As Youth On Course Grows, Tee Times Amid Golf Boom Is Added Challenge

Youth on Course has now helped kids play more than 3.2 million subsidized rounds of golf since its inception in 2006, partnering with more than 2,000 courses while expanding to all 50 U.S. states and Canada.

The donor base has increased in recent years, with fundraising more than doubling since the pandemic, and key corporate partners include prominent companies such NBC Sports Next (GolfNow/GolfPass), TaylorMade, and U.S. Bank. As Youth on Course has increased in scale, so has its impact on kids and families, not to mention the broader interest in its $5 member rounds.

The game’s overall popularity has surged in recent years, with the National Golf Foundation noting that 2023 saw a record number of rounds played at U.S. golf courses and the highest national participation levels in more than a decade. Youth on Course’s reach has grown as well, with almost 200,000 active members as it continues to provide greater youth access to golf by reducing costs.

Generally speaking, golf’s resurgence has been a rising tide that lifts all ships within the industry. But it’s also yielded challenges for a program like Youth on Course, even if it is focused on growing the game and creating more lifelong customers.

“There’s not a lot of unused tee times out there and golf course owners and operators are trying to maximize dollars,” said Youth on Course CEO Adam Heieck. “Over the last couple of years, we’ve added 400 or 500 golf courses. It’s just harder than it used to be and the tee times available for young people are so much more condensed. The momentum you find around courses is extraordinarily high, so just trying to find places for kids to play has never been more challenging.”

While Youth on Course’s reach is substantial, 2,000 courses is still only about 20% of the public golf market in the U.S., leaving abundant white space for growth.

Thanks to donations and fund-raising efforts – among them the upcoming annual 100-Hole Hikes at eight regional sites — Youth on Course is able to subsidize rounds at partner facilities so its youth members only have to pay $5 to play.

The non-profit reached its first million rounds played by members in 14 years, and the second million less than 2 ½ years after that. Youth on Course surpassed the 3 million-round milestone in another 17 months, a testament to its accelerated growth.

However, tee time availability today is far more limited than it was in past years.

As Heieck notes, public courses that previously offered YOC members Monday through Thursday tee times after 2 p.m. and weekends after 4 p.m., as an example, might now be pushing that weekday access after 4 p.m. and putting a halt to all weekend play.

“Kids can get in a few holes after school now whereas previously some courses made all kinds of availability,” Heieck said. “So, the narrative has changed a little bit around that. And that’s something we’re battling because I think golf course owners and operators do see that these are (their) long-term customers. Those people are going to be successful long term by building a loyal customer base. So, we just have to have more of those conversations with owner-operators.”

About 40% of Youth on Course’s facility partners are public municipal courses, yet they account for 50% of subsidized rounds.

The added challenge on that front is that munis, being owned and operated by local government agencies (be it a town, county, state or parks and recreation department) can be reluctant to discount their rates, which Youth on Course subsidizes in the form of a check typically sent the first week of a new month. Additionally, any negotiations when it comes to muni finances tend to involve more of a time-consuming back-and-forth, and usually have to be approved by a board of supervisors or city council.

That said, these municipal courses can be Youth on Course’s most important partner venues, as they’re closer to population centers, have a more diverse clientele, and are typically easier for kids to access.

“The agreements take longer to get in place just due to the politics around getting contracts signed with a municipality,” Heieck added, “but we’re putting more and more on an of an emphasis on making sure those courses are available to young people.”

Youth on Course for years has been able to address one of the challenges of the “stickiness” of the golf experience, helping to ensure that the experience is good enough that participants want to continue playing.

And the junior age is imperative for those introductions, especially for a program whose customer acquisition efforts are 80% word of mouth. Also of note, almost half of YOC members end up playing rounds with a paying adult.

“The cost to subsidize a round has gone down measurably over the last five or 10 years,” said Heieck. “So, we’ve gotten much more efficient. But the last couple years have been more challenging.”

“We’re starting to see a little bit of softening,” Heieck added. “I think some golf course operators have a longer-term view now than they did two years ago, when it was like let’s maximize every single dollar possible. So, we’re going back to some golf course relationships that maybe have been put off for a while and kind of revisiting those like, ‘Hey, is the timing now is right.’”

And the 4 million-round mark is already in sight.