers and shakers of the economy are doing with the business golf they play. I was surprised that the traditional method of playing business golf survives.
Is A New Way a Good Way?
Of course, the crash of the global economy in 2008 took a toll on business golf as it did on the entire golf industry. As a result, the way business golf is played today has changed slightly as has how golf is played.
The biggest change in golf is what has been called…hybrid driving ranges. Hybrid driving ranges feature indoor hitting bays that allow for a golf ball to be hit out into an open area…that usually has netting on the sides and at the end of the property. Most of them are multi-level and are connected to some sort of entertainment center.
They were built as an alternative to going to the golf course or a traditional Driving Range. They also were marketed to the non-traditional golfer…or NON-Golfer…in hopes, it would keep the interest of the next generation in playing some sort of golf.
Over Time
Over the past ten years, there were a few Indoor Golf venues established. These offer a totally different golf experience using golf simulators. The golf simulators are a technology wonder. A golfer hits a golf ball off a mat into a screen where a number of sensors pick up the ball coming off the club and traveling into the screen.
From there the calculated flight of the golf ball would be calculated by a computer and projected onto the screen. The track of the ball would appear on an image of the fairway of your favorite golf course. A few entrepreneurs have developed complete indoor golf complexes that feature dozens of golf simulator bays a person or group could rent.
These golf simulators have been around for a while and are actually great places to play business golf when the weather is not permissible for a traditional round of golf on the golf course.
The hybrid driving ranges along with the indoor golf simulator complexes have been the most visible alternative to traditional golf.
Over the past 10 years have made a few dozen visits out to take a look at who is using these facilities and if they would be a viable alternative to playing traditional business golf.
I’ll cut to the chase. Both of these next steps in the evolution of the traditional driving range and the golf simulator complexes held promise in being an alternative location to play business golf.
Will It Work?
However, they both fell miserably short of replacing the golf course as the best place to play business golf.
Are these new approaches to simulating a round of golf more affordable than going to a golf course and having a few drinks afterward?
I will have to say No. In over 80% of the trips I made to these facilities, I spent more for renting a ‘Lane’ or ‘Booth’ than a tee time, can the bar bill was nearly twice as much.
OH, I’m certain if I cut my time down to just an hour and used discount coupons… or joined their membership plans… I would have been able to cut down the expense in half.
I took the cost to me as these facilities being part of the problem Golf has more than the solution to golf overall being very expensive. Meaning, they priced their services according to how the rest of the golf industry.
The good news is I was able to use both facilities to play business golf..which, however, wherever you play business golf… takes more than an hour.
Of course, I took a different approach to the way to go about building a business relationship at these facilities.
Since the primary users of these non-traditional golf facilities are Non-Golfers I had to use more of an old-school approach to gaining trust with my guest which naturally had a much, much lower success rate than if we had been playing real golf.
This meant in order to accomplish what I set out to accomplish from my time spent at these facilities took much more time…and energy..and money.
The energy spent produced the same result as going to a business networking function.
I am firmly convinced with the cost of playing golf not going down like it needs to be that there is a huge need for developing a New Age of Business Golf. If you have any ideas, I’m all ears.
Let me know how I can help.
Well Top Golf and others are a terrific feeder system into Golf. 70% of TGers don’t play the game and 30% of that 70% will go on into golf on a golf course. So for that alone these facilities are invaluable to the game we love. From a business stand point they offer a safe place to try “Golf” in a fun festive place that does not hold up anyone or cause folks to be judged on course which is a MAJOR reason many especially women do not want to play “our game”. So the positives are so immense that business golf will and is thriving in so many ways it is hard to imagine. Cost is also the same really as it take 4 hours for 4 to play a round – same as a simulator or simulation on a driving range. The extra food and drinks is the same too as people are more likely to spend all their money at these facilities as opposed to the 4 some coming off the course has A drink and goes to a restaurant or another place to eat and drink or they grab food to go and take it home bottom line the dollars are about the same – it is just they are spending at these facilities – does this make sense? Indoor sims – they are 10 times bigger in Asia (10 times more indoor golf that outdoor in Asia – why cost and lack of courses) than here but they will continue to grow as they offer another really cool experience 365/24/7.
We have a template that can actually be a solution for many of todays courses that need extra revenue – well they can’t do it the traditional way – no amount of rounds is going to increase enough to get many back in the profit zone – So you have to do it different. Do an extreme Range Makeover and your problems will be solved – but they have to be done with excellence – Example you can’t just add a gaming system and not address your field targets or F&B upgrades and expect TG results – not gonna happen might see a 30% growth but not 300%. So if your looking to grow a facility from 1.5M a year in revenue and want to grow to 3M or 5M then you better think outside the box and do some proven changes. The future looks very bright from my chair:)
Thanks, James. You made some interesting points. However, I am seeing…and playing with…a lot of men and women who have spent months at the local Top Golfs. From the several dozens of rounds I have played with these people, who are strangers to me, I am finding that over 60% of them were introduced to Golf from the Top Golf facilities. So, their entry into Golf was not traditional. As a result, when they finally got around to go to play traditional golf they found it TOTALLY not to their liking.
Since 99% of these Top Golfers I played with are in the 20 to 35-year-old demographic many of them are very influential online and are very persuasive to large numbers of people who follow them across their digital footprint. Obviously, their experience on the golf course was not very good. As a result…these Top Golfers are not talking favorably about playing traditional golf. This really does not help Golf.
Again, thanks for your comment…some good stuff. Like your site.