By David Gould, Staff Editor
Any devoted, lesson-taking, high-income golfer is a prime candidate to purchase an in-home golf simulator. Once that sim is set up, the golfer would likely come to view it as a great place to work with his trusted golf instructor. And if the coach is down with that idea, we’ve got ourselves a “house call” lesson.
The house-call lesson is such a natural consequence of the simulator boom, perhaps we all should have seen it coming long ago. Be that as it may, Proponent Group has been able, through our members, to shine a bright light on this developing trend. A recent member survey we sent out turned up intriguing data points, including the following:
- Almost half of those respondents—47 percent—say that “more than 10” of their regular students have residential sims, while another 32 percent say that “six to 10” of their students have them
- Among members with sim-owning students, 55 percent do indeed travel to these students’ homes to give them lessons
- In light of the travel time and costs, 28 percent of house-calling coaches tack on an upcharge, while the other 72 percent stick to the standard per-hour fee
We also asked a couple of logistical questions, including one about fitting off-site instruction trips into a weekly schedule. This was a check-all-that-apply question. The most popular response at 51 percent, was “On days I am not scheduled at my regular facility.” Second most common response was, “Before or after my regular teaching hours,” checked by 38 percent. “During bad weather only” and “During my regular teaching hours” each drew a checkmark from 25 percent of the group.
Our other logistical question concerned travel time, and the sweet spot was the 15-minute (or less) road trip, with 40 percent saying that was their limit. Another 36 percent said a half-hour’s travel was acceptable, while a handful of respondents said they would travel 45 minutes or sometimes longer. Quite possibly 45-minute-plus answers came from coaches who also said they included a travel surcharge in their fee.
Longtime member Brian Jacobs, known for his innovative approach to the business of golf instruction, was the first Proponent coach to mention this practice to us—he’s been a house-caller for a couple of years now.
One survey taker, Laura Patrick, took time to send a follow-up email with some insights on how this new bit of programming plays out.
Her first forays into house-call instruction involved two high school golfers whose residential sim is geographically closer to Patrick’s home than her own studio simulator is. “I didn’t charge extra,” writes Laura, “because it was easier for me to go to them” than to meet them at her base of operations.
“I think if I did this as an actual service I would do it after hours and potentially charge a premium,” she adds. “I’ve noticed it’s harder to walk out exactly at the end of the lesson and people get chattier in their own home, therefore an hour lesson turns into about 90 minutes of time. It can get a bit socially awkward because they almost feel like they are also entertaining you.”
The natural remedy for this, in her view, is “to set boundaries,” perhaps mentioning with some emphasis that “I have some place to be right after this.”
