Page 32 - Winter 2018 english

Derek Johnston
Derek is a Partner with Global Golf Advisors, a specialty consulting firm focused on golf and club related businesses with hundreds of clients across North America and around the world. Contact Derek at djohnston@globalgolfadvisors.com or 905-475-4002.
Benchmarking standards are commonplace in most industries. These standards are set and updated based on de ned and evolving business models and shared infor- mation. The core objectives for creating and using benchmark standards are performance mea- surement and improvement. The golf industry has lagged other industries in the widespread adoption and use of benchmark standards.
The good news is that change has been brewing for years and is picking up speed. The NGCOA Can- ada is helping to lead the charge through its various benchmarking and performance tracking initiatives, including the Revenue Tracker and Rounds Played & Weather Reports, which provide comparisons of an in- dividual course’s results to their com- petitive set, provincial and national averages along with Performance Intelligence which provides course speci c benchmarks and feedback.
With the various categories of courses, and corresponding operating models(private,semi-private,resort, public, and municipal courses), exe- cuting benchmarking and performance tracking initiatives is no small feat.
In order to effectively use bench- marks, there needs to be standardization. This typically requires the use of Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”) that enable meaningful comparison from business to business and across mar-
kets. The KPIs for each type of course are different.
As an owner or operator, this means you need to be recording, tracking and updating KPIs in a manner consistent with the indus- try (category) standard as a base- line starting point. Therein lies the greatest challenge the golf industry is set to overcome.
In recent years, it has become evident that benchmarks and KPIs have signi cantly helped golf course owners and operators measure and
modify their operations to improve nancial performance. Financial performance is not just net income, it includes managing the balance sheet (working capital and debt) and ensuring the maintenance of physical assets.
PUBLIC, SEMI-PRIVATE AND RESORT FACILITIES
Public and semi-private golf course operations have a singular focus – maximizing the yield on a nite inventory of available tee times. As
32 Golf Business Canada