Representatives of the Association of Golf Clubs of Quebec (ACGQ), Stéphane Dubé and Martin Ducharme, confirm the harmful repercussions that this trend has on golfers.
The golf season has started in most clubs in Quebec. (Tom Core/The Daily)
“There is definitely a negative impact on golfers. The clubs have become increasingly busy since the pandemic, places are limited, so when a group reserves in 3-4 golf clubs for the same tee time, and does not show up, it is up to the other golfers to whom It causes harm.”
— Stéphane Dubé, general director of the ACGQ
He indicates that even if there are not yet concrete statistics compiled on the subject, it is an observation which seems to be a consensus.
The president of the ACGQ, Martin Ducharme, emphasizes, for his part, that with an arbitrary calculation, we can easily quantify the losses caused by this trend on the industry.
The propensity of some people not to show up and, above all, not to notify them of their absence, inevitably becomes a cause of the increase in departure prices in several clubs on the circuit. (Tom Core/The Daily)
“With an easy and fairly realistic calculation, we can quickly conclude that the no shows cause the golf industry in Quebec to lose at least 5 million per year, if we include the 200 public clubs in the province. This is the kind of loss that causes departure prices to increase.”
The propensity of some people not to show up and, above all, not to notify them of their absence, inevitably becomes a cause of the increase in departure prices in several clubs on the circuit.
“The world is complaining because we are increasing costs, but when people cancel their departure, it causes us to lose revenue. In addition, this requires us to have additional resources to validate reservations. We do it, we have someone who confirms reservations at the start of the day, in a context of labor shortage, these are additional costs,” explains the man who wears the hats of president of the ACGQ and general manager of the Bromont Golf Club, Martin Ducharme.
Steps to take
The two men mention several measures that could concretely be taken to mitigate the harmful effects of the situation. One of them would be to charge a non-refundable amount when booking, but the Consumer Protection Act currently prevents establishments from doing so.
“We are not safe from no shows, people who do not respect their commitment. We work jointly with the Quebec Restaurateurs Association, at the government level to be able to penalize the consumer in a monetary way,” explains Martin Ducharme.
The Association of Golf Clubs of Quebec (ACGQ) is working jointly with the Association of Restaurateurs of Quebec in this matter. (Archives La Voix de l’Est)
“If an establishment, restaurant or golf club withholds an amount on a credit card, the transaction is automatically rejected,” underlines the president of the ACGQ. For what ? Because the service was not provided. “For this to be accepted, there must be a written agreement with the consumer, so our reservation center would have to have a written agreement signed virtually by the customer, that makes everything very complex.”
Such a measure would definitely reduce the number of no shows, continues Mr. Ducharme. “We know it’s going to be a mess, but once again it’s only going to penalize those who don’t show up and don’t give notice. Once again it is the majority who pays for a minority of culprits.”
While awaiting a government decision, some golf clubs are using temporary means to try to prevent this type of mischief.
“For now, the temporary solution is to create a blacklist with the names of the people at fault. If a person, a member does not show up for their reservation without warning, they no longer have the possibility of booking online with us,” explains the general manager of the Bromont Golf Club.
In the region
In the specific case of the Saguenay-Arvida Golf Club, the no shows do not seem to be more numerous than a few years ago. On the other hand, since the number of golfers has greatly increased, the repercussions of this type of practice are more harmful than before.
“We have a lot more golfers since the pandemic, so it is certain that the problem is more disturbing because it concretely prevents golfers from having tee times. What we see the most, besides people who don’t show up due to the weather, is people who reserve four places, for example, but only two show up. This also causes loss of income,” explains general manager Sébastien Dion.
The latter also proposes a hypothetical solution, but this time, based on the incentive aspect.
“It might be interesting to require departure reservations in advance, with a deposit, but with a percentage discount on departure. Even if in the end we have to repay [le montant] following the cancellation, it would create an incentive for people to respect their reservation if we give them a 10% or 15% discount, for example, by booking in advance.”
(Rocket Lavoie/Archives Le Quotidien)
For his part, the general manager of the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu Golf Club, Jean-Philippe Moffet, does not consider this to be a major issue for the establishment located in La Malbaie.
“We have some, but it’s negligible. Being a hotel, people come here to play golf, so often it will even play rain or shine,” he explains.
He nevertheless recognizes that this is a real concern among clubs which are not affiliated with a hotel establishment.
The problem is also very deep-rooted among public clubs. Private clubs having a defined pool of members, controlling reservations seems much easier to do.
