Jon Taffer: Golf Rescue?

[Cantankerish]

16 hours ago, billchao said:

I think you’re only looking at things from your own perspective. If a golf course has a good bar/restaurant, the restaurant itself will be a draw. The course will earn revenue from people who don’t even play. There will be plenty of golfers who stick around for food and drinks.

There’s absolutely no reason to stick around at the courses that I normally play. They offer nothing but the course and some practice facilities. If they had a good restaurant I’d probably stay for a beer and lunch. It’s not my primary criteria for picking a golf course, but it’s certainly a way for a golf course to make a little extra money from me.

Yeah, I know I am coming from my own perspective.  I went into detail about that in the quote you copied.

There is a cruel fact we are going to have to admit here.  None of us knows hell-all shite what we are talking about here.  We do not know if it is profitable to build out the bar, get licensed, hire and train staff, manage a larger menu, advertise, etc.  Bonvivant's example is uplifting, but it is purely an anecdote.  We do not know what the books look like at Aston. Furthermore, it will be considerably different from location to location.

I love Fall Creek Falls in central Tennessee. The course there, in the middle of nowhere, has a restaurant.  It is one of only three places to eat in the whole park, and is a necessary amenity.  It gets plenty of business.  By contrast, where I live it is hard to even escape the city in any direction.  Restaurants of every stripe abound.  I am not surprised that some courses choose not maintain their own. 

The entire point of me starting this topic is not even about this.  The guy is a hammer, and so he sees every problem as a nail.  There is a course near me, Boca Dunes, where the ownership keeps a lovely facility and even hosts weddings and the like.  But the course is a goat trail.  In fact, last year they sold off half of the land and converted the rest into a hackneyed, overpriced, executive course.  I do not want that happening.  I doubt any of you do.  But clearly it can if your goal is rescuing a bar - and not about making golf thrive.

[DaveP043]

36 minutes ago, Cantankerish said:

The entire point of me starting this topic is not even about this.  The guy is a hammer, and so he sees every problem as a nail.  There is a course near me, Boca Dunes, where the ownership keeps a lovely facility and even hosts weddings and the like.  But the course is a goat trail.  In fact, last year they sold off half of the land and converted the rest into a hackneyed, overpriced, executive course.  I do not want that happening.  I doubt any of you do.  But clearly it can if your goal is rescuing a bar - and not about making golf thrive.

While his expertise may be bars, the same principles apply to most businesses.  Logical goals for every single business are to attract more customers, and to get more business (money) from your existing customers.  Sometimes the way to do that directly relates to golf and the course, sometimes its necessary to look beyond just golf.

And a few of us do know a bit about how money is made in the golf business, some of us do see the financials from our home clubs.  Every club is different, every course is different, but every one is concerned with revenues and the cost to produce that revenue.  

[lastings]

He's right about all of this.   There are lots more ways a golf course can make money.   And, the more money a course makes, the more money they have for improvements and increased course maintenance standards and such. 

One of the replies up there said something along the lines of...  "The last thing I want to do is spend more time/money at the course."...     Sure, and I wish golf was free.   But, thats not really the point.   The point is getting you to want to spend more time/money at the course.   instead of walking straight from 18 to the car, getting you to stop in the clubhouse for a couple beers, or even dinner.   

 

[TRUCKER]

Every private club I know of, including the one I belong to, the restaurants and bar operate at a loss. Overpouring is one issue. They do make money on outside events, that in the end, balance the budget. I know It's different for public courses because, well, they're open to the public, which means a larger pool of customers.

[DaveP043]

16 minutes ago, TRUCKER said:

Every private club I know of, including the one I belong to, the restaurants and bar operate at a loss. Overpouring is one issue. They do make money on outside events, that in the end, balance the budget. I know It's different for public courses because, well, they're open to the public, which means a larger pool of customers.

This is accurate, to a point.  It is true that F&B for members is not generally a money-maker at most clubs, any profit is generally made from events like weddings.  But an attractive dining option may be a deciding factor in whether a prospective member joins here, or goes down the street.  And that's even more attractive if prices for members are kept low, and are subsidized by outside events.  The same with a swimming pool, or tennis courts, or many other facets.  The same thing is done at grocery stores, where a pharmacy often loses money (I know, drugs are expensive, but its the truth), but gets the customer into the store.  

Edited January 10, 2020 by DaveP043

[IowaGreg]

The local private club here has a minimum $$ requirement for food and beverage in addition to the membership fees. 

[mcanadiens]

I got a buddy who works in restaurants, so he loves that Bar Rescue show of Taffer's. Not sure Taffer's theatrics would work as well on some downtrodden golf course operator.

All the same, I think Taffer's a pretty sharp guy. Not every situation fits the same mold or the specific ideas he talks about in this article, But if your course is in trouble, you better change something or get ready to sell.

Also, that is a well-preserved SOB to have worked at Grossinger's.

 

[DaveP043]

4 hours ago, IowaGreg said:

The local private club here has a minimum $$ requirement for food and beverage in addition to the membership fees. 

We do the same at my club, but the minimum is really low.  Minimums insure a certain amount of income, but its usually not sufficient to keep the business healthy.  What the minimum DOES is to get traffic in the restaurant, where people buy drinks (not included in the minimum), meet with their friends, and in general have a good time.  The more time the members spend at the course, the more fun they have, is all good for the overall health of the club.

[phillyk]

Without going too deep into the politics of my course, I'll comment as someone who is in the industry and wants to correct the issue at my course.  I appreciate @Double Mocha Mans comment.  We are about the only golf course around that has a full service bar and restaurant. The bar is a great spot with a bunch of TV's and nice decor. 

The restaurant is out of place and, imo, caters to the wrong customer.  It was designed to be a high end, home style food spot.  So, good ingredients, but expensive! Eaglemont is also out of the way from the rest of the restaurants in town.  It's not a place you wonder into, you have to know where it is and intend to go there.  We have a couple hundred homes directly around the course, but we don't get a lot of their business.

The bar side of the place is great. Good happy hour food and typically a great beer selection.  Golfers and the residents primarily use the bar.  It's rare that I see any of them in the restaurant.  I've talked to the local homeowners, and they say the place used to have the type of food and price they wanted, but changed.  So they stopped.

Long story short, you have to know your customer.  The price, the food, the service, everything.  I think having a full service bar and restaurant is a good idea, but we have mis-judged what the customer wants.  We have started to head in the right direction, but I think it needs a full reboot to gain a better reputation.