UK Clubs, Green Fees And Replacing Lost Tourism Revenue

The UK Golf Guy has done some incredible research into guest green fee spikes at the UK’s famous courses.

Given the state of affairs, with some centuries old clubs facing potential calamity and many others seeing a huge revenue hit, he argues that lowering fees and welcoming some domestic tourism could be vital to survive the downturn.

Some of the research on green fee changes is really impressive, so hit the link and give him a follow. But

I’ve looked at the increase in green fees for a selection of top courses since 2000. The average summer weekend green fee for these courses in 2000 was £88. Coming in to summer 2020, the average for that same group is over £240. Had the cost increased in line with UK inflation then the average would be only £145.

The highest percentage rises have come at three Open courses - Royal St George’s, Carnoustie and Muirfield. All have gone from sub-£80 a round to over £250. Others, like North Berwick and Cruden Bay, have seen improvements in their course rankings which will have been a catalyst for their increases.

The great Australian golfer, and professor/student of the game, Peter Thomson said that no golf course in the world should charge more than a round at the Old Course, but now a round at Turnberry is almost twice as much.

The increases have been eye-watering, but tee-time sheets have still been filled. There have always been enough visitors willing to pay the prices, while the local market has largely been priced out of playing some of the nation’s most revered courses.