Visitor green fees have been rapidly rising ever since the Covid barriers came down. But, asks Steve Carroll, are we in danger of pricing the domestic golfer out of an experience, and will it come back to hurt the industry?
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
What’s the value of an experience? For some of you, money will be no object – the thrill, the memories, the adrenalin will be worth the outlay.
For others, the prices you’re quoted won’t represent value. The expense won’t justify the photo album.
The cost of playing a top golf course divides in this way, between players who lap up every detail and those who think they’re being ripped off.
Wherever you sit, one thing is true. If playing the very best courses is a luxury, and we’re always being told good things cost money, then you’ve been asked to dig ever deeper since the Covid barriers came down.
The price of a summer green fee at the Old Course – the barometer of the game for many – has risen by 60 per cent in just three years. A June tee time which would have cost £195 in 2021 is now £320.
The Home of Golf still comes out on the lighter side compared to the likes of Turnberry, which will set you back £595 for a spin on the Ailsa during Open week.
Of the top 10 courses in National Club Golfer’s Great Britain & Ireland Top 100 list, only one – Portmarnock at 275 euros – is under £300.
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But it’s not just at the very top end where green fees have been soaring. As those very elite courses have upped their rates, so have those on the next rung and, indeed, even further down the ladder.
Ganton and Alwoodley are now a shade under £200, while my nearest club, York, is £70 during the week and £85 on a Sunday. All have increased visitor prices significantly over the last few years.
Supply and demand, right? If people are prepared to pay, why not charge those fees? You’ve got to keep up with the Joneses too. If your neighbours are charging more, don’t you need to keep in step?
Then there is the cost-of-living crisis, which has seen utility costs, among many others, surge for golf clubs over the past couple of years.
Do you place the full burden of that on the membership, or shift it so visitors are bearing more of that cost? If you can hit your visitor budget, while having fewer non-members on the property, isn’t that a utopia?
The problem, in my opinion, with this approach is it’s rather biting the hand that feeds you. With only half to two-thirds of revenue at the average club arriving from member subscriptions, visitor green fees are a vital part of the overall pie.
And at least in some vocal corners of the internet, there is a growing feeling the travelling golfer is being asked to bear too much of a burden.
David Jones, better known as UK Golf Guy, told a recent episode of The NCG Golf Podcast that while Scottish venues such as Muirfield and North Berwick were still crammed, in England and parts of Ireland it was a different story – with plenty of availability at the likes of Royal St George’s.
“I think there are fewer domestic golfers playing those particular top courses,” he said. “But I don’t know if the clubs mind.”
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On the same podcast, Tom Irwin, whose Sports Publications company runs National Club Golfer’s Top 100s Tour, said there was a clear price ceiling which people would not go beyond.
“Even for an Open venue, once we go beyond £200 and certainly £250, it becomes very, very, difficult for us to sell those courses at that price – because they are priced for Americans.”
All well and good while golf continues to boom, and those international travellers come over in numbers. What about when they have done those dream trips? Or if a stray bat once again grounds planes and keeps us tied closer to our homes?
It’s a romantic, and naive, notion to say the very best courses have a responsibility to remain accessible – that it is the very fact the average player can dream of treading the same steps as iconic legends of the game and play such artistic creations that makes golf so special on this side of the pond.
But golf clubs also need to tread carefully. Because there is an old saying – you can shear a sheep many times but only skin it once. Our very best courses need to be beware the domestic market doesn’t come to the conclusion it’s being fleeced.
What’s the price for the heart of golf?
This article is part of GCMA Insights – topical content for golf industry professionals, discussing the things that matter to those who work in golf clubs.
Get involved in the debate. To join the GCMA, click here, or to organise a call with a member of the GCMA team, just complete this form and we’ll be in touch!
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