Golf courses come in all different shapes and sizes, each with their own unique set of challenges that include managing hazards, environmental impacts, ecological operations and sustainability practices.
The commitment towards optimising course conditions and managing continual course improvements to enhance the overall experience is a mission that is reliant on the industry’s expert greenkeepers and course superintendents.
Taking a peripheral vantage point over global golf course standards, we can accurately report and start to bridge the gap between the elite standards displayed by some of the finest service providers, and the wider industry (of unaffiliate properties).
The largest disparity is evident within the quality and first impression of the bunkers – including the grass surrounds, the consistency of the edges and if the bunkers are well raked. Other variable elements include the sand quality, and its consistency of depth and the lack of any weeds, stones or debris from cuttings and fallen leaves. As much as 18 percentage points separate the finest bunkers from the standards experienced at unaffiliate venues (a combined metric of those having sampled 59club’s mystery shopping as part of a free trial or during wider market research).
The fairways present themselves as the next significant pain-point for the industry, with a 12 per cent variance between the best fairways encountered and the industry average. The fairways are tailgated by the quality of the greens, with the best performers overshadowing the industry average (unaffiliated properties) by 11 per cent.
As we recognize teeing areas for their precise definition, consistency of grass coverage and their overall condition as a very simple guide, a shortfall of eight per cent separates the best tees from the wider global golf industry.
Finally, rounding up our research of the basic areas that stand between a great golf course and its rival, sees the industry suffer a 12% gap, a margin that with regular attention and expert interpretation can easily be managed and closed.