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Three of Prince Edward Island’s best-known golf courses are moving to a dynamic pricing model for tee times, a system more commonly associated with airlines, concert tickets and hotels.
The Links at Crowbush Cove, Brudenell River and Dundarave — marketed together as “P.E.I.’s Finest” and owned by the provincial government — are now using software that adjusts green fees based on demand and other factors.
Ryan Garrett, who manages the three courses on behalf of Tourism P.E.I., said the goal is to offer a wider range of prices instead of a single, fixed rate.
“It changes the rate of a tee time based on predicted weather. It takes into account the number of players that are presently on our tee sheet that are playing that day. It takes into account historical play to adjust prices,” Garrett said.
“So those prices can go up or they can go down.”
Garrett said the system only comes into play inside 30 days of the desired tee time. If golfers book more than 30 days in advance, they pay the standard base rate.
He said dynamic pricing does not apply to junior rates, twilight rates or P.E.I. resident rates.
“They’re set in stone, they don’t move other than moving seasonally,” he said. “So low off-season like spring and fall is priced a little lower than our peak season.”
Dynamic pricing is widely used in other industries, and Garrett said golf is starting to follow suit.
According to a National Golf Course Owners Association survey last year, he noted, about 20 per cent of courses in Canada are now using some form of dynamic pricing.
The three P.E.I. courses are among the first on the Island to adopt the system. Garrett said he expects more to move in this direction over the coming years.
‘The revenue that we take in goes right directly back into the province’s general revenue account, so any way that we can grow revenues is a positive,’ says Ryan Garrett, who manages the three government-owned golf courses. (Zoom)
Because the three courses are publicly owned, Garrett said any additional revenue generated goes back to the province.
“The revenue that we take in goes right directly back into the province’s general revenue account,” he said. “Any way that we can grow revenues is a positive.”
Garrett said bookings have been strong in recent years, with the number of rounds played increasing annually. But there is still room for growth in the shoulder seasons like May and October, and at certain times of day.
Beyond revenue growth, Garrett said the success of the new system will be measured by factors like customer satisfaction and whether golfers feel they are finding the right price at the right time and on the right day.
He added that the courses are trying to be up front about the changes.
The booking website includes a Q&A section explaining how dynamic pricing works, so golfers understand the system before arriving to check in.