Welcome to another year of golf, and another year of astronomical green fee increases. Regular readers of this blog will know that I have been moaning for years about the increases in UK green fees. Well 2024 is going to a bonanza year for moaning!
The average green fee at a top 100 golf course in the UK is £220 - up 9.6% on 2023
The average green fee at a top 25 course is £321 - up 12% on 2023
A couple of methodological points -
I have used the peak summer green fee at every course - normally weekend fees.
The data was collected over the last few weeks and one or two may yet change.
The list ranking order is an amalgamation of the top 100 rankings from various UK publications. Somehow Woburn has crept in 4 times. I will fix that for next year!!
I have a few thoughts on what is going on and some of the trends that we are seeing over this year.
There is no sign of green fee inflation slowing down
Clubs seem to be pushing up green fees as much as they can, especially those that appeal most to the foreign market. If you look at the top 30 courses on this list (which are, by and large, the ones appealing to the US market) they are up 12% this year.
Yes, but surely that’s because of general cost inflation in the UK ?
No, it’s not!
In the 12 months to January 2024 inflation is running at 4.2%. But the average course in the top 100 has increased its green fees by 9.6%
Some clubs are cutting back on tee time availability
Some clubs are making so much money from peak summer green fees that they are restricting supply. Some have reduced the number of times available for visitors in the summer months, or dropped twilight rates. Others have stopped winter visitor play – or are discouraging it with expensive winter tee times.
They simply have enough money now so they don’t need to take in any more green fee income.
Visitor volume is skewing more than ever towards the USA
The vast majority of peak tee times, at most of the top Scottish courses, are now taken by Americans. Whenever I tweet about this there is are comments about Japanese visitors but the Asian market hasn’t come back strongly post-Covid. Several General Managers have told me that the proportion of domestic visitors is reducing.
Most foreign visitors are travelling on packages including hotels and transport so they never actually see the price of an individual course.
Clubs make significant revenue from overseas visitors beyond green fee income
I accompanied a group of US visitors on a trip to the Highlands last year and the way they devoured the pro shop merchandise at Royal Dornoch (not a cheap place to buy your clothing by any means!) was quite a sight.
More and more pro shops are run by the club rather than an independent pro. When you take retail spend into consideration, the profit per international visitor is far more than just the green fee. Another reason why the clubs want to prioritise foreign visitors over the domestic market.
The rising tide is bringing many courses with it
It’s not just rises in the top 30 that have pushed green fees ahead of inflation over the last few years.
Here’s a bit of analysis from the ‘adjacent’ courses - the courses next to big name courses which will often be played by visitors while in the area.
You can see that these courses have all put prices up significantly - every single one above inflation (which was 21% over this period) - as they enjoy the impact of their neighbours’ popularity.
Please don’t get me wrong, these are all great courses and are wonderful additions to any trip, but the value they offer has diminished over recent years.
The vicious circle is in full swing (excuse the mixed metaphor!)
You know what happens when you start to charge more? To justify the large fee, you need to provide the punters with more and more. More courses than ever give everyone a goody bag on the first tee. More give you a complimentary drink. These things don’t come free.
Most courses will tell you they don’t make a profit (although many have record surpluses). That may be technically true but they are spending on capital projects to improve the off-course facilities. Some are even tinkering with the course when it is often best left alone.
Experiences, both on and off the courses, are becoming homogenised. We’re losing a bit of soul.
It’s a horrible vicious circle – the clubs are generating more money from green fees and then feel the need to spend it to justify the increased green fees. What a state!
Members are benefitting, but at what cost?
I have membership subs data from about half of the top 30 courses, and every single one is pushing up green fee income at a faster rate than members’ subscriptions.
You might think that’s great and that members should get the benefit from this.
And that’s fair, up to a point. But this move is fundamentally changing the face of some golf clubs. Many have closed their waiting lists totally or are only admitting a tiny number of new members every year. There is zero turnover in the membership. No-one leaves - why would you when you are getting your membership for a song? - and so no one can join.
It used to be that when people moved away, or started a family they would leave a club knowing they could join again in a few years, but not any more. In some cases you literally have to be carried out in a coffin before you give up your membership.
This is not a good thing. Courses need to regenerate. They need fresh blood. Those new to the game need to be able to join somewhere, people moving to an area need somewhere to play.
Where I live, in Gullane, no-one who has moved into the area will become a member of the club for generations. Two years ago there were over 300 people on the waiting list and they let in two ordinary members in. The system is broken.
To the ‘Supply and Demand’ and ‘count yourself lucky’ brigade…
Whenever I talk about this there are two common responses. One is the, slightly patronising, ‘It’s just supply and demand’. Well yes, I know that. The second is ‘you should just count ourselves lucky you don’t live in American where you can’t get on these courses at all’. And yes, I know that too!
These arguments lose sight of something more deep-rooted. Committees and clubs are custodians of our heritage. A heritage that we should be incredibly proud of. A heritage which should be enjoyed by locals as much as overseas visitors.
The free market model, relying on the law of supply and demand, means that many British residents will never be able to play the greatest golf courses in the country, certainly not in any volume or on a semi-regular basis. I think that’s a real shame.
So what’s the solution?
I think the chances of any courses taking this on are close to zero (I am a romantic at heart, I know) but here goes…
I think that the very top clubs – those that are priced at £250+ levels – should set aside significant numbers of tee times which are just available for domestic golfers. I’m not just talking about one or two in the off-season, but one or two hours every day in peak season. They could be early (or late) in the day, but these should be times which are only available to people living in the UK.
These should be offered at a different rate from the peak tee times - I would suggest they take their 2010 green fees and adjust for inflation. They would be far more palatable.
Also, access to these tee times shouldn’t be dependent on being a member of the English or Scottish Golf Unions. Such a policy would be exclusionary to the many recreational golfers who do not have a membership. Proof of address should be enough.
And one more thing - if you are a member at one of the courses that has voted for minimal membership fee increases, at the expense of visitors paying more for green fees, don’t moan about the cost of green fees elsewhere. You are part of the problem!
Hope for the future?
However, there are some signs that things may be slowing down a little. I have watched agog at the hyperinflation in the North West of England in recent years. Southport & Ainsdale has been at the forefront of this move. Its green fee rocketed from £150 in 2019 to £250 in 2023. But this year, fees at S&A have dropped £20 across the board. Maybe they realised there is only so far you can go before you start to lose business?
But those examples are few and far between. As long as the US dollar stays strong against the pound, the overseas market will keep coming. I’ve already seen some 2025 green fees and, believe me, the position just keeps getting worse and worse.
But fear not, there are still a load of lovely courses out there you can play at a reasonable price. Just don’t expect to see too many of them in the UK Top 100 list.