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"Golf's biggest threat" -- interesting read

arydolphin said:
Do they not get an email confirming the booking?
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Most haven't gone and checked yet. They make the reservation and call immediately. And some get the confirmation but want to check, just to make sure. Really defeats the whole purpose of the whole thing.

And then there are the ones who don't get confirmation and show up anyway and don't have a tee time and there is nowhere to put them.
 
I would probably not be playing golf today if not for sites like golfnow. Living In Southern California golf courses can be very expensive. Take oak creek in irvine as an example typical rate is $180 and that's the golfnow price. Golf needs to be more affordable so people with less disposable income can play. I would much rather play 4 rounds for $180 than give that to Oak Creek for one round.
 
One other thing I just thought about is these sites make possible for groups smaller than 4 to make a tee time. Singles especially are stuck at courses since they cannot make a tee time and have to show up and wait until they can be worked into other groups. Being able to book a time online allows more people to play since they can count on a time they will get out. Think pace of play is an issue? Try being a single or pair trying to get a round otherwise, you better have all day.
 
I almost always purchase rounds online at a discount. It's convenient and also allows me to see rates for many area courses at once. My best guess is the courses will discount the rates to get bodies on the course..... Then you can buy their $4 beers and $5 sandwiches. And don't forget the $8 small bucket of range balls! It's not just about the greens fees.
 
I've never had trouble with golfnow and the business they bring to a course. They sell a discounted rate, but how much revenue did they get with the empty tee time? If the course is good, I'll play it again. That just guaranteed another tee time that wouldn't have ever happened without a cheaper preview so to speak.
 
I can give GolfNow a whole bunch of credit for getting me back into the game. Most of the courses around me want $60-$100 for a round and thats just not worth it for me. Those discounts allowed me to play as much as I wanted without breaking my wallet. The proshop would snicker when I mentioned the site, even though they wouldnt have gotten my money otherwise. I especially dislike the comment about brand devaluation. A heightened sense of self value does more damage to the image of a course than most else, imo. It gives off that snooty vibe that the average joe wont even bother with.
 
Did you know that the courses dictate the prices on GolfNow? All except two tee times a day, which are trade times. Those are the ones that Golf now can sell for whatever they want to, and keep everything they make off it. We try to keep our online prices on our website within $2.50 of GolfNow (their booking fee), since even if we are $2 more than GolfNow, we are still 50 cents cheaper. Best for you all to look at your course online booking too.

The only issue the golfer has with those super cheap rates (the trade times) is if it rains (and only if the course is closed because of it), they have to deal with GolfNow to get refunded, since the course can't give out a raincheck for Zero dollars (since the golfer paid nothing to the course).
 
coach said:
At my local 9 hole course, Golf Now posts 2 tee times nearly everyday (9:03 am and 9:10) somewhere between $15-20 with a cart whereas the regular rate is usually $45+. If golf courses are not making money with these online services, they should use different software. Tee time registration can't be too difficult.
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The golf course has given those tee times to Golfnow to sell in trade for Golfnow services as opposed to paying Golfnow actual money. It's Golfnow that's selling the tee times and not the course, this is why it's cheaper and it's only the 2 tee times.
 
Courses sell discount unreserved tee times just like airlines and hotels sell unreserved seats and beds. As an example, I often find incredibly cheap fees on some courses around here at 11:45AM when nobody else typically reserves because people don't want to play during lunch. These services help courses fill otherwise unreserved time.
 
JCoop said:
Courses sell discount unreserved tee times just like airlines and hotels sell unreserved seats and beds. As an example, I often find incredibly cheap fees on some courses around here at 11:45AM when nobody else typically reserves because people don't want to play during lunch. These services help courses fill otherwise unreserved time.
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Once again, check your course website too. Because they will discount the tee times on there as well. And they are doing it at both. And if you use the golf website, you might pay a little more, but you aren't paying a booking fee. This way you can pay less than GolfNow, and at the same time give more money to the course. I think the actual booking fee is now $2.49 per slot in the tee time. (Unless you have spent so much in booking fees that they don't charge you the fee anymore)
 
If it wasn't for online bookings, I probably wouldn't/couldn't afford to golf regularly at all. There are specials at the course I play at around noon, and between 3-4. Even with those specials, the place is empty during the week. It's better to have someone play for $20 than it is to have noone play at all. At least then you can bring in regular people like myself. If i had not been playing regularly before, I wouldn't be thinking of getting a monthly membership now.
 
That's good advice. And I do check my course websites because, yeah, I want them to get the money. Oddly enough, they usually just use the services and don't advertise their own deals.
 
JCoop said:
That's good advice. And I do check my course websites because, yeah, I want them to get the money. Oddly enough, they usually just use the services and don't advertise their own deals.
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We do (obviously). In fact, not only do we mention it at the counter, there is also a link to book online on our Facebook page.
 
A lower price on golfnow is better for a course then no money at all...

I think it's foolish to charge extra for a cart too, much less for "half" a cart. I typically play a 9 hole college course that has no carts (push/walk only) which is $15 on weekends for unlimited play and is better maintained than most $40 courses I've played. My only complaint is that the course is a little easier than most because it doesn't have a ton of trees to separate fairways.

The most successful businesses realize that if they can't make sufficient funds at high prices, they can make up the difference through quantity of customers by lowering prices.
 
I find it interesting that courses use these discount services but don't do like you do and don't offer the same on their own websites. Ragged Mountain here in NH had a steal at 11:30 AM for, I think it was $17 with cart, but it was only online. If you booked the same time through them or as a walk on it was over 50 bucks. Ragged is closed this year, dammit. I loved that deal.
 
A lot of the courses in my area that have historically been busy regardless use golfnow. Most of the tee times are at or very close to standard rates and merely offer convenience to the user. Of course there are the odd "Hot Deals" in there, but honestly, if a course that was always busy before is being driven into financial crisis by using 3rd part booking sites, wouldn't they just quit doing it? If a course can't stay busy on it's own without using these sites and offering discounted tee times, it's probably not very viable to begin with. As many have already stated, I think there are way bigger issues facing golf. Something that makes it more accessible/affordable is doing more good than harm, IMO.
 
I am new to golf this year and i use the crap out of golfnow, teeoff, and discount tee time book. It enables me to play at half the cost. Some of the courses in my area have high rates and are overpriced anyways.
 
The courses get the marketing for the price of 2 hole rounds they can't control price on. Big deal. Instead of complaining about the deal they should be figuring out how best to turn the bargain hunters into repeat customers or get them to buy stuff when they play the round.
 
I have looked into golfnow, unfortunely all the local courses they have deals with are garbage. No big named courses, just the low end ones which are not enjoyable. There are other options out, that being I just have not used them. Maybe something I will look into now I have a bit more time to play
 
Pace of play haste do with it than Golfnow it just gives you more options we are in a free market economy so competition is part of the deal
 
Smallville said:
Once again, check your course website too. Because they will discount the tee times on there as well. And they are doing it at both. And if you use the golf website, you might pay a little more, but you aren't paying a booking fee. This way you can pay less than GolfNow, and at the same time give more money to the course. I think the actual booking fee is now $2.49 per slot in the tee time. (Unless you have spent so much in booking fees that they don't charge you the fee anymore)
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Yeah the fee has climbed and many times it's about the same price as the course regular rate, unless you're booking one of the "hot deals".

As far as the course offering a similar price at an odd time of the day, most courses haven't gone to a dynamic pricing like that yet.

I was more interested in the business aspect of the article, than how it affects me as a golfer. I was interested to read about some courses starting to shift to dynamic pricing, which is long overdue IMO.

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I just went and looked at a popular local course. On GolfNow, there is a 29.71 rate, but if you go to the course's web site and use whatever system they have in place there, the same time of day (+/- 20 minutes) is 28.40.

Could the course be undercutting GolfNow if, and I'm assuming here, they get all the money instead of roughly 1/2?
 
T0AD said:
I just went and looked at a popular local course. On GolfNow, there is a 29.71 rate, but if you go to the course's web site and use whatever system they have in place there, the same time of day (+/- 20 minutes) is 28.40.

Could the course be undercutting GolfNow if, and I'm assuming here, they get all the money instead of roughly 1/2?
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Not really undercutting... The course dictates the rates on GolfNow, except for a couple tee times per day which GolfNow can sell for whatever they want and keep the profit. They call it "tee time bartering" because the course is essentially trading a couple tee times a day for advertising and marketing that GolfNow brings them. I'm not sure if GolfNow gets paid anything other than their "booking fee" if it isn't one of the couple tee times that they "own". Maybe someone that runs or manages a course can pipe in on that.

Sounds like the course you looked at has finally gotten smart and moved to a dynamic pricing system where they are discounting at off peak times. This is the direction most courses need to take. If I try to book one of my local small courses for a Saturday morning on golfnow, it is about $.50 cents cheaper after the fee. However, if I play at 11:00 am GolfNow will be much cheaper.
 
lilbilly said:
Not really undercutting... The course dictates the rates on GolfNow, except for a couple tee times per day which GolfNow can sell for whatever they want and keep the profit. They call it "tee time bartering" because the course is essentially trading a couple tee times a day for advertising and marketing that GolfNow brings them. I'm not sure if GolfNow gets paid anything other than their "booking fee" if it isn't one of the couple tee times that they "own". Maybe someone that runs or manages a course can pipe in on that.

Sounds like the course you looked at has finally gotten smart and moved to a dynamic pricing system where they are discounting at off peak times. This is the direction most courses need to take. If I try to book one of my local small courses for a Saturday morning on golfnow, it is about $.50 cents cheaper after the fee. However, if I play at 11:00 am GolfNow will be much cheaper.
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Thanks for the lesson. I believe most (of the courses I play, anyway) around here have moved to dynamic. I'm always hunting down a 'time vs. cost' tradeoff that works for me.
 
T0AD said:
Thanks for the lesson. I believe most (of the courses I play, anyway) around here have moved to dynamic. I'm always hunting down a 'time vs. cost' tradeoff that works for me.
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Agreed, me too. And I think a good majority of golfers do as well. Courses need to move to this kind of pricing, and then do a better job of informing golfers that they can book on their website outside of booking sites.
 
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