April extended the ’24 season’s favorability as Golf Playable Hours (GPH) were up 1% vs. Year-Ago (YA) which steadied the Year-to-Date (YtD) figure at +4%. The YtD regional breadth metric remained in positive territory (and improved) at a 3:1 ratio comprised of 28 favorable regions vs. 10 unfavorables and 6 in the neutral zone (+/- 2%) with only 1 region yet out-of-season. Subscribers to either the Pellucid Publications Membership or the Geographic Weather Impact report get the 45 regional breakdowns, the 61 markets figures, the day-of-week weather impact and the Year-End National GPH forecast figure as well as our full commentary on the results every month.
National Played Rounds for March as published by Golf Datatech were, predictably, up 21% (based on our previous +28% GPH figure) at the All Facilities level. The intersection of the 21% played rounds gain and the 28% capacity rounds increase for the month created a Utilization drop of 4 points. This brings the YtD Utilization figure to basically flat (-0.6 points for the detail geeks like us).
Jim Koppenhaver comments on the results, "April’s basically flat weather results took a pause after torrid gains in Feb-Mar but, given that April is one of our most volatile months historically, we’ll take it. Looking at the map in the current month, it appears that the middle of the country (north and south) and Rockies benefitted while the East and California Coasts took a hit vs. YA. Looking at the YtD among 12-month season regions, CA Inland (all 3 regions) and North (San Fran and surrounds) continue to be the weather favorability leaders at +10% while the North VA/DC and SE Inland (Atlanta) regions are registering double-digit declines through April. Switching to YtD market-level weather and focusing on our Top 25 Markets, Seattle continues to lead at +26% while Atlanta also remains the biggest laggard at -11% (continued improvement though). Also of note is San Diego is off 3%, you won’t see them very often in the measurable up/down column. Finally, observing the March YtD Utilization leaders & laggards, Washington DC leads the class with a 12 point gain (poor weather but rounds didn’t follow linearly) while Seattle overtook Dallas-Ft Worth as the season laggard at -10 pts (stellar weather, decline in rounds?). We’re waiting for the initial April submissions from our Golf Market Research Center (GMRC) subscribers for Rounds, Golf Revenue and Rate Card and it will be interesting to see how demand fared in the face of basically flat weather results. In addition to knowing their weather-adjusted performance, our GMRC subscribers also have visibility into the summarized portfolio of participants and a limited number of markets to reference whether their performance is pacing, leading or lagging the GMRC portfolio universe; you could too (hint, hint)."
Speaking of the GMRC and the ability for courses to see their monthly performance in comparative reports the day the month closes, we're always looking for more subscribers to give us either more market breadth or bigger samples in the markets where we have current participants. We know from our visibility to the Golf Revenue numbers that courses are generally flush with cash (we've also seen all the public domain articles on renovations, massive CapEx spending etc. to corroborate) so we'd hazard a guess that the $500 investment decision isn't being hampered by lack of funds. Program participants have been able to view graphic, single page monthly trend reports for Rounds and Utilization from '19-'23 as well as having a 7 measure KPI single page report for any month and YtD period for which they entered data. The GMRC gives you visibility to your Market Profile and, after you enter your Rounds, Golf Revenue and Peak Season GF Rate by month, to immediately see your results through our comparative reports with integrated weather impact. So how do you "get in on the action"? Glad you asked...
You can email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
, to subscribe (see below for benefits) and get started by inputting your information through th current month or if you'd like to engage in the 2-wk trial
If you'd like more information you have two options:
- Watch the 18 minute GoToWebinar recording of the program overview and a demonstration of the portal and reports (fill in your name and email and it will open the video link; you're not signing up for anything)
- Review the 2-pg program overview (Download Here)
Here's the details on what you get in the current promo deal:
- GMRC Market profile (golfers, supply/mix/demand balance, Utilization etc.)
- Monthly trends report (Rounds & Utilization, any month and YtD '19-'21)
- KPI Scorecard (7 KPIs for month & YtD, single page, Year Ago comparisons)
- Cognilogic (historical facility-specific Golf Playable Hours and Capacity Rounds, normally sold as separate service at $180/yr) and
- Foresight (brand new, facility-level 60-day Capacity Rounds forecast and key weather variables used to produce it, normally sold separately at $360/yr)
- National Golf Consumer Franchise Scorecard and commentary outlining the change in the size of the golfer base, the demographics (not as much additional diversity as advertised by the industry but expanding) and involvement levels (sold separately for $199)
- We think this package of services including GMRC at $500/yr ($450 for NGCOA members) is a great value and timely for assessing '21's performance and beginning your '22 planning
Final cherry-on-top, GMRC is a product in the NGCOA SmartBuy program so there's a member benefit (10% discount) for the annual subscription.
Sincerely,
Jim Koppenhaver
