Academic value can enhance a golf club

A golf academy is said by many to be the heart or face of any golf club and I have to say, although perhaps having a slightly biased view being a PGA professional, I wholly agree!

I had an interesting discussion with a fellow PGA Professional yesterday on the role a golf academy plays at a golf club. No matter what part of the world you look at, in any developed or developing golf destination or region, the value that an efficient, well-run golf academy can bring to the business model of a golf club (whether public or private) is in part immeasurable, but recognisably invaluable to that business’s success.

The hypothetical question I raised was "if one of the successful Dubai-based golf academies was given to you tomorrow – would you want it" – and from my side I uncategorically said "no". OK, now before you start to think that I’ve just contradicted myself and perhaps I should give the column writing a miss, let me explain.

As a stand-alone business unit, golf academies in Dubai don’t stack up at all well. Forgetting that as an outside academy operator, you first of all will be paying a rent to the golf club for the land and use of the facility, and perhaps a commission on revenue, the actual operating costs and in particular the staffing costs (such as housing, flights, health insurance and all the usual expat benefits) will cripple the business before it starts.

The key to the success of an academy is without doubt the quality of the professional coaching team and the only way to go is with PGA qualified professionals.

The PGA set the benchmark worldwide in equipping its professionals with the highest level of training and education.

Although Dubai is certainly a developing golfing community and has plenty of new potential golfers the figures wouldn’t put the bread on the table and that’s a fact.

So why do golf clubs have them? The answer is in the word "value". The PGA professional is friendly, well educated, approachable and knowledgeable, a mentor and moreover a salesperson that unquestionably adds value to a golf club business that underpins its financial success.

From relationships and trust comes customer loyalty, customer spend and customer retention. Membership sales, green fees and equipment are all proven measurable revenues driven through such relationships, but what about the ongoing customer loyalty that feeds the club’s outlets? Impossible to analyse but present all the same.

Academies in isolation might not be the best business proposition in the world, but at a club, there is no question that the PGA team plays a significant role in the success of a golf club business and is a service that every club needs.