When evaluating the benefits of running open events – any form of non-exclusive competition, league or event ran by a golf club that non-members and visiting golfers can participate in – it can often be unclear on what their true value is and how this can directly affect business revenues, as well as the overall club portfolio.
Golf Genius has long been an advocate for supporting clubs and resorts on offering best-in-class events that bolster their brand and create revenue opportunities.
The hosting of events can often be the perfect way for clubs to build their profile and find new ways to generate higher revenues throughout the year. From Pro-Ams to mixed gender competitions, the opportunities are endless; with Golf Genius Tournament Management software powering the execution of these events successfully.
In order to provide a better understanding of the benefits of running open events, Golf Genius surveyed their UK customers on their experiences and the key driving factors behind why they put a premium on open competitions.
The report presents a range of themes and findings related to the running of ‘open-style events’.
From the survey, here are the 3 main takeaways and learnings directly from clubs that are currently running open events.
1) Open-style events provide strong sources of revenue generation
– The average entry fee charged for an open event is £66, with more than 93% of events having 40+ players in attendance, averaging around 67 players. Many UK golf clubs see high entry fee revenues from a single open competition, averaging in excess of £4,000 in entry fee revenue (dependent on price of entry and number of attendees).
2) When ran in an effective and successful manner, open-style events are profitable for golf facilities.
On average, a single open event can generate £1,370 in gross profit. In addition to the entry fee revenue that clubs see from an open event, 71% of clubs also report a gross profit margin of more than 30-40% per event, with 85% reporting a 20-30% margin. With the running of an open event, and support from a software solution like Golf Genius Tournament Management, clubs can run unique and engaging open events as a profit-making activity.
3) Revenue, non-member outreach and service differentiation are the key factors to consider when planning open events.
Traditional barriers toward running open events are often centred around how they’ll impact the regular, day-to-day revenue operations currently in place (promoting green fees, member spending, etc.). Through Golf Genius’ survey, it highlighted that open events provide an opportunity to increase alternative revenue streams, reach non-member golfers, and offer a unique service to boost the club’s profile.
How do clubs move forward with this information?
Finding new revenue streams and alternate ways of diversifying a club’s offering can be difficult to navigate when already managing a complex operation. Open events can be a daunting endeavour without a clear understanding of the true return on investment – which is where Golf Genius are able to step in.
Following the results of the survey, Golf Genius has developed an ROI calculator. The new, free to access, Golf Genius ROI Calculator is meticulously designed to not only showcase the invaluable time-saving capabilities of the software solution, but also to shed light on the substantial revenue-generating potential it can offer, particularly regarding open events. It allows clubs to benchmark their open events against the UK market.
To calculate your own golf club’s return on investment from Golf, visit the calculator here.
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