Golf courses across the country are closing down and going out of business across the United States of America at an alarming rate. Florida, the state with more golf clubs than any other state, is seeing this more and more as time goes on. A lot of these failing golf clubs are blaming the economy, and some are even blaming the current state of the golf world in general; but I see things differently, they should be blaming themselves.

The golf industry is behind the times in almost every core aspect of running a business in this day and age. Most golf clubs still have a website that looks like something that my 12 year old son could create. These golf clubs need to embrace technology and develop a website that both promotes AND generates business. There are a handful of golf marketing businesses that specifically create websites to help generate more business for golf clubs, why aren\’t more clubs taking advantage of them?

Another way the golf industry is behind the times is just marketing in general. Look at how much effort golf resorts are putting into promoting themselves. Are they even attempting to promote their golf course? The average golf courses do the following things which they call \”marketing\”.

They place a black and white ad in the town newspaper showing how they just lowered the price of play. This only gets them into discount wars with their competition which only causes them to lose MORE money. They should instead find something that they do better than the rest of their competition, create a unique sales proposition promoting that something, start promoting their course for that something, and possibly even RAISE prices because they do something the other courses do not.

They place a boring ad in the yellow pages and local phone book. Honestly, with the invention of search engines such as Google and the amount of people who use the internet these days, how many people do you think still use the phone book to find information when they could just power up their computer, type in a search term, and have the answer to their question quickly? The answer is that phone book usage is dropping by ten percent almost every year because of new technology! These clubs that are spending thousands of dollars a year on this single ad could be directing that extra money towards something more beneficial such as a website or direct mail campaign like I mentioned above.

They place an ad in the local penny saver.Once again, something that is proven to be ineffective in this day and time. Instead they should be looking into fusion marketing techniques and working with other local businesses to promote their club. They could easily go to the local Chevy dealer and give away a free round of golf with every car purchase. Not only will the dealership easily accept this offer, but it will get new people, with MONEY, at the course and they will easily make up the lost green fee revenue by the new players paying for a cart fee or eating after the round at the club house. They will even convert some of these players into regulars. Think about that for a second, if they charge forty dollars a round, and the new players plays on average ten times a year, they just made an extra four hundred dollars off green fees alone. If you get 20 new players a year from the car dealership that\’s an extra $8,000 a year from a simple green fee promotion with a car dealership!

Another way golf resorts are slowly killing themselves is with real estate. A lot of golf communities that were doing great in the early 2000s are now drowning in a sea of debt because of unsold lots, unsold homes, and not enough members. What can they do to fix this problem? Lets look at what Juliette Falls, which is a Gated Florida Golf Community, in Dunnellon did. They first got a first-class website from a company named Legendary Marketing. They built their website into something that looks very good and promotes exactly what they do. Well guess what, the economy dropped off and now they have over forty homes that are in the price range of $500,000 to more than a million and no one was buying them. How do they turn this around? They came up with an astounding promotion that\’s how! At Juliette Falls you can stay in a Nice Golf Home worth over a million dollars, play a round of golf, enjoy the onsite spa and eat at a fancy restaurant for $199 a night. If they sell only one night for every day of the year, that\’s over $70,000 in additional revenue for the resort AND they get new prospects and leads at the course every single day which they can use to promote to in the future! Why aren\’t all the golf communities thinking this way?

As you can see, the golf industry is slowing killing itself by being behind the times in technology, marketing, real estate and a host of other things that will be addressed in a future article. If you are a member of a golf club, or even better part of the members committee, stand up and say something about the actions your club is taking. Tell your club they need to break the mold of what they have been doing because it is not working. Make them think outside the box! Make your golf course management company become accountable for the actions the club takes! It may be the only thing that they can do to save your golf course!

Roy Williams is a former course manager and has worked for various golf courses across the United States. He now spends his time reviewing Florida\’s Best Golf Resorts and Golf Communities in Florida for various websites in the southern USA region.

categories: golf clubs,golf resorts,golf communites,golf homes,golf courses,golf course,golf business

Florida has many golf resorts. When you want to go golfing in Florida on vacation, chances are that you are going to end up staying at one of the popular golf resorts in the area such as TPC Sawgrass, Champions Gate, Sandestin or PGA National Resort and Spa. All 4 of these places are amazing, and honestly, I really can not say anything bad about TPC Sawgrass.Who really say anything bad about them anyway?

The problem with these 4 resorts is that they are catering to the same individual all of the time, high class golfers making $150,000 plus a year. They don\’t allow the real people such as you and I the time of day to come and play at their course, or stay at their resort. Can I blame them no I really can not? People are paying the money to play and stay there and they are taking advantage of it just like any good business would do.

Now things have changed in the golf resort world, especially in Florida. When the economy started to slow down, the amount of golf being played, and the amount of people staying at Florida golf resorts also started to slow down as well. The 4 popular golf resorts I mentioned above probably haven\’t changed their ways yet, but I can guarantee you that since they haven\’t changed their ways and are probably losing large amounts of money because they haven\’t adjusted to this new economy.

In reality, what did this economy do to the golf world? How has it changed the golf world? Will the economy ever improve? To tell you the truth, I do not have a truthful answer I can give you because a lot of golf resorts and golf clubs are not being honest with themselves or other professionals in our industry. The economy has started to slow down play in all areas of the country. The economy has made golfers start to play at cheaper courses, or look for special offers that are occurring at particular resorts. No longer can resorts rely on regular customers because a lot of those regulars have ditched their home course in search of the best deal.

What can they do about this? It is very simple; in fact it is really a no brainer. They need to come up with an amazing promotion that drives traffic to their resort. Need an example? I thought you might want one.

Juliette Falls is a new golf resorts in Florida in Dunnellon. It is only about an hour away from both Tampa and Orlando and is roughly 15 minutes way from Ocala. Its a very secluded town in Florida. Juliette Falls has a beautiful course and the Florida golf homes are jaw dropping. So what does a Florida gated community do when the economy slows and homes stop selling? They came up with a strategic marketing plan that involved a promotion supplement their lost income. Juliette Falls decided to start selling packages that allow you to stay in a million dollar golf home and play a round of golf and enjoy all of the resorts facilities for $199 a night. What golfer in their right mind would refuse an offer to stay in a luxury golf home and play a round of golf for that price, I know I couldn\’t. What this does is create a new stream of money using assets that they already have access to. If they sell only two stays for every night of that year, that\’s $145,000 a year in pure profits! It also could supply a steady stream of potential home buyers! Why aren\’t other resorts thinking this way?

Golf Resorts need to start thinking outside of the box. In this economy it may be the only way to keep a positive income!

Roy Williams reviews a new Florida golf resort every month and also reviews a Florida golf community as well. He contributes to multiple golf review sites across the internet. He is a consultant for many golf resorts across the country.

categories: Florida golf resort,golf marketing,Florida golf resorts,resort reviews,golf resorts,golf marketing,florida golf resorts,golf,resort,resorts,golf courses

If you are a golfer that really enjoys the game and you want to combine your love of golf with a vacation, then this article will give you some ideas to plan the perfect golf vacation. The initial idea opens up dozens of possibilities for a family trip or a golfing-buddies trip.

Before you rush off to the first tee in the sunshine of some other state or even another country, the golf vacationer must take the time to plan the perfect golf vacation by considering what should be included in the ideal golf trip.

As with any holiday, planning a golf trip ought to consist of some key elements; how you are going to pay, the estimated cost, the length of stay, any extras, etc. One thing to consider is what friends or family members do if they don\’t play golf. The first question to ask yourself is: Will we be golfing in the mountains, by the coast, or on the famous links of Scotland.

Some fundamental planning at the beginning should remove any little problems for a better chance of a perfect golf vacation. When you start to plan the perfect golf vacation it is a good idea to write out some points about an ideal golf trip by dividing the points into separate areas to focus on. Below are a few categories to help you get started:

* Set a general time of the year for the trip (a few months in the future; a year in the future)

* Decide how many days or rounds of golf the trip will include (don\’t overdo it!)

* Set a range of prices for the entire trip ($2000 to $3000, $4000 to $5000, for example)

* Decide on how many people will be in the group

* Decide who will go on the trip – just golfers, non-golfers etc.

* Gather some golf trip information from magazines, the library, Web sites etc.

* Ask friends who have been on a golf vacation if they made their own plans, used a travel agent, purchased an all-inclusive golf vacation etc.

One way to plan a golf trip is by making all the arrangements yourself; travel, accommodation, and golf activities. Below are some tips if you decide to make your own arrangements.

If you are planning a golf vacation in the same country and you decide to drive there, you can take care of your transportation needs by carrying all your golf gear with you. If this is the mode of transportation you decide on, before you pack, check to see if your golf clubs are complete. After all, it wouldn\’t be nice to arrive at your beautiful golf retreat only to stand on the first tee and realize that your driver is not in the bag because your son or daughter borrowed it for a golf lesson.

If you are not using the services of a travel agent, then you should make your arrangements by contacting a local organization in the area that you want to visit. As an example, golfers can contact the South Carolina group that specializes in golf vacations in Myrtle Beach. You can use this method for other areas as well, like golf courses in the state of Arizona. The area around Phoenix has comparable assistance as do the many golf resorts in the area.

After you have selected your favorite golf courses, you would then contact the accommodation you chose and speak to the Golf Director. You can book your lodgings and your preferred tee times right there. This is a good combination of being able to make your own decisions but taking advantage of the local knowledge of a golf vacations specialist.

You may find yourself with a few challenges and extra work if you do the planning on your own, but you will take pleasure in the extra freedom and sense of success. You can set your sights high and then retreat to a more realistic level if your budget isn\’t enough for a golf trip to Scotland, Portugal, or Hawaii.

After you have secured your lodgings you should plan to play golf courses that are within a realistic distance – the less traveling that you do between courses is important. As well, you should have made these arrangements at the earliest possible date to ensure that you get the best opportunities. If you wait until the last minute and then you find that you want to change your original destination, you will probably end up with unsuitable rooms and less convenient tee times. Below are some recommendations for booking your lodgings first:

* Consider a rental house with enough room for everyone

* Try to have a separate bed for each person

* Take into consideration the driving time to the golf courses if you go with a rental home over a hotel on or near a golf course

* Consider early morning tee times that may allow an additional 18 holes in the afternoon. Being close to the house makes the course more attractive (it saves time)

* Plan for accommodation even earlier if you plan to play golf and watch a major tournament that is taking place in the area. Combining your trip with a PGA tournament adds some extra flare to a golf vacation.

One more thing to take into consideration when you plan the perfect golf vacation; will you play one round a day, two rounds, or can you play as many as you wish? Make sure you have this detail arranged before leaving. Finally, make sure you fully understand what exactly is included in your golf vacation and what is not. Taking a few minutes to get all the details right will eradicate the small problems that you may encounter once you are at your golf destination.

Mick Euan Tait is the webmaster of Golf-Online-Tips where you will find Beginners Golf Tips and Golf Swing Tips to improve your golf swing. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

categories: golf,golf vacations,golf trips,perfect golf vacation,holidays,golf courses,golfers,golf package,sports,sports and recreation,recreation and sports,outdoors