The Pellucid Perspective - May 2012 - (Page 2)

TEE TIME MARKETING New wave of third-party tee time providers surfacing Is GolfNow’s dominance vulnerable to new arrivals? By Harvey Silverman n eerie quiet has descended upon GolfNow’s public relations machine in the wake of their PGA deal debacle. Rumors persist of their acquiring a tee sheet/point-ofsale system, either through purchase or other means. While some in the industry await their next move, others see an opening to introduce third-party alternatives with different business concepts and revenue models. Our research has identified two groups of alternative providers emerging on the Internet landscape. One group is taking a local/ regional cooperative approach that is more holistic in nature; the other is comprised of online entrepreneurs looking to generate revenue from golf courses’ participation. Let’s take a look at who might be knocking on your door in the very near future. Julie Roberts is the PGA general manager at Minor Park golf course in Kansas City, and a partner in Orion Golf Management in the same city. Julie is attempting to lead a cooperative group of course operators to accept a “rising tide raises all boats” concept, and join together to create a regional, online tee time booking engine. The proposed system would incorporate GolfSwitch for the tee time booking technology, and 1-2-1 Marketing for the website. (In the interests of full disclosure, GolfSwitch is a Pellucid Perspective sponsor; 1-2-1 Marketing built and hosts the Pellucid website). “Our goal is to remove GolfNow from our market by providing golfers an easy way to search and reserve tee times at local courses, while offering our golf courses a chance to offer a “low price guarantee” on their own web sites as well as the cooperative site,” said Roberts. “I hope we can convince course operators that “distribution” beats “discounting,” and by so doing we assist everyone’s efforts to operate profitably and stop the predatory discounting GolfNow foments. It may be altruistic to think our site can assist the growth of the game, specifically by more rounds played, but what we as a group are doing now is not working to that end.” A Courses choosing to participate will pay a $1000 flat fee. A small transaction fee paid by golfers when they reserve a tee time is being considered. Each member course will install a “badge” on its own website identifying itself as a member of the playgolfkc.com group. The portal will include links back to the participating course website, as well. A group in New England is attempting to organize under the same structure and using the same technology providers. This group had the foresight to call frequent Pellucid collaborator Stuart Lindsay of Edgehill Golf Advisors to take part in a lively discussion about the ills of discount golf. Again, the group’s purpose is to stymie GolfNow, which hasn’t gained a strong foothold in the New England market but is making aggressive attempts to build its presence there. Lindsay sees issues for any cooperative group, many of which can be overcome, but not without strong leadership and mutual trust amongst the members. “It’s hard to track whether success is spread equally among the participants, and any inkling that it’s not will lead to distrust and defections,” opines Stuart. “I’ve seen these things develop for many years and most fail for all but the strongest participants – those who provide the most attractive value to the consumer (golfer) and who might on their own have more effective marketing. However, uniting around the common goal of stopping GolfNow from gaining traction in a market might be enough incentive that leads to success. ” A third group is launching in Atlanta, organized by the Georgia Golf Course Owners Association (GGCOA), with leadership coming from Affiniti Golf Partners. According to Whitney Crouse, a founding partner with Affiniti and former GGCOA president, theirs is a statewide effort they hope will give participating courses an avenue to promote a “lowest rate guarantee” and replace GolfNow as the go-to site for golfers looking to find a tee time. “We like a lot of things GolfNow does and hope to mirror Our research has identified two groups of alternative providers emerging on the Internet landscape. One group is taking a local/ regional cooperative approach that is more holistic in nature; the other is comprised of online entrepreneurs looking to generate revenue from golf courses’ participation. 2 The Pellucid PersPecTive May 2012 http://www.playgolfkc.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - May 2012

The Pellucid Perspective - May 2012
Table of Contents
New wave of third-party tee time providers surfacing
The Great Contrarian
Endangered species on your course? En garde!
Pace yourself!
Major golf communities changing hands
April weather impact: Yeah baby!
Petroleum industry keeping Houston golf up to speed
KemperSports launches new private club division
Tough times lead Tucson muni’s to consider privatization
Hits and misses for Get Golf Ready special on CBS

The Pellucid Perspective - May 2012