Golf courses hope more millennials will come out and tee it up
It's been a long winter, which has delayed the start of spring – and golf – in Central Massachusetts.
Golf course owners are eager to open for business, as soon as the grounds are clear and all set to go. But to have a successful season, the courses need golfers, and that appears to be a big concern.
“Golf has challenges on a national level; we're working on how to grow the game,” said Thomas Bagley, vice president of the Massachusetts Golf Club Association (MGA). Bagley has been heavily involved with golf for 50 years and wants others to experience the same love of the sport as he does.
Golf course owners may agree that to boost business, they need to attract the millennials, who are straying away from sports, especially golf, according to Bagley.
“People have less time to take out of their day to play golf, especially with young families, where it's difficult to reach out to young players. The rate of senior golfers has gone up, but not the younger generation,” Bagley said. This creates a concern for golf course owners in not only keeping the sport alive, but attracting business as well.
The MGA is part of the national Professional Golfers Association, which tries to reach out to younger would-be golfers through a program called First Tee.
“First Tee is a program for children in elementary school up to high school, who may not have the economic needs to play golf,” Bagley said. “This is a national program that teaches life skills and teaches kids leadership skills for the millennial generation.”
Loss of interest since the 1990s
Mark Sweeney, president of the Cohasse Country Club in Southbridge, has felt the drop-off among the younger set.
“Interest in the game was highest in the (1990s),” he said. But “while it is not at that level today, the game is still strong.”
Sweeney said Cohasse will be offering low introductory rates this year for new members, which he hopes will allow them to fit golf into their budgets.
“It all starts locally; that's how to get people involved,” said Pete Meagher, golf course manager of Sassamon Trace Golf Course in Natick. Meagher, who grew up with golf, believes such an approach is the best way to get involved. So, he hopes kids and millennials will grow up with that same love of golf he did.
“The millennials probably make up 20 percent of the players on the course. The problem is that golf is difficult, expensive, time-consuming, and there needs to be more programs that are marketed towards it,” Meagher said.
He also believes the millennials should get more involved with golf.
But he also believes it's crucial for golf courses to hang on to current members. “Our membership keeps growing: We went from 218 members in … 2013, to 254 for last year and now we're beating last year's number and the season hasn't started yet,” said Meagher
Meagher believes golf courses could be at risk of closing because people may not want to pay the fees or they're looking for a cheaper golf course, focusing more on basic needs at the expense of leisure activities, such as golf.
But that doesn't mean members aren't eager for the upcoming season. With the delayed start of spring this year, courses are targeting mid-April openings. “The demand for playing will be higher out of the gate, creating a big demand after a long and cold winter,” said Meagher. “We'll probably lose two weeks of opening, going into the second week of April.”
And when they come back, it'll allow courses to renew memberships, and hope for new members.
“You need to stay hopeful in numbers … as the economy plays along, we'll play along too,” said Meagher. “But golf isn't dead! It'll still keep moving ahead.”
Brittany Lopriore is an editorial intern at the Worcester Business Journal.
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