Round Numbers
John Thomas says the recently opened Max’s Swing Lounge is off to a solid start, attracting individuals of all ability levels, high-school teams, and corporate outings as well.
As he talked about golf in March and how many of the Bay State’s courses were able to open for business for large stretches of that month, Jesse Menachem first lamented that February was an almost total loss.
The fact that he even brought up February was a sign of recent times — for golf and the climate in New England. Indeed, area courses have enjoyed a prolonged run of golf-season-extending weather, with earlier starts, later finishes, and mostly decent weather through the season.
And this run of good weather has perhaps played a small role in the game becoming “more sticky” since enjoying a surge during COVID, when there was little else to do, and becoming “cool again,” said Menachem, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Golf Assoc. (MGA), who acknowledged that he gets paid to promote the game, but is genuinely optimistic about what he’s seen and what he projects for this season and beyond.
“We are again bullish about participation numbers and membership numbers,” he said, adding that all signs point to another solid year. “People are fitting golf into their daily lives and their daily routines in a different way than they did a few decades ago.”
Meanwhile, another aspect of golf’s surge has nothing to do with climate, other than being an antidote for bad weather. Yes, we’re talking about simulators, which continue to grow in popularity, with many private courses now adding such facilities to allow members to keep clubs in their hands 12 months a year — while also providing a boost to the food-and-beverage side of the house.
But there also more such facilities not tied to clubs, such as the recently opened Max’s Swing Lounge at Max’s Tavern at the Basketball Hall of Fame.
John Thomas, general manager of Max’s Tavern, part of the Max Restaurant Group, said the facility, which opened last November in an underutilized banquet room, provides users with opportunities for everything from basic practice to playing iconic courses like Pebble Beach and Cypress Point, and is off to a solid start.
“We’re seeing everyone from toddlers to retired people who are picking up golf for the first time,” he said, adding that the facility features nine bays using Trackman simulation technology. “We see people who play two or three times a week, we see pros, we see people just getting into the game, and people just out to have a good time.”
As for facilities that are dependent on the weather, many area courses were open by the end of March, and some were open before St. Patrick’s Day. That continues a trend that covers the past several years, and it’s a positive development in that it extends the revenue-generating season to weeks, or even months, when overhead is much lower than at other times of the year; Menachem calls this “bonus time.”
Jesse Menachem
“We are again bullish about participation numbers and membership numbers.”
The longer seasons comprise one of many bright spots for the golfing industry that still share space with a host of challenges — from the rising cost of just about everything to ongoing workforce struggles. All these issues, in both categories, are visible at clubs large, small, and even very small, such as Quaboag Country Club in Monson.
Celebrating its 125th anniversary this year, the semi-private club has nine holes, maintains a stable but older-than-normal membership of about 125, and has enjoyed growth in play since COVID, said General Manager Dale Swanson, a 71-year-old who described himself as a jack of all trades.
That’s his way of saying there’s a very small staff at the club, and he does whatever is necessary, including work in the kitchen, the 19th hole, getting carts ready for the season, and the pro shop.
As he does all that, he said a new greenskeeper — evidence that the course is in the best shape it’s been in for this time of year — general optimism about the state of the game, and a milestone anniversary have the club primed for what should a good year.
“We’re optimistic, and we’re already off to a good start,” Swanson said, adding that the course had a soft opening in late March with reduced greens fees. “COVID brought a lot of people into the game, and they’re sticking with it.”
For this issue, BusinessWest looks at the state of the golf business and the outlook for the year ahead.
Out of the Rough
As he talked with BusinessWest on March 29, a Saturday that was predicted to be a total washout, Ted Perez Jr., the head pro and co-owner of East Mountain Country Club, was in the pro shop checking in a few groups trying to steal a round before the weather rolled in.
“I think the forecast scared most of them away, but we had a few groups come out,” said Perez, whose course is known across this region — and well beyond — for being open pretty much whenever there is no snow on the ground.
Which means it’s been open almost year-round since the pandemic, said Perez, noting that February was, indeed, a total loss, making 2025 the first year since 2020 when East Mountain will not be open at least a part of all 12 months.
Still, this season officially started earlier than most, he said, noting that the course opened March 8, two or three weeks before most others, getting 2025 off to a decent start, again, at a time when there are minimal expenses to cut into the revenues.
Dale Swanson says Quaboag Country Club, like most courses in the area, has enjoyed early starts and, overall, growth in play since COVID.
“My father used to say that golf this early in the year is like finding money on the street,” said Perez, whose dad, Ted Perez Sr., designed and built the course in the early ’60s. “That’s because it costs you almost nothing to be open; you’re not mowing greens, you’re not changing cups, you’re not fertilizing … there’s zero expense other than gas for the carts.”
These early starts — and later finishes, at least the past few years — have certainly played a role in overall business growth at most area courses, said Perez and others we spoke with. But the bigger reason has been the surge in participation prompted by the pandemic, and strong evidence that many of those who took up the game then, or went back to it after leaving for any of several reasons, have stayed with it.
Whether golf is now ‘cool’ — the word Menachem chose — is a matter of debate, there’s no doubting that the game is more popular than it was 10 to 15 years ago, when its cost, lengthy time to play, and other factors were leaving empty lines on tee sheets and private clubs with dramatically lower membership numbers.
“Now, most private clubs have waiting lists for membership,” said Menachem, adding that there are other barometers for measuring the game’s comeback, from consistently higher numbers of rounds logged statewide to a slowing in the number of course closings; from an impressive list of courses open by mid- to late March to strong early signups for the major tournaments staged by the MGA each year, including the Massachusetts Amateur, which this year will played on a local course, GreatHorse in Hampden, and is already sold out.
Swanson agreed, noting that Quaboag has enjoyed limited but steady growth in overall play since the pandemic, a trend he expects will continue in 2025 with the gaining of new members as some courses, such as Leominster Country Club, have closed.
“I just signed up one that was at Leominster, and he said he’s going to bring some of his buddies with him,” said Swanson, adding that, while membership is up slightly, public play has increased as well.
Meanwhile, simulators provide additional opportunities for courses to extend the season and perhaps generate more food and beverage revenue.
“There’s all sorts of different options to outfit indoor space for simulators and keep clubs in people’s hands,” Menachem said, acknowledging that these facilities don’t do as well when the weather improves. Still, they have become a solid addition to the amenities offered by many clubs, and, overall, they have become an intriguing new aspect of the business, with perhaps the most visible example being TGL (Tomorrow’s Golf League), the tech-infused 3-on-3 golf league composed of PGA Tour golfers that drew solid audiences for matches broadcast on ESPN.
Those matches showed how far simulation technology has come and how it will be a big part of the game, said Thomas, noting that Scott Smith, president and CEO of the Max Restaurant Group, became inspired to create the swing lounge in Springfield after seeing a successful, 11-bay facility in Wallingford, Conn.
The chosen site is a banquet facility that had seen declining use since COVID, said Thomas, noting that retrofitting the location for golf simulation and a sports bar began in early 2024.
“When you walk in, it looks like a golf club,” he noted. “And we designed it to be more of a restaurant or golf club than a bar and swing lounge.”
He said the day he spoke with BusinessWest was typical, with Wilbraham & Monson Academy’s golf team coming in for practice that afternoon and a corporate function slated for the evening.
He acknowledged that, once the weather turns nicer and area courses are open, demand for simulators declines. Still, he noted, there is enough business — from corporate outings to players trying to stay sharp — to make this a successful year-round business.
Drive Time
Swanson said Quaboag has a few 125th-anniversary celebrations on tap for this year.
There’s a two-day tournament slated for Memorial Day weekend, and another competition set for August that will take participants back in time. Indeed, there were originally six holes when the course opened in 1900, he said, adding that six of the current nine will be chosen for a tournament that will feature the original yardages and some loaned persimmon clubs that will give players a taste of older equipment and keep them from driving the greens with their titanium and composite drivers.
There will likely be some participants in period outfits as well, he noted, adding that, while the club celebrates its past, it will press on with matters of the present and future, which look bright, but, like the game itself, come complete with a full set of challenges and issues that, like the weather, cannot be predicted.
