I was flipping through the September issue of the NGCOA’s Golf Business magazine (which features, I swear, a picture of a GI Joe doll in an article about price discounting at courses) when I noticed an advertisement that was a little different than the usual stuff promoting insurance programs, Pepsi products and golf cars.
Buried at the very back of the magazine (page 70), I found a full-page ad featuring an overhead photo of cars in a packed parking lot. The headline reads:
“When Your Superintendent is a Member, It Shows. Increase traffic at your facility with GCSAA.”
The promotional copy that follows (in little, tiny type) says:
“Avid golfers rank the condition of the course as the main factor that drives their enjoyment of the game. Lucky for you, GCSAA provides golf course superintendents all the education and resources they need to keep your course in top condition and your parking lot full.”
The end of the ad urges owners to sign up their superintendents for membership and (in incredibly teensy-weensy microscopic type) cites the 2005 Golf Digest study on “golf’s best customers” as the source for the claim about good conditions driving enjoyment.
(Note: I tried to find an image of the ad or any reference to it on GCSAA’s Web site, but it’s either not there or it’s hidden so diabolically that even a 16-year-old computer hacker couldn’t find it. There is, however, a link for owners cited in the ad: www.gcsaa.org/facilityvalue.
Here’s my take on the good, the bad and the ugly about this latest GCSAA ad:
The good
- The association is (finally) trying to do what it said it would do five years ago: promote the value of GCSAA membership to employers.
- The ad focuses on the idea that the $300 a year the owner pays in dues will provide an excellent return on a small investment.
- The ad looks professional (except for the typeface requiring a magnifying glass to read) and represents the association pretty well.
- The ad placement was likely “free” as part of the relationship between NGCOA and GCSAA.
The bad
- The Golf Digest study came out more than a year ago. What took them so long to get an ad done?
- I’m guessing the vast majority of NGCOA-member facilities already employ GCSAA members and pay for related dues, fees, etc. This feels like preaching to the choir.
The ugly
- The ad implies GCSAA members will provide better conditions than nonmembers and subsequently drive revenue. That is, quite frankly, not provable. Carrying a nice, gold-colored plastic membership card in one’s wallet doesn’t outweigh deficiencies in talent, experience, staffing or budget.
On whole, the good outweighs the bad. It’s a well-intentioned attempt to promote the value of membership to employers.
But, I’m troubled by the ugly notion that the simple act of writing a check for $300 to the National is equivalent to waving a magic wand over the head of a nonmember superintendent. Are you? GCN
Pat Jones is president of Flagstick LLC.
