Monetizing simulators at a country club

[Myherobobhope]

We are putting two gc hawks in at our club this month, and beyond charging by the hour, I’m curious as to ideas on how to generate excitement and revenue off of them... 

 

some things I’ve thought about but haven’t fleshed out:

 

leagues. Not sure the best way to do this, but teams of 2/4 with maybe bi weekly challenges/ rounds over three months with an entry fee and prize package... would also generate food and beverage revenue. 
 

challenges: this is more focused on engagement and getting people used to the simulators, but I thought it would be fun to have weekly challenges for members to get used to the simulator and create excitement... things like 7 iron dispersion consistency, and hitting targets between 50-100 yards. Things accessible across handicaps or flighted by handicap... 

 

building out practice routines: this one is probably overly data nerdy, but show people things like path and driver optimization... this I’m less hopeful for even if it’s exactly what I’m planning on doing.

 

anyone have any suggestions or experience with good ways to get people engaged with a simulator?

[Golfrnut]

Most units have some sort of skills challenges with them.  The trick is finding the best way to get that working with multiple users and/or keeping results and just having it in some sort of continuous mode without requiring user logins etc.

 

I would think you just need to get the 'bug' going.  Maybe doing closest to the pin, longest drive challenges, etc for pro shop credit to the winner, top 3, etc?  Just something for folks to stop by and take 5 minutes to compete in something while they may have a few minutes to kill?  Create a buzz with it, get people used to playing on it, and it might take care of itself from there.  

 

As much of a nerd as we all are for data when it comes to golf stuff, most people are not.  Most just want to step up, hit a ball, and see where it goes, and whether it's farther or closer than their buddies ball.  That's it.  Simplicity might be a key selling point there when it comes to a group of people being able to show up, hit go, and just play a round of 'sim golf'.  When you start talking paths, spin rates, etc the cast majority of people are going to get lost in the first few seconds.  Even most that believe they do, get focused on a lot of the wrong things because they go with what they know, what they heard, etc...and it's just breaking the surface.  Chasing AoA, chasing spin rates, all that stuff you see on the forums here on any given day.

[zdtallan]

I may be in the minority on this opinion, but if my club suddenly decided to start charging the membership to use our sims by the hours I wouldn't see that going too well.  I think your ideas of a league are good where an entry fee, food, drinks, etc. can generate revenue.  With the software you can easily do 3-4 person scrambles, I would cap it at 9 holes for time purposes.  Just have all the teams sign up for a specific time during the week and complete the 9 holes.  Lowest total score at the end of the 4-5 weeks wins.  

[kmay__]

Like mentioned above there by golfrnut, the foresight skills challenge looks pretty awesome, and I could easily see people getting hooked on that and trying to get the high score among their fellow club members. I've never had the chance to hit on a GCquad or hawk, that would be awesome. 

[Curmudg3on]

I just purchased a winter membership (simulator) at a course near me.   They have leagues and a regular closest to the pin contest.   The patrons would be spending a ton of $$ on food and beverages w/o Covid.   Since it is too cold to golf outdoors, the simulators are full most of the time.   

 

In an area where golf is played year round, I don't believe a simulator would be utilized significantly. 

[Myherobobhope]

Bays are finally installed... club decided on an annual pass model ($20 a quarter) and some members are apparently upset about it... I just laughed and booked as many tee times as it would allow.

[Myherobobhope]

On 12/11/2020 at 10:35 AM, kmay__ said:

foresight skills challenge

I'm going to dig into this this week now that we have one bay up (other bay the computer got nuked, apparently)... We will see if I can convince people that the simulators are a great investment... Might have to win the club championship only playing the simulator all season to do it, though.

[MPAndreassi]

5 hours ago, Myherobobhope said:

Bays are finally installed... club decided on an annual pass model ($20 a quarter) and some members are apparently upset about it... I just laughed and booked as many tee times as it would allow.

I think part of the issue is people don’t realize how expensive they are, especially if there wasn’t any kind of assessment or fund raising to cover the cost. $20 a quarter is more than reasonable. 

[Krt22]

5 minutes ago, MPAndreassi said:

I think part of the issue is people don’t realize how expensive they are, especially if there wasn’t any kind of assessment or fund raising to cover the cost. $20 a quarter is more than reasonable. 

Conversely one may say they are simply a conduit for the club to make additional revenue via F&B sales, but $20/qtr is dirt cheap all things considered

[Myherobobhope]

7 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

Conversely one may say they are simply a conduit for the club to make additional revenue via F&B sales, but $20/qtr is dirt cheap all things considered

Insanely cheap... other clubs in the area charge their members $25 an hour...

 

I think part of the resistance is simply “I didn’t want a simulator, why am I paying for one”... so one of my goals is to get as many people to use it as possible... 

[MPAndreassi]

11 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

Conversely one may say they are simply a conduit for the club to make additional revenue via F&B sales, but $20/qtr is dirt cheap all things considered

Thats true, and likely how the cost would be covered for them. At the clubs I’ve been a member I’ve always been charged assessments for improvements to pools, restaurants, bars, etc. which would fall under the same category of generating F&B sales. This may also be a regional type thing. The northeast overcharges for everything 😂

[Krt22]

16 minutes ago, Myherobobhope said:

Insanely cheap... other clubs in the area charge their members $25 an hour...

 

I think part of the resistance is simply “I didn’t want a simulator, why am I paying for one”... so one of my goals is to get as many people to use it as possible... 

Does the $20/qtr only apply if actually use the sim? If yes, they only pay to play so what is the issue

[Myherobobhope]

37 minutes ago, Krt22 said:

Does the $20/qtr only apply if actually use the sim? If yes, they only pay to play so what is the issue

No, it applies to all full golf members, we also charge a range fee.

 

I understand that some people don’t want to use it but $80 a year for unlimited access to a simulator is pretty awesome... as I said, I’m hoping to drive engagement and get the people who don’t think it has any value to try it.

[theebdk]

I have some ideas based on what I see at our club with four sims available for members plus lessons. I should say not my ideas but what seems to work at our club. 

• We have a full bar setup plus a light menu including appetizers, salads and sandwiches.  We also have some tables.  The bar and the social aspect drives attendance.  Even if you do not have a set up like this perhaps an honor bar and some basic snacks works.  Think TopGolf and you can let non-golfers and kids know there are those TopGolf like games in the sim.
• Have the pro give a few introduction sessions to explain the basic data.  Or he/she can hang out there to engage members every once in a while.  Or maybe do a video for the club newsletter.  I asked my pro to show me a few statistics and now in the winter I go once a week to work on my game including distances. 
• Leagues are a no brainer.
• You could run some winter group lessons.  This is especially helpful for beginners or a specific skill.  We have a speed clinic and I always see this one guy practicing in the Sim with his speed device.

[Myherobobhope]

2 hours ago, theebdk said:

I have some ideas based on what I see at our club with four sims available for members plus lessons. I should say not my ideas but what seems to work at our club. 

• We have a full bar setup plus a light menu including appetizers, salads and sandwiches.  We also have some tables.  The bar and the social aspect drives attendance.  Even if you do not have a set up like this perhaps an honor bar and some basic snacks works.  Think TopGolf and you can let non-golfers and kids know there are those TopGolf like games in the sim.
• Have the pro give a few introduction sessions to explain the basic data.  Or he/she can hang out there to engage members every once in a while.  Or maybe do a video for the club newsletter.  I asked my pro to show me a few statistics and now in the winter I go once a week to work on my game including distances. 
• Leagues are a no brainer.
• You could run some winter group lessons.  This is especially helpful for beginners or a specific skill.  We have a speed clinic and I always see this one guy practicing in the Sim with his speed device.

Thanks! The simulators are close to the bar but not attached... we actually could have put them on a bar, but that would have made sense...

 

im still trying to convince people they could be a phenomenal revenue source while also driving member value, but am currently failing. We will see.

 

im hoping I can get some of the skills challenges to become a popular post round activity for this summer, which will hopefully lead to more engagement when winter rolls in.

 

I should probably just keep my mouth shut and enjoy unlimited access to the simulators, but I’m not smart.

[jmkenn0]

IMO it should be a driver for people to get value out of the club when you can't play, and also to generate revenue for the club with more F&B, and general traffic.  But yeah, $20/quarter is super-reasonable.  I really like the idea someone else had about working on optimization and understanding what that is - that would be a great group discussion to drive people to use it.

[CMHitman]

A little late to the party, but... 

 

While $20/quarter is a small amount of money, I don’t think that matters. It’s the principle of an added charge and feeling nickel and dimed, especially for something some members may not value. To me, the sims are a member benefit that the club either chooses to offer or doesn’t based on (majority) member desires and the club’s financial position. If the club can afford it and the members want it (either for their own use, to boost F&B, or to increase the marketability of new memberships) then add it as a club benefit. If there is meaningful resistance, then that should be explored.
 

Either way, in my opinion, for the amount you are charging, the path of least resistance would have been to add the ~$7/month to your next regular dues increase and not call it out separately.  Our club had a number of individual charges for various amenities (most were not optional), and we’ve simplified by consolidating to one monthly, all-inclusive dues number which has decreased the noise around these types of line items. 

[aph2011]

I think fittings are also a way to potentially monetize. It gets a bit complicated depending on whether your pro “owns” the pro shop (perhaps there’s some kind of chargeback arrangement with profits from equipment sales when generated through a fitting). Will depend on your club’s specific economic arrangement, but using them as part of the fitting process to bring more equipment sales in-house versus big box or specialty fitters could generate revenue. 

[lawlerjm]

Maybe you could add a new Championship plaque to a wall for the winner of a simulator based tournament or skills challenge? If you can entice the better players to compete then you may generate some additional interest among the rest of the membership. 

[Myherobobhope]

On 3/22/2021 at 11:06 AM, CMHitman said:

A little late to the party, but... 

 

While $20/quarter is a small amount of money, I don’t think that matters. It’s the principle of an added charge and feeling nickel and dimed, especially for something some members may not value. To me, the sims are a member benefit that the club either chooses to offer or doesn’t based on (majority) member desires and the club’s financial position. If the club can afford it and the members want it (either for their own use, to boost F&B, or to increase the marketability of new memberships) then add it as a club benefit. If there is meaningful resistance, then that should be explored.
 

Either way, in my opinion, for the amount you are charging, the path of least resistance would have been to add the ~$7/month to your next regular dues increase and not call it out separately.  Our club had a number of individual charges for various amenities (most were not optional), and we’ve simplified by consolidating to one monthly, all-inclusive dues number which has decreased the noise around these types of line items. 

I think this is good feedback and the correct approach for the club... as you said, the $7 a month extra pitched as “increased cost of facilities” would likely not have been noticed by the membership... instead we created a situation where people are upset about them which creates a disincentive to use them... 

 

I think our club struggles to present things in a way that resonates across the membership with the default attitude being “what’s good for the gander is good for the goose” which can make members feel ignored / marginalized... we are almost back To full capacity, so it will be interesting to see what happens when we “don’t need members”...