Fun, Easy and Creative Way to
Retain Beginners
Presented By Michael Attara
Purpose & Objective
• PURPOSE: provide information that convinces
you of the opportunity to Grow the Game of Golf
and how you can make a difference at your
facility by creating fun, easy and creative ways to
retain beginners and re-engage the lapsed golfer.
• OBJECTIVE: get more of you committed to Get
Golf Ready type programs, Golf 2.0 and Growing
the Game of Golf
What You will Take-Away From
This Course: Overview
• Why is this important for you and your facility
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New players and engaging the lapsed player drives more rounds, membership and
facility usage
Creates more job security and opportunity for you and a better relationship with your
owners, boards and members
Gives you and your staff and opportunity to make more money
• How to implement these programs
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Understanding what the customer is looking for and how to retain them
How to market and promote you facility to beginners and the lapsed golfer
Utilize the programs that have a proven track record of attendance and loyalty for you r
club
How to train and reward your staff
• Summary
• Questions/Discussion
Background
Growth of U.S. Golf
Rounds Played
2002
2005
2008
2011
-1.81%
-1.9%
-0.02%
-2.9%
▫
Source: Golf Datatech (PGA Magazine), National
Golf Foundation
Less Rounds Played on More Courses
Smaller Pie – Smaller Pieces
2005
2011
Background
Who Plays Golf in the U.S.
Golfers In Millions
Source: Golf Datatech (PGA Magazine), National Golf Foundation

Question – Why aren’t we changing these
trends
• Interested beginners
Into Occasional Players
• Occasional or Lapsed Golfers
• Core/Avid
Into Core/Avid Golfers
Becoming Occasional Golfers
Perception:
Too Expensive
Too Time Consuming
Too Difficult/Intimidation
The Challenge - Opportunity
• To make your facility known as “The fun and
affordable place to learn and play golf”
• To engage new players and lapsed golfers
• To increase your facilities revenues and
overall stability in the golf industry
You will benefit from:
1. Understanding what the beginner is looking for
after the lessons end
• Ask questions and have them fill out surveys on the first day of class
• Have the instructor give them discounts for the next class or lesson
and help them decided which class to sign up for before they leave
their last session or lesson
• Guide them with club purchases
• Offer inexpensive starter sets to keep them practicing and playing.
Advertise them as a package with Get Golf Ready or by themselves.
• Offer beginner leagues, shorter “Tee it forward” courses and 6 or 9
hole off time rates
You will benefit from:
2. Ways to market and promote your facility to beginners and
recent students
 Use the Playgolfamerica.com webiste
 Utilize local Community Colleges, Universities, and Town
Recreation Departments to fill your Get Golf Ready Classes
 Play Golf America Day – Host or participate
 Free Lesson Month
 Social Media - Craig’s list, Facebook, and Twitter
 Involve your staff with an incentive program they can benefit
from and track through your POS system
 Train your entire facility staff so they are familiar with the
philosophy, available programs, and promotions they can help
sell.
You will benefit from:
2. Ways to market and promote your facility to beginners
and recent students
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Utilize the Playgolfamerica.com website
▫ This is a free national tool available to post, market, register
students, and track your numbers
▫ Has best practices and templates available to help you create
programs that work for your demographic, facility and clients.
▫ Formulates a data base that you can use to contact your
customers via email about events and promotions you are running
You will benefit from:
2. Ways to market and promote your facility to beginners and
recent students
•
Utilize local Community Colleges, Universities, and Town
Recreation Departments to market and fill your classes for free
▫ Community Colleges and Universities send out through their Continuing
Education Departments seasonal catalogs of all the courses they are offering
in conjunction with local community businesses
▫ These catalogs go to every home within their region.
▫ They will register all of the customers and contract out to your facility for
an agreed dollar amount
▫ Local Town Recreation Departments do the exact same thing within their
towns.
▫ All you have to do is make a phone call and have programs with
descriptions and prices that you want to promote.
You will benefit from:
2. Ways to market and promote your facility to beginners and recent
students
•
Play Golf America Day and Free Lesson Month
▫Play Golf America Day is a free and fun golf festival held in states
all over the country
▫ It an opportunity for your facility to host and gain exposure to
hundreds of new customers that the PGA helps market and
promote for you
▫ If you don’t host volunteer and participate. It will give you an
opportunity to network and promote your facility
▫ Sign up for the free lesson month. Give free 10 min. lessons so
you can then get your programs and information into the hands of
many potential new customers
You will benefit from:
2. Ways to market and promote your facility to beginners and recent
students
• Social Media – Craig’s List, Facebook and Twitter
▫ Utilize all the hottest social media sites to promote your
programs and keep people updated and informed with what you are
doing for FREE!
▫ Millions of people search these forums daily
▫ You can post coupons and referral programs that will help you
use your existing customers and members to share and bring new
ones to your sites
▫ Any form of free advertising and exposure is valuable
You will benefit from:
2. Ways to market and promote your facility to beginners and recent
students
• Involve your staff with incentive programs they can benefit from
and track through your POS System
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Creating an incentive program for your instructors and golf shop staff can
help you retain and even re engage the lapsed golfer at your facility
▫ Once your instructor or golf shop staff has taught or signed up a customer
they attach their initials to that customer
▫ If that customer continues to spend at your facility with more instruction,
merchandise, golf, range or food and beverage you can track that information
through your POS System by adding them to a loyalty program
▫ Your staff can see how often they are spending and how much. Once they
reach $500 or more give your staff 10% of whatever dollars are spent.
▫ This motivates your staff to create a relationship that lasts with that
customer. If they look up and see Mr. and Mrs. White haven’t been around they
can reach out and help get them back into your facility while strengthening
that customers experience
You will benefit from:
2. Ways to market and promote your facility to beginners and recent
students
• Train you entire facility staff so they are familiar with the philosophy,
available programs, and promotions they can help sell
▫
Having your entire facility staff from cart guys, rangers, starters, golf shop
staff, wait staff, bartenders, locker room attendants, and halfway house staff
familiar with your philosophy, programs, and promotions helps to reach every
type of customer that comes through the facility.
▫ Have your staff mention any promotions that you are having and programs
you are running that may benefit your facility.
▫ Ie “Good morning Mr. Green did you know we are running Family Fridays
where you could bring your wife and kids and they can get instruction and an
introduction to the game while you play golf and then have dinner together in
the restaurant? It’s less then dinner and a movie”
▫ Post on the tables in your restaurant all the programs you are offering now as
well.
You will benefit from:
3. Specific programs that have a proven track record of attendance
and loyalty to your club
• Get Golf Ready I –
▫ $99 for 5hrs. of instruction or $299 – 5hrs of instruction and a beginner set
of golf clubs. Get them on course and hooked right away
▫ Have equipment available in the beginning so they don’t feel they need to
invest more upfront
• Get Golf Ready II –
▫ $129 for 6hrs. of instruction reinforcing basic fundamentals on the course
• Get Golf Ready Beginner leagues with instructor supervision and without.
▫ $35 for 2 hrs. on course play with an instructor to help supervise answering
questions, helping learn rules, and teaching you course management.
▫ $25 for 9 holes and cart paired with other beginners and novices of their
playing ability.
You will benefit from:
3. Specific programs that have a proven track record of
attendance and loyalty to your club
• Get Golf Ready Classes and Family Classes: How we can break
down the barriers that are scaring our new players away!
▫ Be sure to make your instruction very simple and short
▫ Get them doing and playing quickly so they get hooked right away
▫ Get them on the golf course immediately so they feel comfortable and want to
play.
▫ Make sure they understand the “Tee it forward” concept.
▫ Hand out coupons that discount the next class and information about what is
next and how they continue
▫ Offer an option of 9-holes with a cart and dinner for $35 per person
or if someone in the family doesn’t play, do 2hrs. of instruction and dinner at the
same time for $35. It can be a family activity where at the end everyone can eat
and discuss their round and or instruction
You will benefit from:
3. Ideas on how to utilize your facility and overcome
limitations in facilities and or staffing availability
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If you don’t have a lot of facility space rotate your groups with stations
remember that you can have one group at the putting green while another is in the
short game area and one is hitting on the driving range.
• Use the available space on your golf course to teach short game and to hit a few
shots and keep moving
• If you have a ball room you can always run classes there later in the evening or
during the cold, rain, or excessive heat
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You can use snag or almost golf equipment for enclosed spaces
• If you need additional staff to help with these programs take advantage of PGA
PGM Interns
• Other options are to use local college golf coaches or physical education
teachers you can train to teach the basic course.
▫ This in turn can help us get in school physical education programs trained and
running with their new knowledge base. These students in turn will transition and
become players at your facility
Why Should You Care?
• Fewer Players = A decline in the game and
industry
• You love the game
• You are PGA member dedicated to promoting
the game
• Trend could get worse
• Less opportunities for jobs and financial
growth
Results
• More Adults and Juniors Enjoying Golf
• You Earn and Grow Professionally
• Your Facility – 1-4% more rounds, more
revenue
• U.S. Golf – real growth
Summary
• Our Challenge - Reverse Negative Trends
▫ Less rounds – Less Core/Avid Golfers
▫ Less revenue – less opportunity
• Provide Programs with Playing Opportunities
▫ Get Golf Ready
▫ 9 hole golf
▫ Less challenging – more fun
Questions
Discussion