Inside the growing game of golf across the country | Golf Central | Golf Channel [Video]

0:01 | golf Central on YouTube is brought to

0:03 | you by the Paradigm AI smoke woods and

0:05 | irons from Callaway so much of what we

0:08 | pay attention to on this network

0:09 | revolves around the professional game

0:11 | but as we know there is much more to

0:12 | golf you play it you love it you book it

0:15 | buy it travel for it wear it you live it

0:17 | according to the National Golf

0:18 | Foundation 45 million Americans over the

0:21 | age of six played golf either on a

0:23 | course or off course at entertainment

0:25 | venues like top golf in 2023 maybe most

0:28 | importantly 3. 4 million of those

0:31 | picking up clubs for the very first time

0:34 | with that please to be joined by one of

0:36 | the leading experts he just spoke at the

0:38 | Harvard Business School he’s able to

0:39 | give us a broader perspective on what’s

0:41 | Happening and where it is all headed

0:43 | will McIntosh president of NBC Sports

0:46 | next with golf now and golf pass under

0:48 | your direction will thanks for being

0:50 | with us I’m going to start with not a

0:53 | curveball but a good oldfashioned

0:55 | knuckle ball your grandfather was uh

0:59 | wait willhelm I’m actually named after

1:01 | him uh uh famous knuckle ball pitcher

1:05 | Hall of Fame baseball player great uh

1:09 | great grandfather uh was also a golfer

1:12 | um interesting story um and you know

1:16 | just was a fan of golf and it yeah yeah

1:18 | it’s it’s fortunate to be able to say

1:20 | that he was my grandfather you know

1:21 | playing whiffle ball in the backyard

1:23 | back in Allentown PA a lot of us were

1:25 | Hoy Wilhelm with that knuckle ball as a

1:27 | knuckle baller you could start late as

1:29 | he did after after having served in

1:30 | World War II 30 years old when he got

1:32 | started and was able to pitch until he

1:34 | was 50 so we know you love sports and

1:37 | and you’re you’re a big thinker where

1:39 | this game is is concerned you’re also a

1:41 | data gatherer what data points related

1:44 | to the growth of the game that we just

1:46 | referenced would blow me away will yeah

1:50 | well Rich there’s a lot of good ones to

1:51 | point to and and and in part I’d give

1:54 | credit to our partners at the National

1:55 | Golf foundation for for some of this but

1:58 | fastest growing sport in America in the

2:00 | last five years faster even than pickle

2:02 | ball faster even than pickle ball though

2:04 | there are some pickle ball people out

2:06 | there that might dispute that fact we we

2:08 | we do believe golf’s the fastest growing

2:10 | six consecutive years of growth for

2:14 | golfers that are playing golf at a golf

2:16 | course you look at 2023 you had 45

2:19 | million people in America pick up a golf

2:21 | club and play some form of golf and

2:24 | there’s an import there’s an important

2:26 | distinction there I know we’ll talk more

2:27 | about it as the conversation goes on so

2:29 | the

2:30 | the story that that data is telling us

2:33 | is what what what what’s the story I

2:36 | golf is in an incredible place from a

2:38 | from a business and industry perspective

2:40 | probably the best it’s been in the 22

2:42 | years that I’ve professionally been

2:45 | looking at the business of golf all

2:47 | right so I think we all know by now that

2:50 | there was a covid bump people were pent

2:52 | up there was you know this great desire

2:54 | to get outside and be able to do

2:56 | something that gave the sport a boost um

2:59 | how has golf been able to sustain that

3:02 | momentum yeah what’s amazing is if you

3:04 | look at like rounds played last year

3:06 | which is a stat that’s important to the

3:07 | industry was just over 530 million that

3:10 | was 20% more than 2019 so you know the

3:14 | last full year before um you know Co hit

3:17 | in the United States and so I think that

3:20 | tells you a lot because here here we sit

3:22 | now years removed from the worst part of

3:24 | the pandemic and the numbers just keep

3:27 | getting better so I think you know

3:30 | there’s a lot of reason why that

3:32 | momentum was created and and now we’re

3:34 | seeing that it does look to be

3:36 | sustainable and and what factors um are

3:39 | driving this sustainability yeah for one

3:41 | I think you know we talked about it

3:42 | before I use that 45 million golfer

3:44 | number there are all these new

3:46 | Alternative forms of golf and I think

3:48 | the industry has become much more

3:50 | inclusive around how it thinks about

3:52 | what a golfer is and what counts as you

3:54 | know golf participation you’re talking

3:56 | about U Top Golf Top Golf uh you know

4:00 | you’ve got Roy maroy is an investor in a

4:02 | business called puty Tiger Woods and

4:04 | tailor made are investors in a business

4:06 | called popstroke our partners at trolf

4:09 | have a indoor golf simulator concept

4:11 | with the golf simulator company golf zon

4:13 | so there’s a n there’s a lot of

4:15 | investment going into the idea of

4:17 | combining Golf and Leisure entertainment

4:19 | into a different experience any numbers

4:21 | that uh suggest that some of the people

4:23 | who are going to Top Golf to have a beer

4:25 | and and knock it around with their their

4:27 | buddies are paying $75

4:30 | a year later to go play their local

4:32 | municipal course I think one of the most

4:34 | fascinating statistics is is we know

4:36 | that if a non-golfer um enters the game

4:39 | via top golfer a platform like that they

4:42 | are five times more likely to ultimately

4:45 | uh find their way to a golf course which

4:47 | is just which just kind of shows you

4:49 | that it it is leading to the creation of

4:51 | new golfers how how have some of the the

4:53 | challenges that we had heard about in

4:54 | the past uh price point the cost of

4:57 | equipment cost just to play the game

5:00 | how are some of those challenges being

5:01 | addressed yeah I think we you know we

5:04 | we’re certainly um you know we run

5:06 | businesses with with an with an emphasis

5:08 | towards making golf as affordable and as

5:11 | as accessible as we possibly can make it

5:14 | um I I do think there is there’s a

5:15 | stigma out there that it is it’s it’s

5:18 | too expensive and and maybe too

5:21 | difficult but but I actually don’t I

5:22 | don’t think the data supports that when

5:24 | you look at uh all the different ways

5:27 | and options that consumers have to to

5:29 | today to have a golf experience um and

5:32 | you know and then you look at like just

5:34 | just something that’s near and dear to

5:36 | us is we’ve helped via golf now we’ve

5:38 | helped raise over $3 million over the

5:41 | last four years for an organization

5:43 | called youth on course who state in

5:45 | mission is to get kids out on the golf

5:47 | course who may not otherwise have had

5:49 | the financial means to do so right you

5:51 | guys have subsidized I read over 400,000

5:54 | rounds yeah it’s unbelievable that’s a

5:56 | big number uh we get credit for it but

5:58 | you know it’s a testament the the users

6:00 | of golf now the golfers out there that

6:02 | are that are rounding up you know their

6:04 | spend with golf now and that money goes

6:07 | directly to youth on course for

6:08 | obviously what is a great cause yeah

6:10 | it’s a good program uh golf overbuilt in

6:12 | the early 2000s there there was a

6:14 | reckoning around 2008 2009 a lot of golf

6:17 | courses returned to Mother Earth Co hits

6:21 | people play so now there’s demand a lot

6:23 | of demand how is the marketplace

6:26 | handling that demand in terms of

6:28 | inventory and maybe more importantly in

6:30 | terms of pricing yeah it’s it’s

6:32 | interesting it’s a it’s a completely

6:34 | different Dynamic than than what it used

6:36 | to be if you go back 10 years ago and it

6:38 | it brings with it its own set of unique

6:40 | challenges like I know a lot of our Golf

6:42 | Course operator partners are you know

6:46 | they they they want to continue to help

6:48 | grow the game but when you look at the

6:50 | you know the basic tenants of economics

6:52 | and supply and demand there has been you

6:54 | know pricing pressure uh you know on you

6:57 | know generally available tea times but I

7:00 | I think overall like I look at the

7:03 | challenges that the industry has today

7:05 | it’s in a much better place than it you

7:06 | know has ever been and and I think via

7:10 | our relationship with golf courses and

7:12 | and the golfer um you know we’re doing

7:15 | our part to to help make sure as we’ve

7:17 | talked about that momentum is Su

7:19 | sustained moving forward uh what’s new

7:21 | on the technological side and how is it

7:23 | changing consumer behavior in the space

7:26 | yeah I mean one of the interesting

7:27 | things that happened um during the

7:29 | pandemic mic is because um you know

7:32 | because of the nature of of what was

7:34 | going on in America there was a

7:36 | proliferation and Adoption of Technology

7:39 | by all kinds of small mediumsized

7:40 | businesses but golf courses included we

7:43 | played a big part in that because people

7:45 | had to book Tea Times online if they

7:47 | wanted to go to the golf course and play

7:50 | because there there wasn’t the ability

7:52 | to to call somebody in the Pro Shop

7:54 | necessarily or walk in the Pro Shop uh

7:56 | especially in the early days of the

7:58 | pandemic so there was there was a there

8:00 | was a very you know accelerated adoption

8:03 | of the the concept of booking Tea Times

8:05 | online and then what we’ve done since

8:07 | then is you know the way I look at it

8:08 | it’s our role to remove as much friction

8:10 | as possible for the golfer from the time

8:13 | they’re thinking about going to play

8:14 | golf until they get to the golf course

8:16 | to play and so we’ve made a massive

8:18 | investment in the uh technological

8:20 | operating system that a golf course uses

8:22 | to run their business to help help

8:25 | consumers have the kind of experience

8:27 | that you have if you use the Starbucks

8:29 | mobile app to you know to buy your

8:31 | coffee and and whatever your breakfast

8:33 | might be what do they want now what what

8:35 | excites the consumer yeah I think it’s I

8:37 | think it’s being able to you know book

8:39 | The Tea Time online to check in and pay

8:41 | and not have to stand in line at a pro

8:43 | shop to be able to be on the golf course

8:45 | and use their iPhone to make an order

8:48 | and have you know food and beverage

8:50 | delivered to them on the course versus

8:51 | waiting for you know the the the cart

8:54 | beverage person to come around um used

8:57 | to be that you know Golf Course diff

8:59 | difficulty you know was the thing oh

9:02 | it’s you know one of the hardest golf

9:03 | courses you’ll ever play my sense is

9:06 | that that’s changed where where are

9:07 | people now with respect to their golf

9:10 | experience and I understand you know

9:12 | it’s different for for different people

9:13 | but generally speaking um what are you

9:16 | hearing from your operators and from the

9:18 | consumers as to what they want with golf

9:20 | courses yeah I think I think the our

9:23 | Golf Course operator Partners have done

9:25 | a great job of embracing new people to

9:28 | the game making it easier for them to

9:31 | you know enjoy this game that you know

9:33 | you and I have had the fortune of

9:34 | playing for a long time so I I think I

9:37 | think obviously there’s been

9:38 | improvements in in you know the

9:41 | equipment that’s used to play golf but I

9:43 | really think the golf course you know uh

9:46 | partner ecosystem is hyperfocused on

9:48 | making sure that these new customers

9:51 | that they’re fortunate to that that

9:53 | they’re fortunate to have at their

9:54 | facility they’re doing a great job of

9:55 | making sure the experience is top-notch

9:57 | so that they want to come back

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Inside the growing game of golf across the country | Golf Central | Golf Channel [Video]

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