Golf Revenue Ideas

With the current economic situation, it seems like everyone is clawing and kicking for every nickel possible.  The numbers of golfers / members is a finite one and we are all competing for the same ones.  "He with the best value equation for the money usually wins!"   So we have to be really clever and come up with some new, refreshing ideas to attract business.

With that said, forget about trying to reinvent the wheel.  When you can, borrow a good idea and make it better by customizing it for your property, by all means do so!   Maybe it requires a little tweaking or totally changing it.  Take a look at some of the following ideas that just might put some cash in your register and even a couple of members in your club. 

MEMBERS

• Since Mondays are normally closed in private clubs, do a special event for your members on a Monday that hasn’t been filled with an outing.  Offer reduced pricing on carts and guest fees.  The day could be positioned as a mini weekday Member-Guest so bundle** in lunch, prizes, games on course, etc.  (Remember that the course would have been closed so some revenues are better than nothing however the revenues from such an event do need to cover your operating expenses for opening that day.)
  
  **Bundling is a great way to increase revenues by adding in additional amenities (such as a lunch, range ball, on course contests with prizes) and pricing it accordingly to provide value.  For instance, pricing the day at $75 when the normal price broken down individually for each item together would be $90 is an example of bundling.   It’s a win for the consumer and revenue for the course.
  
• Do Member Appreciation specials which are offered weekly and/or monthly.  Look at doing a different value added program each week which provides value for the members but doesn’t leave money on the table.  For instance, buying close out shirts for $20 and offering a free shirt with a paid guest fee.  This assumes that your guest fee is equivalent to or above the retail price of the shirt.   
  
• Give members several unaccompanied guest passes (at accompanied guest rates) that can then be given to favorite friends and business associates.  Not only does this idea provide some much needed revenue, but gives exposure to your club and provides some possible membership prospects since these are clients and friends of your members.  These passes should have the member’s name on them as the sponsoring member.  They should be distributed through a letter to the membership at large explaining the offering after it has been endorsed or approved by the Board or Membership Committee.  There should be restrictions on the tee times that are available (certainly not in prime time) and all tee times should be made through the Membership Director.  This gives your Membership Director a chance to start a dialogue with potential membership candidates and allows her/him to get their contact information. 
  
• Reconsider what your rates are for non-clubbable family members who are visiting.  Instead of charging members’ house guests for each time they play during their visit which is usually a high season rate, charge a onetime guest rate and then a cart fee for each additional play thereafter.  For example, charge $100 for a ten day period and then the visiting family / house guest pays a cart each time he plays during his stay.  Quite often a high guest rate will preclude a visiting guest from playing again and again.  If tee times are in demand, then visiting guests can only play for a cart fee at certain times. 
  
• Get with your department heads and together compile a list of your non usage members.  Look for ways to re-engage the top percentage of these non-usage golf members.  Figure out different golf perks that will get them re-engaged in the club again like playing 9 holes with the pro, 2 for 1 cart fees, guest passes, comp. lesson, range ball tokens, etc.  Have a Member Mixer for this group so they can be paired with appropriate folks.  Be careful how this idea is positioned as you don’t want to draw attention to their ’non usage’ which might have them questioning why they are still a member and result in a resignation.
  
• Give resigning members one complimentary month before their resignation so hopefully they can be reconnected to the club through member friends and attentive department heads (see suggestion above).
  
• Create a Supplemental Play Committee that can help target suitable non-member play opportunities for non-members such as play days, affinity groups, preview days, etc.  The committee will take the heat off of management since their suggestions were member-born, member initiated and member sponsored.  This idea is especially good for a private club wanting to generate additional golf revenues and exposure for the club.  The committee can get very creative in what they want to do and what they will approve.  The membership at large will be far more receptive of ideas generated through this committee than those of management.
  
• When an outside outing on a closed Monday isn’t filled, look to fill the course with members and their guests.  Let these members and their guests play for a cart fee only.  An outside event shouldn’t expect to have the course only for their group if they can only field 75 – 80 players unless they have paid accordingly.
  
• Create member golf development programs for juniors, ladies, seniors, etc.  These programs should be formed on the assumption that the attendee knows nothing.  Its goal is to have enough clinics, lessons, etc. over several months to teach proficiency to culminate with a 3 hole tournament.  Allow members to bring guest and friends at a higher rate.  These beginners are the players (and members) of tomorrow.

GUESTS

• Partnering with the Men’s (or ladies) Golf Association (or other selected group including even your membership-at- large).  Let them know that the club will comp the group’s next event including prizes and lunch if each member brings out 3 guests in a specified month at the regular rate.  Looking at the revenues generated from full guest fees versus the expense of their outing, you should definitely be in the plus column!!   If they don’t reach 100% of the goal, apply the appropriate percentage of guests brought out during the specified time to the expenses of their next event. 
  
• Just like a frequent flyer program, look at a rewards program for members who bring guests.  For instance, if a member brings ’x’ amount of guests at regular rate during a specified time, then the member would receive free carts the following month.  The guest fees should definitely pay for this member’s carts the following month.
  
• Have a drawing for a big prize whereby each member gets his or her name into the drawing each time they bring a guest at full guest rates.  If you can get the prize donated, then you have a real winner.
  
• Another type of loyalty program to stimulate guest play is to give the member a percentage of the guest fees for each guest he brings out during a specified period and put that money as a credit to his account for any purchases such as merchandise, food and beverage, lessons, but not for dues.  For example, if the guest fee including cart is $75, the member would receive $15 on his account for anything other than dues in a 20% rebate program. 
  
• What member wouldn’t want to play with the club’s pro?  Have the golf pro call several members and invite them to play with him.  They are to invite three guests to play with them (at full fee guests).  The pro can play three holes with six groups and create a lot of goodwill through member face time while generating  some guest fees.

NON MEMBER OUTINGS / TOURNAMENTS

• If you don’t do so, you really should offer some type of repeat play or bounce back certificate.  It should be positioned as a Preview or Member for a Day invitation certificate on behalf of the club or membership committee.  If your club has multiple clubs in one area, offer a bounce back round to each course. 
  
  This certificate can be an upsell for an event, a closer when trying to book an event or included as one of the outing amenities.  This certificate allows the recipient to come back at an off peak time for a preferred rate and the recipient  may bring up to three guests when them at the same rate.  Include restrictions and an expiration date.  Make sure that every tournament participant gets one before they leave your property.  Be sure to collect player information from everyone who redeems the certificate for future marketing efforts.  Remember that there is no better target market than one who has experienced your course. 
  
  For higher end clubs, the certificate should be an invitation from the membership committee with tee times to be made through the Membership Director. 
  
• Offer one of the Preview or Member for a Day certificates to all participants of other golf tournaments that aren’t hosted at your course when solicited for prizes by another tournament.  This gives that tournament host something for every goody bag and puts your course in a favorable light as a venue for next year’s event.  In private clubs, this will need to receive Board approval of the tournaments that these are given to. 
  
• When selling sponsorship packages for any of your larger tournaments, besides the usual tee sign and a comp foursome also include some prepaid rounds to be used at another time (at a discounted rate) which can be given away by the sponsor.  Price of the sponsorship package is dependent on the number of prepaid rounds.  In essence, it includes a mini-outing or individual foursome play built into the sponsorship.
  
• Give a percentage of revenues from an outside tournament back to the tournament host in the form of greens fees and guest fees to be used at some off peak time.  For a private club, this credit could even be used towards your membership initiation fee.
  
• If a member refers any new tournament business to your club, give them a percentage of the total event revenues in pro shop credit for the referral.  The referral must be given to the pro before the event is booked in order to receive the credit and it must be for new business.  That same percentage can be applied to any event that the member holds at the club.
  
• If you have an open Monday that needs to be filled, then create your own events and price accordingly:
  
• restaurant/ bar challenges – Invite all the local bars and restaurants to compete for bragging rights and prizes.
  
• hospitality tournament – Invite all of the local hotel concierges, bellmen, front desk folks for a day of golf with lunch and prizes. 
  
• vendor-guest – Invite all of the service people who do business with the club.  This is everyone from the guy who does the food deliveries to the mailman.  Let them bring guests and have a nice value priced day for them in appreciation of their services.
  
• affinity tournament – Target a special group such as lawyers, doctors, car dealers, etc. and have a tournament or play day just for them. 
  
• database event – E-blast an invitation to everyone in your database to come play on a specific day in a special event.
  
• tournament hosts – Have a day specifically for all the people who have hosted a tournament at your course before.  This is a great way for them to enjoy the course since they were busy on tournament day and to keep your course at the forefront of their mind for rebooking purposes. 
  
• play day and open house – Plan a special day for all the area neighborhoods so they can play the course.  Showcase the club afterwards with an open house so guests can visit all the different areas of the club to see what is offered.  This is a great membership prospecting tool.  All department heads should participate.
  
  The possibilities are endless.
  
• Partner with a specific charity to have an informal play day specifically for their guests as charities have large databases to pull from.  Part of the revenues from each player is given back to the charity that day as a thank you for promoting the event.  Include a boxed lunch in the rate.
  
• Sell a onetime, yearlong sponsorship to local businesses where they are promoted on your scoreboard, scorecard and a tee sign to all tournaments throughout the year. 

NON-MEMBERS / DAILY FEE

• Mail out or blitz a Member for a Day / Preview certificate (see above) to selected target markets or neighborhoods so they can preview your course at some value priced rate.  Depending on your club, this may have to be issued through the Membership Director.
  
• Non-Member juniors (participating in clinics and summer camps) should be given a Preview or Member for a Day certificates so they may play free when accompanied by a paying adult.  Children want to show off their newly acquired skills.  Also, there should also be some type of special family membership offering in conjunction with clinics and summer camps to encourage family enrollment.
  
• Host a family golf month where all juniors play free at selected times when accompanied by a paying adult.  Like the promotion above, have a special membership offering.
  
• Give a Preview or Member for a Day certificate to all private event hosts in appreciation for hosting their event at the club.
  
• Start a non-member Player Development Program.  Some have been done as low as $29 which includes range, unlimited clinics and restricted access to the course at certain times for a cart fee.  Volume is the secret.  The assumption is based on that of health club memberships in that the deal is too good to be true so they join and don’t take advantage of all that is offered.  They don’t quit either because the price is low enough even if they are only taking advantage of the benefits occasionally. 
  
• At a semi private course, give a player a comp. ’discovery’ membership for up to two months after he has played 8 times.  Get him using the club in hopes that he will join permanently. 
  
• Another idea for a semi private course is to allow a player to credit his greens and cart fee money during a specified time towards satisfying his initiation fee or deposit.
  
• Host Neighborhood Play Weeks where you invite targeted neighborhoods to practice all week for a tournament especially for them on the weekend.  Have an open house with all department heads participating at the end.
  
• In a highly seasonal market, offer an off or shoulder season pass with 10 rounds of golf and unlimited range to the daily fee player for a certain price with expiration date.

OTHER PROMOTIONS

• Partner with area hotels, convention centers and visitor bureaus as they are a valuable referral source.  This is great full rate business as their players are on vacation or business and.  Offer hotel guests complimentary golf clubs since playing may be a spur of the moment decision and the additional charge for a rental set might be a deterrent.  Ask to display your collateral at appropriate locations.  Picture frames are a perfect way to do so.
  
• In the off season, have your bag room staff, do a golf bag and golf club evaluation on each member’s equipment.  They will find all sorts of older sets, missing clubs, worn out grips, and tattered old bags.  This is a great way to upsell golf clubs and bags and regripping services. 
  
• Have a ’no risk-all reward’ Beat the Pro on a par three for guest/greens fees.  The member purchases a greens fee certificate which he can use at a later date.  If he beats the pro, he gets an additional one free.  (Cart fee not included.)
  
• If you have several clubs in the area owned by the same company, offer a Member Passport with all sorts of bundled items at a really low price.  Such things could be: such as 2 for 1 guest fees at each of the clubs, carts fees at other clubs, swing analysis at one club, social event at another, 15 minute lesson with pro at another.  Share the revenues accordingly.

MERCHANDISE

• Sell "Play with the Pro" certificates – the perfect gift for the golfer who has everything.  What man wouldn’t want to play with the club professional for 4 ½ hours.  These are especially good for Father’s Day, Christmas and birthdays.
  
• Like the ’no risk-all reward’ guest fee promotion above, the player buys a merchandise (pro shop) credit at a par 3.  If they hit their ball within a 10 foot circle (or they Beat the Pro if one is there), then their credit is doubled.  They lose nothing and have the chance to double their purchase.

Hopefully, the above ideas that will make your cash register ring.  If you have a great idea that you would like to share, we would like to hear about your success story at www.golfmarketingassociation.org.