Observations from the bleachers – Golf Inc Magazine

This post combines several different pieces, sort of like a bag of mixed M&M’s. It is a post of opportunity, of recollection, with fond memories of decades spent in a very joyful career. As I sit here looking out toward a new year, I see a healthy industry wrapped around a game in flux and an economy in question. While more and more people spend on their next experience, the overall credit card debt takes on even more zeros. Like most modern money questions, this one has no simple set of answers.

Being strictly a freelancer today, consulting with clubs and industry brands, I get to do a great deal of listening, Zooming, and asking questions. Once knee-deep in the day-to-day commerce of buying and selling, I now spend time reminiscing about what once was, while being overjoyed at not being stuck in some faraway airport, watching the ever-changing details on the oversized board showcasing those dreaded canceled flights. I do truly miss the work, the long weeks, the push and pull of negotiations, and the triumph of bringing in ever-higher sales and margin dollars year after year. As with every career, Father Time remains undefeated: game, set and match.

Thinking forward, I have three thoughts to add as property leaders plan for a successful 2025. Although I now tend to travel down memory lane more often, I do invest large chunks of time with people who understand the business today, and who have real opinions of where things just might be headed. Here are my three thoughts on ways to build your business in the new year:

Play the game: the word is experience. Over the past three years, the people of this nation have been consumed with this word and what it represents to them. Ever since COVID-19 played out the finite number of years on a frightened nation, more and more people have decided that doing things is more valuable than accumulating stuff. With the pandemic far in the rear-view mirror, it might be time to reset what a day of golf looks like for your members and guests. No matter the facility, I am suggesting there are things you can do to add to the joy and good feelings that a day at the golf course can bring. Grab a clean sheet of paper, your team, and begin to think out loud.

Where’s the value? Many decades ago, Wendy’s had that famous ad where Clara stared at a competitive burger and wondered out loud, “Where’s the beef?” An ad that stands alone in brevity and staying power. So, I ask you…where’s the value? Submitting it may be the…