[비즈한국] Someone posted a screenshot of a join-round on a golf app to social media. The green fees were 30,000 won and 40,000 won. Even considering it’s the peak of summer, these are prices that would have been unimaginable in the past. Could it be a prank by someone looking for attention? I checked the golf app I usually use. It was true. I read the comments. A reply mentioned that booking managers drop green fees on their own at the last minute. It added that if you hold out until the final moment, it is possible to play a round for just 10,000 won.
People looking to join rounds usually dislike playing in groups of three. It increases the burden of caddie fees and cart fees. So, booking managers who must somehow fill a group of four have to lower green fees to find members, and they often ask not to tell the other members about the discounted rate. This is the reason why, if you ask fellow golfers how much they paid when joining a round, you sometimes find the green fees differ. Of course, while these special prices are a fact of the booking manager’s business, they also prove that golfers' standards for what constitutes a "special price" have dropped significantly. Only this level of pricing can move the hearts of golfers now. I suspect that lower-tier or poorly maintained golf courses have finally entered a state of infinite competition.
In fact, South Korean golf courses were guaranteed high prices simply for existing as golf courses. No matter how poor the location or how lacking the facilities, golfers had to accept high fees just because it was a golf course. The difference in fees between top-tier and bottom-tier courses didn't reflect the actual difference in course quality. Between 2019 and 2023, through the COVID-19 era, an upward equalization of green fees occurred. One common remark from golfers was, "They're charging this much for this place?" How could a course this far away and in such poor condition charge this much? It was equivalent to a neighborhood motel charging four-star hotel prices just because it called itself a hotel.
That era seems to have come to an end. We are no longer in a period where a certain level of profit is guaranteed just by falling into the category of a "golf course." It is like the transition from an era where high incomes were guaranteed simply by being a doctor or a lawyer to a modern era where even they must face intense competition among themselves.
In the United States and the UK, green fees vary wildly, and the same is true for Japan. Local community courses cost only a few dozen dollars, while world-renowned courses charge fees approaching $1,000. The difference can be tens of times greater. Phrases like "Not bad for this price" and "Well, you get what you pay for" coexist. Won't many South Korean golf courses now start lowering their own status and coming out as budget-friendly courses?
Let’s compare receiving one team at a 200,000 won green fee versus two teams at 100,000 won each. In terms of green fees, the total is the same. However, you earn twice as much in cart fees by hosting two teams. Food and beverage revenue will also differ when hosting two teams instead of one. While caddie fees go to the caddies, caddies at courses with fewer rounds will inevitably leave. Golf courses will try in every way possible to attract more teams, and this will be done in connection with booking managers.
Of course, this may be because of the extreme summer heat. Naturally, the situation will change during peak seasons. It is highly likely that this will not happen at so-called prestigious courses that have good accessibility, excellent facilities, and high reputations. Those courses don't need to compete on price because they are "dream courses" that golfers want to visit at least once. As long as business golf doesn't disappear in South Korea and corporate card use isn't banned, the situation for traditional prestigious courses near the city likely won't change much.
Looking at recent trends in golf course usage, the number of rounds during the peak summer and winter seasons is decreasing compared to the past. The polarization between peak and off-peak seasons, as well as between high-end and low-end golf courses, has begun in earnest. Luxury and "premium" branding are starting to vanish from golf courses. Courses that pretended to be top-tier by building excessively grand clubhouses compared to the quality of the course, or by placing mysterious, massive sculptures around the property, have started to humble themselves.
This is certainly welcome news for golfers. It means the range of choices has widened. Golfers who travel a bit further to find affordable green fees will likely share stories like "I played for this much today" as if they were heroic tales. If the competition intensifies further, it might eventually become just a mundane, everyday topic of conversation rather than a heroic tale.