The Pellucid Perspective - September 2016 - 5

GOLF MARKETING Companies launch pay-per-hole, pay-for-time options By Jim Dunlalp T he golf industry continues to struggle with the issue of declining participation and the most oft-cited reason for it, namely that it takes too much time. In the endless discussions about the causes and cures for that concern, ranging from the recreational preferences of the vast Millennial generation to promotion of 9-hole rounds or 6-hole loops, someone invariably tosses in as almost an afterthought, "Why not even pay by the hole?" Well, two groups have finally said "Why not indeed?" and initiated pilot launches of programs where golfers pay by the number of holes they play in one case, and by the amount of time they have available for golf in the other. One group, headed by partners former Pellucid Corp. associate Harvey Silverman and Mike Dickoff of Apparation LLC with investor support from several golf course operators, has launched Quick.golf a web-based app that enables golfers to sign up on their mobile devices for "Quick Golf " during the times it's offered at participating courses and pay a set rate per hole for as many, or as few, holes as they end up playing. The other variation on the theme is GetOut!Golf, co-founded by Todd Brugger and technology firm owner and consultant Dieter Gable and homebased in the Phoenix area, where golfers utilize a native app on their mobile devices to sign up with participating courses for the amount of time they have for golf that day. Play is booked at a set rate for each 30-minute increment golfers want to play, with courses typically providing an advisory on not only when the program will be offered but how many holes golfers are likely to get in during their allotted time based on typical course pace of play. In terms of business models, GetOut!Golf shares revenue generated through the app with the golf course, with no other fees charged to customers or the course. Quick.golf charges www.PellucidCorp.com courses a one-time sign-up fee of $299, offset by marketing and promotional collateral valued at approximately half that amount provided by Quick.golf. The company then collects 20 percent of each customer transaction, pays the credit card transaction fees and remits the remainder to the course once a week. Both programs are in their infancy, with GetOut!Golf having debuted earlier this summer and Quick.golf launching in the last month or so. GetOut!Golf has 7 Phoenix-area courses currently offering the program, and will cap their initial pilot launch at 10 courses, at which point they will evaluate the results and hopefully garner additional investors to fund additional consumer marketing and awareness efforts and expand throughout other parts of the country. Quick.golf currently has 25 courses participating in their initial launch, according to Silverman, primarily in California but also in Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland and Florida. Neither company is making claims to have found the silver bullet for restoring the U.S. golf industry to prosperity, but Brugger in particular feels that programs like GetOut!Golf have the potential to not only generate additional revenue for course operators, but also to re-energize and re-inspire the many millions An image of the phone app from the GetOut!Golf website. The Pellucid PersPecTive 5 https://www.quick.golf/playnow http://Quick.golf http://Quick.golf http://Quick.golf http://Quick.golf http://Quick.golf http://Quick.golf http://www.getoutgolf.com http://www.PellucidcorP.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - September 2016