the golf operation market | France

1.1 Presentation

A golf course is a company, and as such, it gathers jobs of personnel management, administrative, financial, commercial, teaching and sports animation and maintenance of the course. Thus, running a golf course is very specific and, as we will see in the course of this study, this job requires knowledge of the golf world and advanced management skills in order to achieve a practical balance between the various constraints.

In France, golf courses represent 33,000 hectares, are managed by about 8,000 employees and welcome members, external players (green fee) and tourists. The owner of a golf course, according to his objectives (standing, public service, etc.) manages it himself, or delegates the exploitation to a third party. The management mode of a golf course can be associative, commercial or public

The market for the operation of golf courses includes all the facilities and infrastructures for the practice of this sport. There are golf courses intended for amateurs, who practice the sport as a leisure activity, but also for those who practice competition, and for professionals. Some courses are located in resorts and are more particularly oriented towards golf tourism. Thus, the golf market goes hand in hand with the tourism sector since many hotel complexes, called "resorts" in the world of golf, propose stays centred on the practice of the sport with a green in the hotel grounds, at the disposal of the customers. The discipline is a considerable growth factor for the tourism sector