The Pellucid Perspective - July 2024 - 16

MARKET FOCUS
US Golf Markets Latest Rankings:
Top 10s for Size & Strength
F
or regular followers of this, the closing column in most
every issue, your diligence this month is rewarded as like
70% of readers will never make it to the knowledge we're
going to convey here regarding scoring and ranking all 207 US
golf markets based on size and strength. You " regulars " know
that we profile one of the Top 25 US Golf Markets screened
by size (a composite score of rounds, golfers and holes (we
don't weight or balance for population differences, bigger almost
always wins except for destination markets like Phoenix,
Orlando etc. that get a boost on the rounds and holes components
based on tourist play)). We then go on, within the Top
25 markets by size to score and `rank` them on more extensive
measures which has produced our bi-annual 1-25 ranking previously.
For
the most recent update, we decided to modify our methodology
slightly and produce size rankings and strength scores
& rankings for all 207 US Golf Markets. The strength scores
are now size-equivalized in the measures that we created (Pop.
growth rates, public golfers per public 18-hole equivalent (or
EHE), % Utilization etc.) so we'll see mid-size markets making
their way into the Top X rankings because they're running
at high efficiency relative to their unique constraints of population,
participation, holes, weather etc. So what does the Top
10 look like for both screens?
belief. Our approach fortunately produced something that may
satisfy differing opinions on the topic. If we take San Diego
and Los Angeles as representing SoCal, you can see above on
the right that San Diego is the strongest market in the US using
our criteria (it's Tier 2-sized and running at high efficiency)
while the Los Angeles SoCal component is just outside the Top
10 at #13 for Strength. So, yes, as a combined major metro,
SoCal's golf engine is " running hot. " On the other hand, we
can name 11 other markets between those two (9 of which are
shown above) which are actually more " golf-starved " than Los
Angeles and " running hotter. "
Hopefully if you've made it this far in the issue you at least
scanned Jim K's article this month which goes into more detail
on the Strength scores and rankings which, for the first time,
now allow us to quantitatively score and `rank` all 207 US Golf
Markets and their performance relative to the national average
(above average (>110 composite index), average (90-110) and
below average (<90) strength). Pellucid Publications Members
already have the Excel workbook with the scores and rankings
for every market in the US; if you were a subscriber in the future,
you'd be the first to see the results and have it in your industry
information library for regular reference. Next month
we'll return to profiling individual markets in this column with
the map and table data that you've learned to know and love
with a focus on the 6 newcomers to the " Top 25
by size, ranked by strength " club (Salt Lake City
will lead us off).
For those more interested in specific golf locations/properties
vs. the health of general markets,
the better solution is Golf Local Market Analysis
specific to a location and draw areas (i.e. 15, 25,
30 minute drivetime). The health and trajectory
assessment of your surrounding market for golf
should be done at least every other year in our
experience because...shift happens (demographics,
participation, supply levels/mix etc.). With
Pellucid's recently-introduced Golf Local Market
Dynamics, self-serve, web-delivered tool, you
now can order one, pay for it and have it sent to
you via email in <10 minutes! Just $450 (additional
10% discount for NGCOA members via
SmartBuy, email Jim K. for the code before you
order); for more information or to order yours for
In a recent exchange with respected industry veteran and
colleague Craig Kessler out in the Golden State, we discussed a
comment in a recent article that he made stating that SoCal is
the most golf-starved geography in the country. This was based
on holes and population data supplied over the years by one of
the trade organizations (they who shall not be named, ha, ha)
and it influenced our work in creating a Strength scoring system
that, among other benefits, would either support or refute that
16 The Pellucid PersPecTive
strategic planning, click here. For service providers who need
to look across multiple markets or are in the business of buying/selling
golf courses (none of the major brokers currently do
this, go figure), the GLMA software annual license is the tool
for you; click here for more info. Thanks for making it to the
end of the issue, we hope that the above nugget of information
and insight made the (small) additional time investment
worth it!
n
July 2024
https://www.pellucidcorp.com/reports/market-analysis https://www.pellucidcorp.com/services/golf-local-market-analysis
The Pellucid Perspective - July 2024

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