Pellucid Perspective - March 2013 - (Page 8)

GOLF COURSE OPERATIONS Course lures golf ’s missing generation ‘Young adult’ program targets 18 to 29 year olds By Jim Dunlap L ast year around this time, River Ridge Golf Club General Manager Otto Kanny surveyed the tee sheets of the 36-hole public facility he runs in Oxnard, California and concluded that River Ridge’s customer base, like many of the industry’s courses, was under-represented in a critical age demographic. Weary of waiting for Te First Tee and other industry initiatives to produce a stream of committed young adult golfers, and realizing that the Baby Boomer generation would populate his courses only so long, Kanny decided on a bold strategy to do something about it. In part due to input from veteran golf industry consultant Tom Frost of Tom Frost Golf, in June, River Ridge implemented a special Young Adult rate of $20 for players aged 18-29. Te rate, significantly lower than River Ridge’s rack rate of $50-$60, is available any time during the week except Saturday and Sunday mornings. By the end of January this year, approximately 800 players had taken advantage of the deal, averaging 3.6 rounds per player during that period, and generating $57,000 in greens fee revenue for the facility. While lowering prices so dramatically in an age bracket that has not traditionally been considered to be in need of financial consideration, unlike juniors or seniors on fixed incomes, Kanny is well aware that golf participation has slipped among the Gen-Y crowd, whether that be due to constraints of time or money, family and career obligations, or the desire for instant gratification that many attribute to that age group. He couldn’t change an entire generation’s mind-set, but he could make the financial proposition more attractive, and he did. “I’ve been following what the industry is trying to do with a lot of initiatives like Golf 2.0, with new programs across the board,” said Kanny, a veteran of more than 40 years in the golf industry. “Tis [Young Adult] program falls into the lost golfers category. A lot of junior programs expose the kids to golf with low fees, instruction and access, but then they hit 18 or so and the price goes from $6 to $50 or $60 and we lose ‘em. Tey leave at 18 because of the price, but when they grow up and can afford it, they have a young family, so maybe they don’t get back into golf until middle age, if they come back at all.” Kanny said that some of his competitors in the market have labeled the Young Adults rate as nothing more than the dreaded discounting, but Kanny denied that, contending that those golfers would not be playing at all without the reduced rate.(In other words, how can you discount zero?) And the program appears to be gaining steam as the word spreads - River Ridge logged 243 Young Adult rounds in this January alone. River Ridge has also reached out to its active River Ridge 8 THE PELLUCID PERSPECTIVE Men’s Club to augment the age group’s recruitment. Te Men’s Club now offers a reduced membership fee of $50 (instead of the regular $95) which includes handicap and reduced tournament entry fees to Young Adult members. Men’s Club President Frederick White recently pointed out in a response to an article in Forbes Magazine that the Young Adult program provides a “transition from fully supported junior golf to full golf rates.” River Ridge has not only thought, but acted outside the box in creating the Young Adult rates, but the facility doesn’t ignore the more traditional age group beneficiaries. Even for juniors, Kanny and his staff have stretched tradition, offering a $6 rate for both juniors and their accompanying adult after the normal twilight start time. To include seniors in the bounty, Frost suggested a loyalty program for them rather than a straight age discount, and Kanny said, “Our seniors jumped on it.” And coming next ... FootGolf! Once again taking a cue from some of the Golf 2.0 re- search and target demographics, Kanny is taking an even bigger leap outside the operations box. Having taken notice of the large Hispanic population in his market area, and surveyed the number of soccer leagues and teams within it, Kanny has opted for a different way to crack the code for getting both Hispanics and young adults to his facility. Meet FootGolf, a combination of soccer and golf, debuting at River Ridge in May of this year. According to Kanny, FootGolf got its start in Holland and Denmark, has since moved to Argentina and other South and Central American countries, and led by the Senda soccer ball manufacturing company, has already launched the sport in a few selected markets in the U.S. Te game’s course is laid out on the golf course turf, and often incorporates some of the existing hazards such as bunkers or trees, using a 21-inch cup which is typically placed in a mown area of the rough. Holes are obviously shorter, and 18 “holes” can easily be played in two hours or less. River Ridge will charge a $10 “greens fee,” and FootGolf will only be offered in the afternoons on one of the facility’s two courses. “We’re blessed to have 36 holes, so we’ve got some extra space to work with,” Kanny said. “When we took a look at the number of soccer players in our area and compared it to the number of golfers, we thought there had to be some way to combine the two.” After all, Kanny said, “All we could do is fail miserably, and we’ve done that before, so it’s worth a try.” Spoken like someone for whom the “box” is merely a launching pad, not a confinement. n MARCH 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pellucid Perspective - March 2013

Pellucid Perspective - March 2013
Contents
3rd party management barriers falling at private clubs?
A need for technology restraint in golf
Course lures golf ’s missing generation
Picking the ‘low-hanging fruit’
February weather golf impact: No surprise...down
Portland golf has slight edge on Nike neighbor
Court approves sale of Paulson-owned resorts to Government of Singapore fund
Readers respond to ‘part-time golf ’
Casey at the bat

Pellucid Perspective - March 2013