Golf Club Strategy Analysis

What is strategy? Simply defined, strategy is the overall plan to utilize resources to establish a competitive position in the market. Is strategy important for a golf club? Without doubt, solid strategy and implementation are vital for survival and provide a club with the best chances for success. In today’s unstable economy, the main risk for club owners is financial instability. With demographic dynamics where golf players are aging rapidly and struggles to attract younger audience, that represents a major challenge for industry. Therefore, in such conditions carefully defined strategic plan helps the club to stay afloat in times of financial turmoil and shrinking demand. Trying to establish a competitive position without clear understanding

Strategy as positioning is concerned with where and how questions of competition, including regional scope of competition and the basis of club’s competitive advantage. Strategy as direction specifies what we want to become, to achieve and the ways to get there, in particular mentioning mission and vision statements, performance goals, growth modes and capital expenditure priorities. Strategic analyses is an essential first step in strategic planning process. Initially, goals should be analysed, identifying mission and performance and establishing consistency between them in the key areas of analysis. Furthermore, competitive environment should be evaluated. It is important to have a clear idea of who our competitors are, how they differ from us and what their strategies and expansion plans are. Then, resources and capabilities need to be analysed, identifying and exploiting distinctive resources and capabilities critical to design strategies that create competitive advantages. Last but not least, strategy requires thorough implementation. Therefore, all major decisions should be tested against strategies, timelines and priorities outlined in the plan. It’s not completed overnight and requires usually 3 to 4 months to complete. However, despite been the major anchor for company’s decision making, strategic plan is not set

It improves the quality of decision making, creates consistency and unity and improves performance by setting high expectations. Therefore, it helps the club to become the best in class in a specific market segment, which should be the goal of every club, as it is the most beneficial competitive position. Clubs which are not the best shift to the middle of the market, which is a poor and costly place to compete