The Pellucid Perspective - August 2024 - 9

Topgolf, have some food and drinks, slap some balls
around and spend time with people I like (also get a high
deck so you get points even when you muff it) but going
out on a golf course is harder, more complicated, I'd be
embarrassed and I don't want to take the time to learn or
spend 4 hours at it on any given weekend. " To reinforce
that consumer mindset challenge, we now have a jointlocation
facility in El Segundo, CA, separated only by a
tall, shared net. In a recent industry presentation, NGF's
Greg Nathan shared some exit interview work they did
at that property and asking the Topgolfers why they don't
cross-the-divide (that vast distance of...a net) to try golf
on the 9-hole, executive-length course. He reported that
one of the most frequent responses was, " Why would I
do that? " Enough said.
*
Just to round out, and balance, this perspective though,
what has surprised me is that, from the numbers we can
track, Topgolf hasn't been dilutive to green grass, either
pre-COVID or during the current growth cycle. So,
while they're not doing us any favors in sending golfinterested
folks our way, it's not like they're choking
off our attraction rate or stealing frequency from the
" dualies " .
Before I close, I want to do a light, superficial " hit job " on one
of my favorite golf industry myths: Health in the professional
game of golf is correlated to the health of golf as a recreational
sport. I'm not going to bore you with facts and analysis on this one
(code for, too tough and I'm too tired to tackle it here), all you have
to do is look at two points in time to figure this one out. During
the recreational golf doldrums ('00-'19), the PGA TOUR was
still going gangbusters. They were successfully replacing defecting
sponsors and the purses were going up gradually (but steadily)
despite lackluster or declining ratings. Everybody still wanted
them and the professional sport's viewing audience. Fast-forward
to the '20-'24 period and now the recreational sport is ascendent
while professional golf is a hot mess of money, politics, grievances,
cloak-and-dagger discussions/negotiations and the PGA TOUR
admitting (first time in history likely) that they no longer own the
bully pulpit of having the most cash entering into a conversation:
" If this is an arms race and if the only weapons here are dollar bills,
the PGA Tour can't compete. The PGA Tour, an American institution,
can't compete with a foreign monarchy that is spending
billions of dollars in attempt to buy the game of golf. We welcome
good, healthy competition. The LIV Saudi golf league is not that, "
he said. It's an irrational threat, one not concerned with the return
on investment or true growth of the game. " (Jay Monahan)
So there you have it, in one article four golf industry " beliefs "
explored and enumerated. Sorry if I burst your personal or professional
bubble on any of these but...now you know.
n
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The Pellucid PersPecTive
9
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The Pellucid Perspective - August 2024

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