The cherubic looking young man at left is Brandon Tucker. He travels the globe playing golf, and writes about it in a worldly, self-confident style that belies his tender age... which judging from his photo, I guess to be around 15. Brandon can be audacious too. Like when he recently picked Sergio Garcia to win the Masters. Ouch. I know what that feels like and, it's not good.
Today however, Brandon was doing provocative, and doing it quite well. In his Wednesday post Mr. Tucker was temerarious enough to suggest that "women should pay cheaper greens fees than men at the golf course".
Not free, exactly, - free was my idea, inspired by Ladies Night at the Globe - Brandon simply proposed a discount; a sensible 10% - 20% off. His reasoning was straightforward; Women play a shorter course and they treat it more gently...women play fast, (presumably due to intimidation) drive slow and shop like Santa before they go home. These factors, Brandon reasons, combined with the the golf industry's well documented efforts to increase the number of female golfers and the number of rounds played by women, make lower fees for the fair sex a tactic worth considering.
Personally, I think it's an awesome idea, though it would hardly affect the amount of golf I play... I'm already totally addicted and play several rounds a week... I do think it would be an incentive to new female golfers however. Theses days particularly, when a couple of dollars off makes anything seem more palatable. And if we can get more women to give it a try we're going to grow the game. So yeah, I like it. But not everyone did. As of 2:08AM Thursday comments are decidedly mixed: Donna Hoffman, thinks it would help and she should know, she runs Women on Course the excellent women's golf networking organization I wrote about a couple of months ago. Donna introduces hundreds of new women to the game each year so she knows what the barriers are.
A descending opinion came from Stephanie Wei who writes and edits the highly entertaining Wei Under Par. Stephanie's take was that most of Brandon's reasoning came down to Stepford stereotypes and thus provided little valid argument for lowering women's greens fees. And it's true. Brandon's post was rife with stereotypes. Stereotype that don't apply to me anymore than they apply to Stefanie, even though she seemingly plays really well and I play like crap. ~After all, I'm not intimidated by much on the golf course, and as a publicist, I'm addicted to my Blackberry. But the majority of new women golfers do fit a lot of those stereotypes, and that's the gang we want to get...and keep... golfing.There there were the comments by guys. They mainly joked about the post, and I thought I detected a gleeful tinge of "that's never gonna happen" too.
The point is though, the post provoked discussion. Discussion about the state of the game and how we can keep it viable. I'm quite sure the discussion will continue too, over the next couple of days. So thanks Brandon, you write really good... for a kid.
Now, let me get back to my new job as the the official on-line apologist for Sergio Garcia.
Technically the fairest way of structuring fees would be to charge based on the number of strokes played in a round. The less strokes you play, the less impact you have on the course. Therefore the cheaper your green fees should be.
ReplyDeleteIn this economy, fees should come down for everyone. I've been playing on a deserted course for the past month and while I can't say I mind the lack of crowds, I doubt that this will be sustainable for too long.
ReplyDeleteDear Golf Girl: I think Brandon is playing golf in a vacuum. I find his stereotypes of women a bit archatic and his vision of women on golf courses from the 1950's. I spend much more time on the driving range than buying sweater sets in the pro shop. I also see men spending MORE in the pro shops where they will purchase a new driver in a heartbeat. Women's golf balls go into other fairways and hit just as many houses. And I've seen plenty of women driving golf carts like idiots. I could argue every stereotype he placed out there.
ReplyDeleteThe issue here is not making it cheaper for women to play a round golf because that is NOT going to keep women golfing. The answer is to give women more clinics, lessons, and other learning experiences to encourage them to get interested in the game and opportunities to perfect their skills. When more golf courses offer these types of services for women, I would bet my pretty visor that the industry would see an increase in females golfers.
You don't need to apologize for Sergio, Patricia, he's doing a good job of it all by himself! ;-)
ReplyDeleteBack to B-Tuck's blog (as we call him on Worldgolf.com) which states women should pay less to play golf. From a woman's standpoint, great idea! Men might get a wee bit ticked off seeing as they are out there a heck of a lot more than we are so...
Should we offer a benefit to those who do not play as much or give discounts to golfers who are recurring customers?
And, from what I have seen on the publinks, women take just as many divots as their male counterparts!
Right now, anything to encourage golfing gals (and guys) is a good thing in my book. I actually think it is not a bad idea to offer women discounts during a certain time frame. It might encourage more women to play with less intimidation. Also, for the men out there who can't stand to see women playing in front of them, they could avoid this time frame.
ReplyDeleteI play with a wide range of women golfers. The best women golfers I play with do line up their shots, take divots, and take practice swings. These same players play MUCH faster than most men at my course.
Those of us who are already hooked will be there no matter what. The trick is bringing new women golfers to the course, and this idea might help.
As for Mr. Garcia...he owes you a round, or at least an interview. :o)
You don't need to apologize for Sergio, Patricia, he's doing a good job of it all by himself! ;-)Sure about that? I bet a publicist like Sergio wrote his apology for him.
ReplyDeleteBack to the subject at hand, and pardon me for a post on my own blog, but I wonder how Brandon and his stereotypes would play with Peggy Kirk Bell considering all of the work Peggy has done for women's golf?
Women paying less works for me. :)
ReplyDeleteOk, Brandon is cute.
ReplyDeleteNow that I got that out of the way... it makes perfect sense to subsidise a target market, and women are most definitely a target market for golf course owners. As are Beginning Adults of both sexes and Junior golfers. Each of these groups certainly merits a mention in a golf course marketing plan. Whether it's reduced greens fees or discounts on lesson packages or free introductory lessons it makes sense for course owners to put some effort - and some $$ - into groups with growth potential.
Thanks for the post Ms. Golf Girl! I think some more serious women golfers might be a tad offended by some of the generalizations I made in the post, but I should say that when I'm on the golf course, it's often in a destination, where the only women I see on the course are older and with their husbands. I wish I saw more groups of women go to Myrtle Beach. I could probably count all the women groups I saw on one hand and I lived there for almost two years.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you - Brandon was trying to get reaction with a provocative post and he did just that. I personally think his suggestion is ridiculous because it only creates an even greater chasm between men's and women's golf than is already there. . I also don't thing any of his arguments make a lot of sense. How can in-shop purchase be measured against greens fees? That's apples and oranges.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I found myself moving from Stephanie's blog to Brandon's blog and ended up here on yours so I guess it worked.
From a strictly business point of view, I think that offering cheaper green fees for women is a great idea. Even offering 20-30% off would be easy to make up for in the increased number of women who would play more often. On top of that, as mentioned in the post, women tend to shop more than men, so it would be profitable to get them on the course as much as possible, even if it's at a reduced fee. Having more women around the course more often would also open the doors even wider for womens golf lessons, clinics, etc., as mentioned by another commenter.
ReplyDeleteI think I've read Brandon's column or blog somewhere. Maybe World Golf Travel or something such as that. Anyway- there are many ways to promote women to become more interested. You and Stephanie go a long way in that area just by blogging about golf.
ReplyDeleteToo bad there is not an organization such as First Tee for women. Some might feel intimidated to just show up at a driving range somewhere. Maybe an introductory free group lesson. If someone has never held a golf club, it might be a daunting prospect.
Brandon's getting way too much praise around these parts. Am I jealous? No, not really. Do I feel betrayed? Yes, completely. Do I ask myself questions and then answer them? Sometimes.
ReplyDeleteIronically, our local Golfsmith had their annual "ladies' night" last night. The building (a rather large one) was wrapped by women waiting to get in.
ReplyDeleteMaybe down in Myrtle there are not a lot of women golfers, but up here in Raleigh, a mere three hours from Myrtle and less than 45 minutes from Pinehurst, the golf climate for women is strong indeed.
Golfsmith ladies night. Good idea. I have a close female friend who lives in Pinehurst and she and many friends love their time on the courses there. Of course, NC is a golf heaven.
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