It’s that time of year again, when local newspapers’ golf writers often herald the arrival of another season by devoting an article or column to their assessments of the state of the industry within their respective coverage areas. Often these articles come with side lists that recommend good new courses—and/or clubs that are proven leaders—that the writer feels readers should make sure to try to play in the coming months.
It’s never bad to see this kind of attention given to the business, and certainly everyone is entitled to express their opinions in this way.
But even when I read these types of articles online, and they’re about areas of the country or unfamiliar clubs that I’m really not equipped to make judgments about, I often come away feeling that these annual attempts to assess our business are off-target, even though they’ve been written by people who cover the field for a living.
Usually, my problem with these articles comes down to one or all of these basic flaws:
• They’re too oriented to individual play. They don’t make any effort to provide direction for readers who might be interested in participating in, or helping to organize, group outings or events—a segment of the business that, as our article on page 30 of this issue points out, continues to grow in importance.
• They’re too oriented towards younger males, and usually fail to highlight clubs that are particularly good for juniors, seniors or women.
• They’re too golf-oriented. I know that sounds contradictory when talking about golf columns written by golf writers. But it would be nice to see more of them recognize that the health of the business now hinges as much on other aspects of club and resort life as on golf, and then take time to update readers about interesting non-golf developments at local properties, be they new fitness centers, banquet rooms, restaurants, swimming pools or anything else.
If you get any of these same feelings (or others) after reading one of these articles that pertains to your part of the market, and especially if you feel that your own property has been shortchanged in any way, I’d strongly encourage you to not just shrug it off.
Send the writer a note, or call him or her, to point out where you think they’ve missed the mark or overlooked something or some place (specifically, your club). You’ll be surprised how often this will lead to a follow-up article that focuses on what’s special about your club, and ends up giving you more than your share of the positive limelight.
So if you find that you and your club may have been wronged by this annual rite of spring, there’s still a good chance you can come out smelling like a rose.
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