Andover, MA, March 31 -- Henry DeLozier has a message for New England golf course owners and operators: Attract more women golfers if you hope to boost rounds and revenues.
“The impact women are having on golf is profound,” DeLozier, principal with golf course consultancy Global Golf Advisors, told New England golf industry professionals at Wednesday’s first New England Golf Summit.
As downpours continued to flood Boston golf courses, some 250 participants turned out at Andover (MA) Country Club to learn how they might expand the game during a weak economy.
Joint effort. Several organizations -- including the Massachusetts Golf Association (MGA), Women’s Golf Association of Massachusetts (WGAM), New England PGA (NEPGA, and the USGA -- sponsored the one-day event. Speakers touched on the impact of the economy on golf, golf and the environment, and the First Tee’s national school program.
To join or not to join? With demographics changing significantly over the years and time and money at a premium, women now drive many families’ decisions about whether to join golf clubs and remain members. For sure, the days of men automatically receiving golf course memberships as part of their employment packages are long gone/
“More than half of the people on the planet are making 90 percent of the decisions,” Delozier said. “Why not cater to them?”
One more round. Indeed, gain for any industry during a recession is the overall goal and steepest challenge. DeLozier urged each New England private and public course to target a relatively simple but significant goal: Get each golfer to play one more round of golf this year.
With between 25 million and 26 million golfers in the U.S., achieving that mission would result in “a huge amount of growth,” DeLozier said.
The question -- especially when the number of golf courses will drop for the sixth straight year and demand for play remains stagnant -- is how to attain that expansion.
Women-friendly golf. DeLozier’s answer: Make golf more attractive and accessible to women. The irony of a golf industry notoriously “adverse” to women relying on them for survival was not lost on DeLozier.
Indeed, golf professionals must consider “what women do with golf and how they influence golf,” he said.
Green is not great. Greenbacks were not the only green issue on the minds of those in the New England golf biz
While it may be difficult to imagine water shortages in the six-state region these days, as downpours continued to flood roads and Boston golf courses, course operators learned they should start conserving resources now.
Courses need to employ fewer pesticides and less water and energy, said Jim Skorulski, senior agronomist with the USGA’s Northeast region.
Browner courses and “firmer and faster” conditions will require golfers to change their perceptions of “lush and green,” Skorulski noted, adding that courses need to “start slow and early” to deploy such changes and educate golfers about their benefits.
“It won’t be easy to go from lush and green to fast and firm,” Skorulski said.
Boston golf courses have not been immune to the impact of the economy and other issues on the business of golf. Read how Sterling National Country Club is just the latest Boston golf course to close its doors.
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