2020: The Winning Playbook for Golf Courses: Shortcuts to Long-Term Financial Success (click here to purchase)
A Comparison between to the 2016 Edition.
In 2016, I wrote the fifth edition of “The Business of Golf – What Are You Thinking?” Over 15 Professional Golf Management college programs in 16 countries have purchased over 7000 copies for their capstone class. The series originated in 2010, with updates published in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2016.
In writing this book, the easy path would have been to take the manuscript from 2016, update it, and republish it. Had I chosen to do that, I would have been shortchanging you, the reader. It would have been a quick and easy path. You deserve better.
As importantly, I would have been shortchanging myself. Over the past four years, we have conducted extensive research. We have significantly improved the insights and perspectives on why golf courses struggle, and others mightly succeed while grounded in the fundamental aspects of our previous editions.
Every chapter has been updated with new data. A few, i.e., geographic local market analysis, weather and financial benchmarking, slightly mirror previous editions because the central lessons remain consistent. Upon finishing writing the book, I scanned the prior five versions, and if there was an essential point or chart that was not included, I added it. There are fundamental lessons in the professional management of a golf course that transcend time.
This book represents, in essence, a consolidation and compilation of the insights and perspectives provided in the previous five books. Thus, the methodology has been validated as a sound foundation to help a golf course achieve its potential.
But this book is different from the others we have written in many ways.
Previous editions provided a holistic view of the industry, both internationally and nationally, and the macroeconomic impact of golf. This one doesn’t.
The role of the industry-allied associations (American Society of Golf Course Architects, Club Managers Association of America, Ladies Professional Golf Course Association, National Golf Foundation, National Golf Course Owners Association, National Recreation, and Park Association, Professional Golfers Association of America, PGA Tour, Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, United States Golf Association, World Golf Foundation) were discussed in depth in previous editions.
Previous editions covered the valuations of courses and the art of buying and selling a golf course. This one doesn’t.
Previous editions covered the varying ownership and management models. This one doesn’t.
If the subjects not covered make you feel shortchanged,) for the first 250 readers, send me an email message at jjkeegan@jjkeegan.com, and for $49 (plus $5 for shipping), I will send you a copy of that 2016 Edition of “The Business of Golf – What Are You Thinking?” book that retailed for $99. The narrative presented there on the subjects not covered here is as current today as it was then.
What the 2020 edition focuses extensively on is:
- What is the financial potential of a golf course?
- How does one create the strategic, tactical, and operational components to maximize the investment return?
- Why is consistent execution essential to ensure one achieves the goals defined?
While previous editions have been distributed in printed and digital format, this book is unique in another way. Not only is it shorter from the 350-page tomes of the past, but with the evolution of technology, we are providing you a plethora of supplemental resources, including but not limited to:
- Hotlinks to numerous books, online publications, and video content.
- The ability to download 28 templates for a nominal supplemental fee that will facilitate your creation of a strategic plan to ensure you have sufficient resources to be highly profitable in the operation of a golf facility. Note that the inside of the back book cover includes a code to provide you substantial discounts to these field-tested templates. These templates were available in total at retail from our website, jjkeegan.com, for $4,790 (click here). They are now offered to purchasers of this book for $1,000.
- A reference library to leading research studies in the public domain. Note several of the National Golf Foundation Reports, appropriately, are available for separate purchase or complimentary to members of the NGF. In respecting their intellectual property, we footnote the source but have not included their reports in the reference library.
An appendix with all links listed.
It is for that reason that the digital format for this book and the hardcopy providing readers the option of which format they prefer. This book is also, in contrast to previous editions, not being printed in bulk, but is only published based on-demand via the Amazon publishing services.
You can invest in yourself and your course by clicking here.
