Where Do You See Growth Potential?

A couple of weeks ago, a GNN Poll showed that a huge majority of respondents believe that participation has dwindled considerably over the past couple of years, which means that it’s time to do something about it.

Some may chalk it up to the economy or bad weather over the past couple of years, but is it time to go beyond traditional thinking in golf and pay attention to groups that the industry has either ignored or just paid lip service to in the past?

Of course, it’s tempting to pay attention to the core golfers because they’re regulars, a safe bet to contribute to your bottom line, but are they enough to keep your business sustainable these days? Can we just assume that core golfers will just give way to the next generation of core golfers and things will remain the same?

Or do we go out and lure new people to golf courses and, if so, who are the main targets as the industry goes after non-traditional groups to fill the fairways?

That brings us to this week’s GNN Poll. Some of the following groups have been talked about as potential growth areas for the game, but has everything possible been done to ensure that each one reaches its maximum potential?

The question for this week is which of the following groups represents the greatest growth potential for golf?

• Women: Certainly, things have gotten better for women in golf over the past 20 years, but can more be done to attract them to and keep them in the game? Intimidation is an important factor in this group because many women tend to leave the game. Consideration must also be given to raising children and careers, so how does golf make it easy for a woman to get involved and stay involved? It’s important to remember that women play an important role in household spending.

• Juniors: It’s one thing to talk about the importance of junior golf and looking ahead to the future, but ask yourself, how easy is it for a youngster to actually play the game? Are tee times readily available? For a good part of the year, they have to work their schedules around school and you’re also competing against such distractions as electronic games, computers and other sports such as soccer. Will you ease up on dress code to suit their styles?

• Seniors: Baby-boomers are starting to swell the ranks of the over-60 crowd and many of them these days are fit enough to play the game for years to come. Many have made good money over the years, invested it wisely, but may have been hurt, at least temporarily, by the downturn in the economy. Others may be on a tight fixed income. It may not only be a case of luring newcomers to the game from this group, but also those who have left the game.

• Ethnic Groups: This may affect some areas more than others, but Canada is a multicultural country and with a big number of newcomers arriving from different countries, many of them with not much exposure to golf, the game could be missing the boat by not considering this as a growth area and not connecting. When Gary Player was in Vancouver last week, he talked about how golf is growing rapidly in China, for example. If the game has as much global appeal as we think, then newcomers from other countries may represent a strong growth area.

Have we missed a group that you think may be a potential growth area? Just vote for Other in the poll.

This question brings up several good discussions either here or in the GNN Forum. What unique challenges does each group present in getting them involved? Also, do you have a unique program that caters to one of these groups that works particularly well?

Start a discussion and let us know.

Before you do, however, drop by the GNN Poll and cast your vote.

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