Golf Is Expensive!! – In COVID

Courtesy of depositphotos.com

Whump!!  That’s the sound of the big bag of money hitting your pro shop counter.  Does your golf cost more since the pandemic started?  In large metropolitan areas such as Washington, D.C., the prices are on the rise.  Since the sport is played safely outdoors, people are gravitating to it in droves, and away from indoor recreation.  Golf facilities are reacting to the market forces of supply and demand and here’s my observations on price; are they different from yours?

EQUIPMENT

On the way up.  The best leading indicator is the price of new drivers.  Callaway’s Epic Max and TaylorMade’s SIM2 Max will now set you back $529 (off-the-shelf).  Top of the line big sticks were typically $399 pre-Covid, and as we know, golf fans have a new infatuation with Bryson DeChambeau’s big dog length off the tee.  Just add “Max” to the branding and ring the register.

GREENS FEES: 

Up about 20-30% across the board.  This includes municipal facilities and daily fee courses.  At my club, I’m playing on a 4-year membership that was pre-paid for a certain number of rounds.  My cost per round, which includes a cart, came out to $47.  The same membership is being offered now but requires you to play an equivalent number of rounds but in just two years and requires you to tee off one hour later.  The cost per round:  $60.  Clearly the club is trying to fill their tee sheet with more expensive ala cart tee times and the availability at my club and the muni’s I frequent has definitely gone down.  I will be rethinking my membership situation after this season is over.  Interestingly, I have booked a time for Wednesday of next week at The Links of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and noticed they’ve not increased their rates over last year.  It may be that the farther out you go from the big population centers, the lower the price increases.

PRACTICE BALLS:

Up 40-50% across the board.  The size of a practice basket has shrunk.  Initially, facilities wanted you to spend less time on the range, as it supposedly helped with social distancing.  That theory has been debunked a bit, but the size of the range baskets remained the same and the cost went up.  They can get it so why not?  I haven’t been too affected since I spend the majority of my practice time working with my bag shag (own balls) around the practice greens, but the driving range at my club is always packed.  Definitely a cash cow for the facilities.

GOLF TRAVEL:

Travel in general is more expensive with the reopening.  Golf packages are still reasonable (stay and play combos) but airfares to your destination sites are going up.  You can still find deals if you fly to major hubs.  Lodging is on the increase as hotels, AirB&B, and VBRO operators are making up for lost revenue.  Demand for leisure lodging is driving prices, but the full affect won’t be felt until business travel recovers.  The biggest increase by far is the price of rental cars.  Wow!  I just booked a trip to Florida and the cost of a mid-size car exceeds that of round-trip airfare for two people!  Hertz may just emerge from bankruptcy if this continues.  Gas is a bit higher but is more subject to the price of oil on the world stage.

INSTRUCTION

Up about 25%, but why not?  This is where your local pros make their money and with the influx of new players, lesson time is at a premium.  Spend your golfing dollars here on a limited budget.  Invest in the carpenter, then the tools.  Still, you should proceed with caution and go with a recommendation on selecting a teacher or coach.  I perused Golftec.com for their latest offerings, and while they don’t list price, they sell an inordinately large number of lessons inside of golf packages.  The largest package is 52 lessons to be used in one year and that feels excessive.  You need plenty of play to go along with your instruction, so be careful when buying lessons in bulk.

That’s my take on the new costs during Covid.  Have you observed the same increases?

Play well!

New Waves of Golf Participants

 

What drives golf participation in the masses?  The last explosion was led by Tiger Woods.  People thought Tiger was cool and it was awesome to dress like him, play his equipment, hit it far like him, and kick ass.   But that group receded as Tiger faded from his previous level of prominence.  As demand dropped, the accompanying high greens fees at upscale public courses went down, and the problem of unavailable tee times subsided.

A new wave is forming led by folks who have discovered golf as a safe socially distanced game you can play outside.  It satisfies the need to meet face to face brought on by COVID-19 restrictions.  I’ve played with several of these newbies and understood their rational for starting.  I’ve also overheard many conversations of players at my practice facilities to confirm the trend.  Once COVID recedes, will these players abandon the game?  They might when confronted with the high cost, time commitment, and long attention span that is required for success.

There’s another wave that’s already formed and is characterized by the player who patronizes Top Golf.  Calloway just purchased Top Golf and the club maker went all in because the latter is an entry point to new customers.  Here’s a fascinating article on the merger as described by the two CEOs of TopGolf and Calloway.  Their target customers are people who enjoy eating, drinking, congregating, playing video games, and love music – in no particular order.  50% of Top Golf customers are new to the game (haven’t played one round in the last year.)  Forgive me for profiling, but these are your young foursomes with a 12-pack of beer and a blue tooth speaker blaring loud music that have already invaded many golf courses.  In addition, Calloway already owns the TopTracer range technology which is about tracking every shot struck at every facility where it’s installed and networking the data world-wide.  This is a godsend to customers that love video-gaming with people anonymously over the internet.  They just staged a 7,000-participant virtual tournament.  This is the kind of customer Calloway wants to pull into the game and onto our courses.  Is this wise?  What will it do to the game?

Thomas Jefferson once said, “In matters of style, go with the flow.  In matters of principle, stand like a rock.”  I am a golf traditionalist and believe we should welcome the first wave of COVID refugees to the golf courses.  Not sure about the second group.  Of course, I want to grow the game but still love that the golf course is a place to go unplug for a while.  What do you think?

Play well!