Direct Fairways Leverages Golf To Bring Community Businesses Together

The sport of golf has been a much beloved athletic staple both casually and professionally for many years, but in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sport has seen a meteoric rise in play and engagement.

This apparent rise in interest includes both traditional, on-course golf and off-course entertainment golf options like Topgolf and Drive Shack, and has continued to grow even after pandemic restrictions were lifted. It’s clear that, in the United States, golf’s cultural market share represents a unique opportunity for advertising and community integration.

Direct Fairways, a local business advertising company, knows how to leverage this golf boom to benefit local businesses and golf courses alike through innovative advertising strategies. Since their founding in 2015, Direct Fairways has been putting local businesses in front of the eyes of hundreds of golfers every day through their advertising and print solutions, and that success can only continue. The ascension of golf as a culturally dominant recreational and competitive sport represents an opportunity that no successful business would ignore.  

Driving Golf To The Fore

Golf has been steadily rising in general popularity for years, but the pandemic created the perfect conditions for the sport: it was a fully outdoor activity that facilitated social distancing, it had a low barrier to entry thanks to more casual off-course forms of the sport (Topgolf, mini-golf, etc.), and it offered a new opportunity for people to develop a new skill alongside their peers in a time of relative isolation. Few other recreational activities offered such a perfect blend of benefits to draw in the American populace. 

The National Golf Foundation reported that since 2016 the sport has seen a 30% increase in the number of Americans engaged with golf as players or spectators, with nearly one-third of the nation’s population (over the age of five) being thusly engaged in 2023. They also report that the number of rounds played on average per year is up 10% from pre-pandemic levels. The PGA reports that the total number of active on- and off-course golfers represents approximately 11% of the United States population, fueled by the third consecutive year of 33% increase in the population of first-time beginners from pre-pandemic levels. 

It’s incredibly apparent that, by the numbers, golf facilities both on- and off-course have become recreational staples to a staggering number of American citizens, and that growth doesn’t seem to be temporary. While the meteoric growth is beginning to stabilize, the popularity has not shrunk as pandemic restrictions have been lifted. These gains appear to be persistent, and that persistence reveals a tantalizing opportunity for any advertisement savvy business to capitalize on.

Golf Course Advertising Success

Direct Fairways has established themselves as the premier nationwide golf advertising and print solutions provider and takes pride in their ability to help golf courses and their local communities thrive. They do this by providing free scoring materials for courses while facilitating connections with local businesses (with a high-end demographic) at an affordable cost. 

From golf kiosks and scorecards to yardage and course guides, Direct Fairways aims to benefit both the golf courses (at no charge) and local businesses, who standard to benefit from access to highly engaged audiences on a daily basis. Aside from fitting in the sponsors, golf courses have full control over the design and approval of the materials provided. By fostering partnerships between golf courses and local businesses, Direct Fairways hopes to improve business for all parties while bringing the community closer together. 

Additionally, Direct Fairways assists local golf courses in finding business sponsors and partners in the early stages of a deal. The Direct Fairways team will reach out to businesses in the client golf course’s local area to offer and negotiate sponsorship deals for advertising on the designed goods, all subject to the approval of the client course. By pulling in businesses from within a handful of miles of the golf course, Direct Fairways connects the disparate economic pillars of a community together for the benefit of everyone involved—and it all can get started with a phone call that takes as little as five minutes. 

Internal and External Success

Direct Fairways, as a company, tracks success through a number of different metrics beyond just financial stability and growth. They keep a close eye on both customer and employee satisfaction by tracking feedback, retention rates, referral metrics, and internal surveys, which they use to gauge how well they’re meeting expectations and employee engagement. In order to maintain their innovative edge and high quality, Direct Fairways also puts a lot of effort into tracking their overall operational efficiency. This broad array of metrics is what gives Direct Fairways its adaptability and the insight needed to deliver for its customers. 

It’s not enough for Direct Fairways to help connect and empower local businesses and communities—they take care of their employees and community as well. Aside from comprehensive and robust benefits, employees are encouraged to maintain a healthy work-life balance via generous sick leave, paid time off, and generous commissions and bonuses. Inspiring and empowering their team members is a driving core value at Direct Fairways, rooted in collaboration and dedicated to continuous improvement. 

Part of empowering their team is providing equal opportunities. Direct Fairways offers second chances to people who’ve experienced past troubles that might affect their employment options, with the goal of helping them rebuild their careers and contribute positively to their communities. Paired with diverse hiring practices and an inclusive workplace culture, employees of various backgrounds and perspectives are welcomed and rewarded for their engagement and support. 

Seizing The Opportunity 

Golf gave people the unique opportunity to still play and socialize safely during the pandemic, providing an avenue of connection and recreation when many others had been rendered non-viable. Direct Fairways is encouraging golf courses and businesses alike to take advantage of the cultural growth of the sport to connect and grow within their disparate communities. Leveraging smart, integrated advertising in golf courses and other golf establishments rewards both businesses and courses alike, and Direct Fairways is the avenue to make that connection happen.

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