By David Gould, Staff Editor
It became clear as the 2025 season began that the cohort of Proponent coaches who work indoors-only had finally reached the point where we could survey them and gather enough responses to produce representative and relevant data. Our 36-question survey was in the field during April and its findings have proven quite provocative. What follows is a summary of the results.
The survey’s 25 individual survey participants identified themselves by the title of Owner at a rate of 88 percent, while the other 12 percent said they were Director of Instruction at the facility. Standard staffing level was 2 to 4 coaches, although 20 percent of respondents reported working solo and an impressive 32 percent said they had “five or more” instructors working the bays.
As for those bays, the number per center breaks out like this:
- One 20%
- Two 12%
- Three 24%
- Four 12%
- Five or more 32%
Simulators truly help drive the indoor coaching world. We asked the survey group how many sims they were operating and the response option ‘None’ got zero checkmarks. Here’s the breakout on sim count:
- One 20%
- Two 12%
- Three 24%
- Four 16%
- Five or more 28%
A sentiment emerged from the stats in the survey that you might be tempted to call “bay greed.” This simply means that however many bays for coaching, training and recreational use an indoor center had, the “optimal” number was at least a bit higher still.
The Proponent Group ecosystem of golf instruction favors serious well-honed coaching skill and serious game-improvement. That pattern holds true for our indoor members, based on how averse they are to golf-o-tainment and the ancillary business of food-and-beverage sales. One particular question and set of answers, shown below, bears that out.
Percentage of revenues generated from each of these business categories:
- Instruction 56%
- Membership fees 22%
- Clubfitting / equipment sales 11%
- Bay rentals league play / social events 6%
- Food & Beverage 1%
- Other revenue sources 4%
These entrepreneurial coaches have generally been able to self-fund the move indoors or at least keep it as a friends-and-family capitalization. We know this based on having asked: “Do you have a ‘money partner’ i.e., someone who is invested significantly with you but isn’t involved in day-to-day business operations?” Only 24 percent answered yes while the other 76 percent said they did not.
For any coach plotting a move indoors, the first meaningful metric will be cost—per square foot—for the space. This survey group’s median square footage is 3,000 and median rental costs per square foot, annually, are $20. Median (self-reported) annual revenues per square foot are $155.
When you move your teaching practice to the fully controlled physical environment of an indoor studio, meanwhile gaining complete freedom from facility politics, you morph into more of an entrepreneur than you were to begin with. At least that’s what the survey numbers seem to reveal.
We asked: “Having learned how to operate an indoor coaching facility, and looking at the income it generates, would you think about expanding your business to multiple locations?”
Only 4 percent said they hadn’t and probably wouldn’t think about it, while 44 percent said “I am thinking seriously about it already” and another 52 percent said “I may consider it, sometime in the future.” No question provoked our curiosity more than this one, and no set of answers impressed us more.
Then there are the sheer numbers. We asked survey-takers what their revenues were in 2024 and they said $775,000 (median). We asked what their 2024 direct operating expenses were and they said $477,000 on average.
Finally, we asked an open-ended question about the indoor experience that called for write-in responses. That question read: “What for you was most surprising about operating indoors?”
Among the many answers, our favorite answer was this: “How tough it can be, but also how limitless it can be.” The sense of high potential for those who’ve already made this conversion is palpable, and there’s a good likelihood it extends to those coaches who are outside, looking in.
Note: Complete Q&A results are now available for our member coaches to download on the Training Facilities tile on our website homepage.
