By Steve Pike
When most people think about golf, they think about what they see on TV — primarily Tiger Woods and the PGA Tour. But neither Woods nor the Tour lives in the real world of the golf industry — an industry that includes struggling equipment companies, struggling retailers and struggling golf courses.
“A Rubik’s Cube of problems,” said Tony Chateauvert, general manager and head professional of the Palm Beach Par 3 on South Ocean Boulevard in Palm Beach.
The industry’s most glaring problems are retention and rounds played. By most accounts, the industry loses as many as 3 million players per year — as many players as it gains.
Rounds played in the U.S. have consistently declined. A National Golf Foundation 2005 participation study showed the number of golfers in the U.S. at 30 million; the same study in 2011 put the number at 25.7 million.
The number of golf course openings, according to the NGF, reached a record 399 in 2000. In 2012, that number was 14; the number of closings in 2012 was 155.
So much for the “golf boom” of the late 1980s and ’90s. The boom — some industry observers say it never existed — was driven largely by master-planned communities in Sun Belt states such as Florida, Texas and Arizona.
“The ’80s and ’90s had a huge pipeline of golfers coming down and buying a house in a golf community and joining the club,” Chateauvert said. “That pipeline has been getting smaller every year. Older people are dying off and not being replaced as quickly by a new generation of golfers. The pie just keeps getting smaller.”
Basically, today’s golf course industry is playing a zero-sum game. According to Golf Datatech, a Kissimmee-based research company, rounds played in the U.S. through this past May were down 11.9 percent compared to the same period in 2012. In Palm Beach County, rounds played through this past May were down 2.6 percent. For comparison, rounds played in Fort Lauderdale and Miami, through this past May, according to Golf Datatech, increased 4.2 percent versus the same period a year ago.
“It’s all about how we can keep expenses down and rounds up,” Chateauvert said. “Everybody is working harder. The town (of Palm Beach, which owns the Palm Beach Par 3) is realizing there is not really that much money in golf. The only difference between us and others is the town of Palm Beach is behind this whole project.”
It appears to be paying off. Chateauvert said the Palm Beach Par 3, which will open a new clubhouse this fall, “had a better year in 2011 and again in 2012 and 2013.”
“I run a lot of promotions and shake a lot of hands and kiss a lot of babies,” Chateauvert said. “I give (customers) a face and voice they can recognize. A lot of clubs are doing same things, but I’m on the ocean and they aren’t. And I have the town of Palm Beach behind me. For whatever reason, it works.”
For the time being at least, Chateauvert seems to have solved the Rubik’s Cube.
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