Golf pros know they can’t win a tournament on Thursday. But if they are being honest, they will tell you they know they can lose it. Getting off to a fast start builds confidence and momentum, provides a bit of breathing room for the inevitable “Oh, S&#@!” hole lurking out there, and increases the odds of a pretty good payday come Sunday.
The same holds true for your business—so it is encouraging to see 2013 get off to a good start for the golf and club industry. Let me count the ways:
PGA Show: check. Attendance was up for the first big golf event of the year, and the buzz on the show floor was the best I have seen and heard in five years. Plus, golf pros are fun guys to hang with under any circumstances, but even better when they sense a pretty good year coming.
Golf Industry Show: check. With just over 6,000 attendees, exhibitors were happy not just with the headcount, but especially with the upbeat nature of industry prospects for the year. This is largely a capital goods show, and sellers met with a lot of people who were, or will be, buying.
CMAA World Congress and Club Business Expo: check. The club managers and exhibitors who attended this show in San Diego got another winner. Clubhouse facilities, operations, technologies and management strategies are at the core of this show and its related conference agenda. Most attendees at this event are the COOs of their clubs, so the buck stops with them—and most of them came to the show with needs to fill and budgets to spend.
Club & Resort Business and the McMahon Group co-hosted our annual Excellence in Club Management Awards Reception and Dinner as part of our CMAA experience. A record-breaking 130 club managers and guests joined us to honor the 2012 Award Winners (to read more about the winners and the event, see page 58).
Most clubs have stemmed the tide of declining membership ranks, and many managers are talking about an influx of new members. Spending plans previously on hold are being updated and initiated.
None of this is to suggest that all is completely right with the world. Instead, today’s concerns for many clubs have shifted from survival to the complexity of everyday business challenges. For example, one manager told me what’s keeping him awake these nights is trying to figure out how to handle employee benefits under Obamacare—does the club continue to provide the coverage, or transition employees to a healthcare exchange? Most small businesses will struggle with this issue all year, strategizing to minimize the cost impact of this mostly unpopular legislation.
And who knows what damage the pending (as I write this) sequester might do to consumer and business confidence. You can bet the Administration will paint a draconian picture of the impact, as their strategy seems to be based on instilling a sense of fear as much as anything else. In a best-case scenario, the impact will be minimal for most, and both sides will compromise on a solution.
Separate from the shenanigans in Washington, it is clear the overall economy is benefiting from a stronger housing market, a slowly recovering jobs market, and a Dow that is playing with 14,000—nice stats to have on our side.
Finally, as you read this we will be in Denver, for our 5th Annual Chef to Chef Conference. It’s a record-setter with 200+ executive chefs, F&B execs and a few GMs from clubs all around the country. The agenda is awesome and the learning, idea-sharing and networking are all outstanding.
A growing business—ours or yours—doesn’t happen by accident. Smart management will keep the momentum going throughout the year.
And it is a lot more fun to play from ahead than behind.
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