March built on and expanded the February favorability as Golf Playable Hours (GPH) were up 28% vs. Year-Ago (YA) which vaulted the Year-to-Date (YtD) from -9% in February to +6% now through March. The YtD regional breadth metric also swung into positive territory to a 2:1 ratio comprised of 12 favorable regions vs. 8 unfavorables and 4 in the neutral zone (+/- 2%) with the remaining 21 regions 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 February as published by Golf Datatech were, unsurprisingly, up at +5% at the All Facilities level. This followed our previously-reported +11% GPH gain for the month meaning that rounds didn’t keep pace with weather creating a Utilization drop of 4 points. This brings the YtD Utilization point change to +2 points with Rounds still down 5% but against a 9% decline in GPH.
Jim Koppenhaver comments on the results, "Mother Nature provided a 2nd, even larger monthly boost to the year in March after that ugly January start. Looking at the map in the current month, it appears that geographies west of the Mississippi got the majority of the benefit with the exception of Desert SW (Phoenix and surrounds) which was flat. Looking at the YtD among 12-month season regions, CA North (San Fran and surrounds) continues to be the weather favorability leader at +10% while Hawaii took a beating in February and sits at -18% YtD (ouch). Switching to YtD market-level weather, Seattle continues to lead at +28% while Atlanta also remains the biggest laggard at -16% (improvement over Feb though). Finally, observing the February YtD Utilization leaders & laggards, Miami and Atlanta top the class with 6 point gains each (so Atlanta had crappy weather but rounds didn’t follow it down linearly) while Dallas-Ft Worth remains the season laggard at -9 pts (weather’s OK, rounds dropping for some reason). We’re waiting for the initial March submissions from our Golf Market Research Center (GMRC) subscribers for Rounds, Golf Revenue and Rate Card and it will be interesting to see what (not if) “weather lift” we get in demand (Jim’s going to “call” a 13-17% gain, let’s see). 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 still offering a free 2-wk trial of the tool. 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-'22 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
