HOW TO BRING THE ‘OFF COURSE GOLF’ BACK ‘ON COURSE’

By Robert Peterson – Chief Designer for SmartTarget.Golf

Everyone is talking about how ‘off course’ golf play has eclipsed ‘on course’ play. From a target designer’s perspective, and one who has been watching the ‘Topgolf effect’ from a different perspective, the ‘off course effect’ folks speak of is really how golf venues can move into the evening and finally access evening customers looking to simply have fun. This transition into the evening allows you to sell fun vs. serious practice.

How to bring this evening-focused entertainment onto the golf course as another engine that can out-produce daytime rounds revenue? By retrofitting the driving range, a golf course can now begin to access the night and a vastly larger and more lucrative customer base.

Golf entertainment opens up not just one but many new revenue streams from supporting a restaurant to buy outs, parties, and sponsorship. In truth, this new evening entertainment has taken away a great many daytime corporate outings and fundraisers simply because it’s vastly more affordable for a business owner to buy out a bunch of bays in the evening vs. giving all their employees the day off and paying for their golf.

So if this is so easy, what is the ‘How’? What are the best steps to garner revenue from evening entertainment?

First, it must fit your venue. One size does not fit all. Some golf courses are simply not made for a dedicated permanent venue of 10-40 bays even if it were fancy greens instead of targets. Also, these clubs are either private or have too many homes and neighbors around the range who might not approve. For these green grass venues, mobile pop-up target parties done periodically are a much better fit. Mobile targets can light up the night for a simple 3-target cigar party down a fairway or a full-on Golf Games -Drive, Chip, Putt, and Party.

For venues with ample distance from neighbors, the technology is here to create a highly profitable, cost-effective 10-40 bay facility that answers all your evening needs, while complementing and expanding the golf course and its appeal to golfers as well as ‘could be golfers’. To do this properly you need to focus on the field because the one photo that will run your social media survival is the shot from behind the player with an epic background of light, sound, and motion. Without the ‘bowling pins’ in the field the number of impressive shots will be seriously affected as will be your business. It’s really that easy.

By paying attention to the complete tee box to target experience the better chance you will have with attracting and keeping customers. We call this giving to get. You need to give once, very well, by creating a memorable venue, and then the customers will give back again and again. Your traditional practice range is basically an empty stage with no band or entertainment. Feel free to comment or ask questions about how we can help your venue grow the game of golf by turning on the next generation of golfers, accessing them when they are available….with golf entertainment they will love.