From a golf club reporting its best-ever financial results to another club going “gender-free” on the tees, we take a look at what’s been happening in the industry over the past month.
The movement to tees based on skill continues
Dozens of golf clubs have done away with men’s and women’s tees over the last decade and made all their tees suitable for everyone. This means golfers of both sexes have more choice regarding their ability over which tees to use.
Scotscraig Golf Club in Fife is the latest to do sosaying it has improved the golf experience for players of all skill levels.
Sheringham Golf Club in Norfolk was one of the first to introduce ‘gender-free’ T-shirts in 2013. The manager at the time said: “It has been a great success, especially with our older men and women with higher handicaps, who now have the option of a shorter course.”
Some clubs report that last year was their best year ever
Despite the cost of living crisis, Lahinch Golf Club in Ireland, for example, posted a record operating surplus of more than £1.75 million in the last financial year.
The growth was driven by a tripling of green fee revenues to over £2.6 million and came after the club endured two turbulent years due to the pandemic.
The club predicts that green fee revenues will be high again this year, although not as high as in 2022.
It appears that the demand for foreign golfers to visit British and Irish golf clubs remains strong.
Topgolf Callaway’s Q1 performance can sum up today’s industry
One of golf’s largest companies had a mixed set of results for its Q1 2023 earnings report.
Top golf Callaway’s The golf equipment segment was down nearly £20m (5.2 per cent) year on year, perhaps as high inflation and a slowdown in participant growth after the pandemic impacted sales.
Top wave. Image from Twitter
However, turnover for the Topgolf business grew by £65 million – an increase of 25.3 per cent year on year.
This is because a recent study found that 41.1 million Americans played golf by 2022, nearly 10 million more than the total number of golf participations in 2016, with more people playing golf off the course, at facilities such as Topgolf’s driving ranges, than on it. .
