Michigan Golf Journal August 2019

By Kate Moore Michigan Golf Journal Golf Business It’s 6:00pm on any Wednesday evening from May to September. My back deck faces the third fairway of the Blue Course at Eldorado Golf Course in Mason. Golfers. Golfers. They’re everywhere. To borrow a well-known motto: “Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night stays these golfers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” These are the committed ones. The league golfers. Leagues are big business in Michigan and in the Midwest. With roughly a six-month golf season, having these customers committed to the game, week after week, is a key component to most golf course business models. As times have progressed, managing a golf league no longer utilizes the spreadsheet and a cigar box in which to hold the cash. With the technologies available for online league management, golf courses can handle any size, any type of leagues without even having to put pen to paper. There are over 700 daily fee golf courses in Michigan, and rarely is there a course that doesn’t offer league golf. Whether men, women, couples or kids, league golf is a mainstay of our seasonal industry. According to Jeff Hoag, owner of Scott Lake Golf and Practice Center in Comstock Park, leagues represent about one-third of all greens fees and cart revenue as his course. They form an important part of the business income foundation. League golfers are committed golfers and nationally, where leagues are present, they can represent up to 83% of all rounds and 85% of all dollars spent. Golf Leagues are Big Business in Michigan