NGF Research Snapshot: Where Should We Play?

When you’re the one deciding where to play golf, how do you ultimately pick a course?

On average, golfers consider between three and four courses.

Only about one in ten players indicate they take just a single course into consideration and these tend to be private club members. Over one-third of golfers consider five or more courses.

What differentiates your course so golfers choose it more often than the competition?

Course maintenance and setup are certainly restricted by budget resources, manpower and other limitations, but the overall quality of course conditions greatly influence where golfers play. More than half of golfers say the quality of greens and the conditioning of the course are significant factors when determining where to play.

Using information collected through NGF’s customer satisfaction survey tool — GolfSAT — playability and course set-up play a vital role in the decision-making process, as does a preference to play courses that match a player’s ability.