The Pellucid Perspective - November 2020 - 9

Circling back to the Callaway/TopGolf marriage; another
lockdown would be a blow. In addition, the change in behaviors is making more people wary of large gatherings. Even
their Press Release indicates that TopGolf is only operating
at 80% - 85% of their pre-pandemic levels since reopening in
September.
While this is not a good indicator for Callaway, it could be
good news for golf courses. In spite of all the previous chatter about TopGolf as a potential contributor to green grass golf
participation which is being echoed by Callaway; there is no
evidence that TopGolf has had a positive impact. In 2019, TopGolf reported 23M visitors, with 50% being non-golfers. Since
2016, there have been more than 60M
visitors and 30M non-golfers exposures. Our 2019 golf participation data
from the National Sporting Good Association reflected no change in participation despite TopGolf 's introducing
11.5M more non-golfers to the idea of
swinging a golf club.
The surge in participation from May
- October was accomplished while
TopGolf was mostly shut down. This
provides further evidence that TopGolf might actually represent competition with green grass golf for time and
recreational spending. It is much more
likely that this new enthusiasm for golf
is is due to the lack of other recreational
and leisure activities rather than any
impact from TopGolf and other " digital " options.
How many of these new and returning lapsed golfers stay engaged is
our opportunity and challenge. As we
have emphasized before, new customer
identification and communication are
key. The creation of instructional and
playing opportunities that encourage
involvement are also important. Regular clinics and the availability of good
rental equipment are good examples
and also introduce new golfers to each
other. It is likely that the Covid-19
pandemic has re-established golf as a
desirable activity and that impact will
continue into 2021 or until it is eradicated. It is up to us to make sure we do
everything we can to take advantage
of this opportunity. Yes, golf is about
time and money; but the biggest factor
is getting people to play enough to see
improvement. We will never be a game
for everybody, and never have been; but
by concentrating on skill development
and getting these " new " golfers on the
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course more often, we have a chance to make the gains of 2020
sustainable in 2021 and beyond.
As for the Callaway/TopGolf marriage; time will tell. I can
say with certainty, however, that all the platitudes about TopGolf helping boost green grass participation have not been supported by any data we see. Despite more platitudes about the
future and Callaway's position as a great maker of game improvement equipment and good golf industry citizen, they are
now more interested in filling bays than golf course tee sheets.
Golf course owners and operators are, as usual, on their own.
How they capitalize on this resurgent interest in golf will tell
the real story.
n

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The Pellucid Perspective - November 2020

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