OK, I have to admit I was royally irritated when I strolled into Target November 2 and heard the faint strains of “White Christmas” playing on the store’s Muzak. I was even more disgruntled by the sight of lights going up on my neighbor’s house a week later. Don’t these people understand the Universal Holiday Code prohibits any reference to Christmas before Dec. 1?
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Well, the calendar flipped into the 12th month this morning, so we’re now completely legal. With that in mind, here’s my Christmas wish list for the golf industry:
- For public courses, particularly in the North, an endless series of warm, sunny weekends this spring. Quite simply, the difference between financial success and bankruptcy for a bunch of facilities will depend on the weather during eight or 10 weekends next spring.
- For chemical companies, a warm, wet spring that necessitates fungicide applications – early and often. I know superintendents hate this, but the chemical companies who support many of our industry’s educational and business events, got murdered last year, mainly because of weather-related downturns in fungicide spraying. They desperately need a good year. It’s unfortunate, but true, that a bad year for turf is a good year for our friends in the plant protection market.
- For private clubs, I hope Santa brings them the cajones to start marketing more aggressively and quit pretending that people are dying to join. In fact, members are dying and no one’s joining. Wake up, folks. The business model has changed, and you need to rethink your sales-and-marketing strategy before it’s too late.
- For the GCSAA, I sincerely hope St. Nick grants them a successful show in New Orleans. I recently heard they’re shooting for total attendance of 15,000, which wouldn’t be bad considering some of the big numbers you hear from shows in Orlando (e.g., 22,000) include lots of spouses and kids. That said, this will be the year that tests the whole team management concept because facilities are cutting back on education budgets.
- For golf in general, I hope we find a healthy Tiger Woods under the tree and that we prove the prevailing theory that our business is recession-proof.
What’s your Christmas wish? Click thru now to the GCI forum and let us know.