The profitabilty of crazy golf in the UK.

[golfing]

I have recently come back from South Carolina, where crazy golf courses are very popular, and I have daydreamed about setting up my own back in here in the UK since my big town does not have one, although it is not a tourist town I guess.

My main concern about how a crazy golf course would work in the UK is the great British weather. Obviously, summer would be the most profitable period, but then again we often don't have warm weather for long in the UK. My concern is that during the winter months, barely anyone would play. Really, who wants to go out on a dark cold night and play some putt putt? The only saving grace during the winter months would be the weekends - but then again, weather would still a factor.

I have thought about having an indoor crazy golf course to maximize profit in the winter months and bad summers. This might not attract people in the hot summer though.

I believe the best location would be in a tourist town preferably by the coast. I would also like to be near a university, since students are always up for a laugh and crazy golf would be a good cheap activity.

Any advice or thoughts on this topic would be very much appreciated!

 

[k100danny]

you finish this of by saying that it is cheap entertainment and this is where i think you will struggle to make any money at all, think about the size of the plot of land you would need to set up a crazy golf course, the cost of having it built, plus insurance, rent , rates and the fact you are saying it will be cheap to play make this business non viable. I seriously do not see any profit in this whatsoever. crazy gold is definitely more popular in the states but over here i only know of one course near where i live in east yorkshire, its an old concrete one in a seaside town, owned by the council and only open in summer, nobody ever plays on it.

 

[golfing]

By "cheap" I am referring to the cost for an individual to play crazy golf, from research, most UK crazy golf courses charge around £6 for 18 holes, thus cheap entertainment for the player. I am not inferring that the golf course will be cheap in terms of quality and/or appearance. I do not attend it to be some small crappy one, but a good quality one that is visually enticing.

There is actually a number of crazy golf courses throughout the UK, though a lot less than in the US where most states experience good weather throughout the year. Thus, why I suggested the possibility of an indoor one.

I don't think its fair to completely write off the business as unprofitable merely because of your one experience of seeing an "old concrete one" that is never played on. Old and concrete are not the words I would use to describe the course I would like to set up.

Finally, I have not looked into the cost of land, the cost of having it built and what not. I came here to see what people thought about it first and how one could survive in the UK environment.

 

[k100danny]

I am not referring to your course as cheap but as you say cheap to play, people will not pay a lot of money and therefore you would need a LOT of people to play to even break even, someone of those golf courses they have n the states , the crazy golf ones how much do you think they cost to build? most of the stuff is custom and im thinking you wouldnt be able to set up for less than 50 grand bare minimum this would include leasing land, equipment, fitting out the course ect. so how many people do you think you would need to come through your course per day to break even? I think you hit the nail on the head as far as tourism goes, it's more popular in the states and more popular still in the more tourist places in the states. we have i my town a few golf courses, a few driving ranges and one gold center that has pitch and put, footgolf which is also probably more popular than mini golf for the moment and these cost a lot of money to run.

Don't take it personally but i am 99% sure that at the very best you would be working long hours for very little money.

 

[vvaannmmaann]

One here for sale Asking £45k turnover of £60k
http://www.businessesforsale.com/uk/Crazy-Golf-Minigolf-In-Lincoln-For-Sale.aspx

 

[promdresser]

One here for sale Asking £45k turnover of £60k


BARGAIN!!

It was on offer at £75,000 !!:

rightbiz.co.uk/buy_business/for_sale/78697_lincolnshire

But it does have bery good trip advisor reviews.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

We have two new ones in great yermouth, one is a pirates cove sort of thing and the other a adventure safari park sort, I guess both cost upwards of £500000 each to build andvery busy in summer

Both nuthing like old style tables on a grass area but a landscaped mini theme park over 3/4 football size area

 

[Jack@GillespieBS]

Hi Golfing

Have you thought about looking at crazy golf indoors? There are a few which always seem busy in Bristol and means you can successful trade all year round and even into evenings. Most times I tend to visit is evening times where you can even go round with a beer! Like you say it is cheap entertainment.

Adding to that it seems to attract a wide demographic of people i.e. Family's, Couples and groups of mates (young and old).

Worth a thought.

Jack