Sep weather, Aug utilization: Both up in late-season charge
September turned in a 2nd consecutive month of positive weather, repeating August’s direction and figure (+4% vs. YA) for Golf Playable Hours at the national level. That continued narrowing the Year-to-Date (YtD) deficit which still remains in negative territory but narrowed slightly to -3% at the nine-month mark which historically comprises ~80% of annual rounds played nationally. The YtD regional breadth metric remained neutral at a 1:1 ratio comprised of 16 favorable regions vs. 18 unfavorables with 11 in the neutral zone (+/- 2%). Subscribers to either the Pellucid Publications Membership or the Geographic Weather Impact report get the 45 regional breakdowns, the 61 markets figures, the day-of-week weather impact and the Year-End National GPH forecast figure as well as our full commentary on the results every month.
National Played Rounds for August, as published by Circana (the artist formerly known as Golf Datatech), were upbeat at +8% (wow!) at the All Facilities level. Comparing back to last month’s GPH results (+4%), that combination produced a surprisingly healthy gain in Utilization registering +2 pts for the month.
A broader description of the September weather can be found at our website in the Featured Items section or you can get the full picture by subscribing to either the Pellucid Publications Membership or the Geographic Weather Impact report. Both provide the 45 regional breakdowns, the 61 Golf Datatech markets figures, the day-of-week weather impact and the Year-End National GPH forecast figure as well as our full commentary on the results every month.
Another avenue for seeing your weather-adjusted performance is our now 3-yr old facility comparative performance and local market benchmarking tool, the Golf Market Research Center (GMRC). In light of post-COVID, broad-based rounds and revenue gains, the $500 annual investment is more affordable than ever. Program participants have been able to view graphic, single page monthly trend reports for Rounds and Utilization from ’23-’25 as well as having a 7 measure KPI single page report for any month and YtD period for which they entered data. The GMRC gives you visibility to your Market Profile and, after you enter your Rounds, Golf Revenue and Peak Season GF Rate by month, to immediately see your results through our comparative reports with integrated weather impact. So how do you “get in on the action”? Glad you asked…
- You can email jim@pellucidcorp.com with questions or to subscribe (see below for benefits) and get started by inputting your information through the current month
- If you’d like more information, you have two options:
- Watch the 18 minute GoToWebinar recording of the program overview and a demonstration of the portal and reports (fill in your name and email and it will open the video link; you’re not signing up for anything)
Here’s the details on what you get in the current Promo:
- GMRC Market profile (golfers, supply/mix/demand balance, Utilization etc.)
- Monthly trends report (Rounds & Utilization, any month and YtD ’23-’25)
- KPI Scorecard (7 KPIs for month & YtD, single page, Year Ago comparisons)
- Cognilogic (historical facility-specific Golf Playable Hours and Capacity Rounds, normally sold as separate service at $180/yr) and
- Foresight (facility-level 60-day Capacity Rounds forecast and key weather variables used to produce it, normally sold separately at $360/yr)
- National Golf Consumer Franchise Scorecard and commentary outlining the change in the size of the golfer base, the demographics and involvement levels (sold separately for $199)
- We think this package of services including GMRC at $500/yr ($450 for NGCOA members) is a great value and timely for assessing ’24’s performance and beginning your ’25 planning
Final cherry-on-top, GMRC is a product in the NGCOA SmartBuy program, so there’s a member benefit (10% discount) for the annual subscription.