James Ibbetson: Why understanding your customers is key to creating memorable golf experiences  

As golf’s popularity continues to grow, so too does the choice available to golf travellers. With more destinations, resorts and venues competing for attention, delivering a world-class golf course is no longer enough. The wider experience, and the ability to turn a first-time visitor into a returning guest, has become increasingly important.

For venues looking to attract new customers, encourage longer stays and increase spend, understanding exactly what golfers want is crucial. That means gathering the right data, listening to feedback and finding effective ways to engage with guests before, during and after their visit.

James Ibbetson is General Manager of 59club UK & Ireland and has extensive experience in golf operations, having worked with Marriott Hotels at Forest of Arden and Tudor Park, as well as Yas Links in Abu Dhabi.

In this Q&A, Ibbetson discusses how data and customer insight can help venues make better decisions, why hospitality and personalisation are increasingly important, and how looking beyond the golf course can create memorable experiences that encourage guests to return and recommend a destination.

Ultimately, it is still the golf course that gets people through the door. History, reputation, tournament heritage and the quality of the course still remain incredibly important. But increasingly, it is the overall experience that determines whether people want to come back and what they say about the venue when they leave.

Golfers are more discerning than ever. They are not simply evaluating the quality of the course. They are looking at the whole journey, from the moment they arrive to the moment they leave. How they are welcomed, how easy the experience feels, the quality of the food and beverage, the interactions with staff, and whether they feel genuinely looked after all contribute to that perception.

There is also a very strong relationship between experience and value. Value for money isn't necessarily about being the cheapest. It is about whether the experience feels worthy of what the customer has paid.

The cost of golf has increased significantly in recent years, so the expectation around the experience has increased with it. The venues that are continually monitoring, measuring and improving the customer journey are the ones that I believe have a real competitive advantage.

It comes down to venues that have genuinely adopted a hospitality mindset, rather than simply delivering a transactional level of service.

The difference is often in the people. Are staff encouraged to interact with guests? Are they empowered to have conversations and get to know people? Do they understand what their guests actually want and need?

It is very difficult to satisfy somebody's needs if you don't understand what those needs are in the first place.

That understanding also creates opportunities for personalisation. Something as simple as recognising a birthday, remembering a previous visit or acknowledging a special occasion can make someone feel like a VIP. We see this routinely in the hotel industry, and there is a huge opportunity for golf to adopt more of those principles.

Ultimately, people remember how you made them feel. A good on-course experience might be enjoyable, but a genuinely personal experience is much more likely to generate that “I have to tell someone about this” reaction and, importantly, bring the customer back.

From a future business and marketing perspective, one of the biggest opportunities that we see at 59club is data capture on arrival.

As an industry, we are getting much better at capturing information such as email addresses and telephone numbers during the booking process, but there is still a significant opportunity to capture information about every individual player when they arrive at the venue.

Our 59club industry statistics for the year-to-date in 2026 currently show that only 19% of 59club-affiliated venues are actively striving to collect guest data on arrival.

That feels like a significant missed opportunity. These are people who have already made the decision to visit you. They have already invested their time and money in your venue and, hopefully, they have had a great experience.

If you know who they are, you have the opportunity to communicate with them afterwards, personalise future marketing, understand their behaviour and ultimately encourage another visit.

This is something we see all the time through our mystery testing programme.

Mystery testing results and feedback often highlight that processes and procedures aren't actually being followed consistently, even in venues with very robust standard operating procedures.

It might be something relatively simple – no-one present at bag drop, a missed first tee gift, no starter on the first tee, or guests not being given directions to key facilities.

The interesting thing is that the customer may never complain about these things because they may not even know that the service is supposed to exist. But those seemingly small omissions can have a significant impact on the consistency of the overall guest journey.

That is ultimately where data becomes particularly powerful. Once you identify the issue, you can start asking why it is happening.

When the venue investigated, they discovered that the staff member hadn't been told about those requirements or the location of the facilities during their induction – or, in some cases, had received no induction at all.

So the data didn't just identify a service failure, it highlighted a training and onboarding issue.

That is the real value of data for me. It shouldn't simply tell you that something is wrong. It should help you understand where to look next and ultimately, how to fix it.

First and foremost, it comes down to capacity.

If a venue is already operating at 99% capacity, there is obviously a limit to how many additional customers it can attract. In those circumstances, the opportunity is to maximise the value of the customers you already have.

Generally speaking, it is also easier, and considerably cheaper, to retain an existing customer than to attract and acquire a new one.

Turning a good experience into a great, and much more profitable, experience often starts with something incredibly simple - making conversation.

59club data shows that customers are nine times more likely to ask a sales-related question when a member of staff initiates a conversation, with the customer 65% more likely to make the purchase.

It all comes back to understanding your customers.

You need to understand the demographics you're serving, what they currently value, what they don't value, and importantly, what they might value in the future.

There is also a need to look outside of the world of golf for additional inspiration. Some of the best ideas for golf hospitality may not actually come from another golf venue. We should be looking at hotels, restaurants, wellness, leisure and other sectors to understand what is influencing customer expectations more broadly.

But ultimately, there is no substitute for actually talking to, and seeking feedback from, your customers.

Data can tell you what people are doing and, in many cases, what they are buying. But customer conversations, surveys and feedback can help you understand why they are doing it and what they would like to see next.

That can be particularly valuable before making a significant capital investment. Rather than adopting a 'build it and they will come' approach, venues should be asking: What problem are we trying to solve? Who are we solving it for? And what evidence do we have that they actually want it?

That is where customer insight can make a significant difference to investment decisions.

The days of viewing food and beverage as simply an add-on to the golf experience are long gone.

F&B is now an essential part of the experience. Given the unpredictability of weather and the fact that not every golfer is going to play their best golf, it can actually be one of the constants throughout the day.

In many venues, the F&B team will be among the first and last people a guest interacts with. Get that experience right and you immediately start building a positive emotional connection with the customer.

It also unlocks significant revenue opportunities, and again, that starts with conversation. As an industry, based on 59club statistics, we are improving year over year, however, believe it or not, only 35% of our testers were actively engaged in conversation by a staff member above and beyond: 'What can I get you?'

There is also a much wider opportunity around the destination itself. The broader the range of facilities you offer, the wider the range of demographics you can potentially attract.

Driving range technology, spa and wellness facilities, padel, leisure activities and other experiences can all encourage guests to stay longer, bring family and friends, and ultimately spend more time, and money, at the destination.

The opportunity is to stop thinking about the customer as someone who has come to play golf, and start thinking about them as someone who has come to spend time at your destination.

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