Feature - Topgolf
“Green-grass golf
participation remains
an essential measure
of golf’s vitality, and
we will continue to
measure and report
on it the way we
always have,” said NGF
president and CEO Joe
Beditz in the report.
“But we decided it was
time to add off-course
participation in order
to track the dynamic
growth we have seen
there, and which we
believe will continue.”
Thus, the report
pointed out another
8.3 million people who
played exclusively off-
course at facilities like Topgolf, putting the
game’s overall participant pool at more than
32 million. A number nearly 3 per cent higher
than last year’s 31.1 million.
NGF sent the survey to a sample of 1,542
Topgolf guests in August last year. Additional
survey results showed that roughly 51 per
cent of the Topgolf guests were total novice
golfers who had never played before. Of
these non-golfers, 75 per cent stated they
now had an interest in playing traditional golf
after visiting a Topgolf location.
The report also surveyed new golfers who
had been playing for three years or less,
which of 23 per cent said they had picked up
the game after their first Topgolf experience.
A mere 1 per cent of the people polled said
they were less likely to play traditional golf
after visiting a Topgolf venue.
Those encouraging numbers alone should
be enough to quiet the voices claiming the
popular phenomenon to cannibalise golf
14
course revenues by
steering golfers away
from traditional golf
courses, due to its higher entertainment
value.
It’s high time we let go of sentiments like “It’s
not real golf” or “It’s not getting more people
on the greens”.
ANY EXPOSURE IS GOOD
EXPOSURE, RIGHT?
But yes, realistically, of course, there won’t be
a 100 per cent conversion rate to long-term
golf club members¬– not in the U.S, nor in
Australia. Hitting a few balls with mates in
a fun-filled, weather-free environment is a
different ball game than the traditional five
hour-long 18-hole round out on the course.
But as Topgolf Executive Chairman Erik
Anderson said during a panel on off-course
participation at the NGF Golf Business
Symposium in Dallas: “Even if just 1 per
cent of Topgolf attendees are converted to
golfers, that’s still about 5,000 new golfers at
each location,”
The Golf Marketing Professionals I www.golfindustrycentral.com.au