Indoor golf is often positioned as the lesser alternative, the consolation prize when real golf isn't possible.

Indoor golf often positions itself as the lesser alternative, the consolation prize when real golf is not possible.

You see it on social media. It's raining, it's windy, it's too cold. So the post appears: ‘Come and play golf indoors with us.’ Sincere, understandable, and yet a missed opportunity. Because with that message, you make yourself dependent on something you cannot control. Your existence is justified by bad weather.

And now it's spring. The sun is coming back, the courses are opening, and golfers are heading outside. For the centres that have positioned themselves as a bad-weather solution, this is the moment when they realise what they have missed. No community. No reason to keep coming when the weather is nice outside.

Those who position themselves as an umbrella are treated as such. Handy when it rains. Superfluous when the sun shines.

The centres that do things differently don't think in terms of occupancy. They think in terms of reasons to come. Not ‘when is it convenient for you to play’ but ‘why would you want to be here.’ The difference lies in events. Tournaments, clinics, evenings when people come not just to play golf but to see each other. Evenings that take place whether it's August or December. Not because it's raining outside, but because there's something to do.

That's the difference between a facility and a club. And it's exactly the difference between customers who stay away when the sun is shining and members who come because they want to be there.

Spring shows who has made that difference.