Is Golf Now Good For Your Course

Posted By Golf Operator Magazine on Oct 31, 2013 | 30 comments
This article is written by Johnny LaPonzina, President of Professional
Course Management, who has successfully owned, operated, or managed 19
golf courses in South Florida during his career. He is the past
President of the South Florida PGA and a member of our PGA Hall of
Fame.
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I'd like to take this opportunity to address PGA professionals not
only in the South Florida section, but every PGA section in the
country of my major concerns of the current jeopardy and threat to our
public golf course industry with third party tee time booking agents.
In PCM's 30 years of owning, operating, or managing golf courses in
South Florida, we have faced numerous obstacles and challenges
including: hurricanes, economic slowdowns, aging demographics, an over
abundance of golf courses, and a gradual decline in the growth of the
game of golf. Having said that, the current dilemma and real imminent
danger to our golf courses is allowing barter times that are given to
third party booking agents with no floor as to what they can charge
for a round of golf at your course.
This policy is destroying the very core and integrity of golf courses
in their ability to price their rounds of golf fairly and in relation
to the revenue they need to generate to maintain their courses and
keep them open. Numerous golf course management companies,
municipalities, and public golf course owners have expressed their
outrage and objections to barter times being sold for as much as 80% ‐
90% off the regularly posted prices. In South Florida alone, two or
three barter times per day can be sold at quality golf courses for
rates as low as $5 per round for green fees and carts. We are training
our customers to go online where they find hundreds of tee times
available every day at rates which in some cases can be as much as 90%
discounted.
These barter tee times are now competing with our own golf courses for
customers on an uneven playing field. For example, a course may have a
posted rate of $35 and the consumer can pay $5 or $6 for that same
round of golf by booking it online through a third party booking
agent. Our ability to price our courses fairly and equitably is being
destroyed and challenged by these practices. While the barter time
prices may be profitable for the third party booking agent, they are
severely effecting what the perceived value for a round of golf should
be.
I believe the explosion and growth in these barter tee time practices
is a serious and imminent threat to every PGA golf professional's job
and to every public and municipal golf courses ability to price their
course fairly and equitably to ultimately survive. Trading golf
inventory for marketing is creating long time problems for our
industry. We are causing severe damage to our credibility to our
regular customers who now expect to play golf with an 80% or 90%
discount to get their loyalty. Further, it helps destroy our resort
and tourist play by eroding seasonal rates and profits which we all
depend on.
All public golf courses need to be aware of the severity of this
problem and with cooperation the problem can be fairly resolved. If a
golf course feels that they are generating enough rounds to warrant a
barter tee time, then all they have to do is put a floor to the price
that the
barter time can be sold for and that price should be the same as your
public rate that any golfer walking in would pay. Competing for
golfers then becomes an even playing field.
I strongly feel that as an industry we must address this issue as it
will be a destructive force going forward. Many golf courses in South
Florida understand this issue clearly and have taken steps to resolve
it. If the barter tee time prices are not controlled with a floor to
their price, then courses should consider delisting with that third
party booking agent. In the end, if the third party booking agents
have no courses, they have no business.
I'm asking all PGA golf professionals at public courses to cooperate
with a united front to help resolve this issue and make third party
tee time booking agents a potential benefit rather than a severe
liability to our golf course industry.
Sincerely,
Johnny LaPonzina, President
Professional Course Management
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