GBN talks to Pierre-André Uhlen, CEO of UGolf, Europe’s largest golf club management company, and Nathanaël Pietrzak-Swirc, CEO of UGolf International, the company’s international arm, about the company’s plans for growth in France, across Europe and further afield
Pierre-André, can you just paint a broad picture of UGOLF and what it does?
Pierre-André: UGOLF is a global golf club management company that currently manages over 120 clubs around the world, including 100 in France, where we are based, with others in Spain, Germany, Rwanda, Madagascar, French Polynesia, New Caledonia and Egypt.
We employ more than 5,000 people worldwide and recorded more than €1 billion in revenue in 2022.
We also have affiliations with over 850 clubs around the world, with our network extending to Austria, Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, Spain, Finland, Italy, Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Portugal, Sweden, Morocco, Australia, New Zealand, China, Philippines and the United States.
We have long-term lease contracts with most of our clubs, rather than owning them. Our model is not about acquisitions, although we do own a dozen or so venues, but rather to have these long-term contracts in place.
One our main driving principles is to enable the widest possible number of people to get involved with the game. Our model is based around working with clusters of golf clubs in specific regions that enables golfers to play not just one course, but lots of different courses, all for one membership fee.
It’s a model that not many golfers are used to because not long ago – and still to this day – most golf clubs have traditionally been in competition with each other. Rather than trying to attract golfers to a certain region to play multiple courses, they were wanting exclusivity, when the obvious thing would be to go ‘right, let’s work together, and attract people down to this region to play golf’. By doing that you are able to create package that works for everyone.
UGolf has over 100 golf courses that operate under the UGolf umbrella in France, so for one annual fee you get to play all of these courses. France has around 750 golf clubs, so we are managing just over 15% of the clubs in France.
How much does UGolf membership cost golfers?
When you are a member of UGOLF, you are entitled to play at all the courses. We have different kinds of membership and offer everything from the opportunity to play one area, a bigger area or a worldwide membership.
To play all our 100 courses in France, the cost of unlimited 7-day golf membership is €272 per month (€3,169 per year (£2,665 approx). If you take out our clubs in Paris and the two in the French Riviera (Valescure and Saint-Maxime), which still gives a choice of around 70 courses, the cost comes down to €229 per month (£190).
We also have other regional memberships within France, so if you only want to play our four clubs in Bordeaux, for example, the fee is €175 per month. Or to play all 17 clubs in the south west region it will cost €202.
We also have five-day annual membership (€2,297), couples’ membership (€5,302), and membership for those aged under 35 (€2,377).
All our members also receive a gold card from our golf network, ‘Le Club Golf’, which offers discounts on green fees at 850-plus courses around the world. All UGOLF-managed golf courses are in the network.
What services can a member clubs expect to receive when they sign up to a UGOLF management contract?
UGOLF offers a comprehensive series of development support and direct management services for golf course owners and/or managers. We provide advice and a series of mechanisms for identifying opportunities for growth, developing action plans and improving golf courses.
We aim to simplify the day-to-day experience of golfers, meet their needs and optimize operating systems. To achieve this, UGOLF relies on its support services (information systems, purchasing, greenkeeping, training, and technical and financial management assistance) and sales services (education, corporate & events, tourism, and international development through LeClub Golf’s network).
What are the advantages and benefits to clubs through your bespoke way of operating?
Our mission statement is ‘driving growth, on a global scale’, which means that we are seeking the development of each golf club, through different ways. From the beginning, UGOLF has been an operating company that is used to managing golf courses in difficult financial environments, so we know how to adapt and to think ‘like an owner’ to manage as a good steward.
In addition, we are focused on understanding each country, each culture and each club to adapt all our operating standards. We do not come with a defined playbook as such and instead create a playbook for each club. It takes more time, but it’s key for success.
A lot of independent clubs join the network to benefit from B2C and B2B offers. The B2C offer is a loyalty program and is insurance for any member who has to stop playing for a period, as well as being a marketing program to promote each club.
On the B2B offer, the benefits range from being a buying power and having access to a lot of meetings, to an annual conference which is attended by 900 people each year.
With such a strong market share there a danger of UGOLF-managed clubs becoming slightly homogenised?
No, we make it very clear from the start when we talk to clubs who are thinking of coming on board that we have no interest in creating clone clubs or taking away what makes then unique or special in anyway.
We want golf clubs to have their own identity. Some are more family-orientated; some are very lifestyle, some very urban and have a younger audience, some are shorter courses that you can play in a couple of hours. They all have their own identity, and it is important for us to respect this.
How important is making connections with the local community important to the UGolf venues?
We also see our venues as active lifestyle venues for the whole community, not just golfers, so we have all sorts of other activities offered at some of our more family-orientated venues, whether that be yoga classes, creative classes, kids clubs, and a complete range of facilities beyond traditional golf club operations.
Last year we organised a Green Festival, where we laid on lots of activities for families to engage in. We had a running club using the course, and the fairways given over to picnics, music concerts, outdoor cinema, buggy races, footgolf. We had 6,000 people take part last year, we are expecting three times more this year. It was all free.
The French Golf Federation recently revealed that 70% of new golfers in France have come through clubs and academies that are managed by UGolf. Can you give more insight into how the academies work and why you think they have been so successful?
You are right. 70% of the new golfers in France in 2022 and 2023 were introduced to the sport at UGolf or Bluegreen venues [UGolf bought Bluegreen in 2021]. But other clubs also do a tremendous job as well and we try to work together with the golf industry and the French Golf Federation to grow the sport.
At the very core of this success is a culture that has been developed for decades and shared by our PGA Professionals through the UGOLF Academy, which is the biggest academy in the world. Through our network of clubs the UGOLF Academy, which was established 30 years ago, currently looks after 20,000 students annually, 2,500 children in golf schools and 200 salaried instructors. It allows everyone from beginners to the most experienced golfers to learn and refine their game.
We invest a lot of time and energy in finding new golfers. Each year, 30,000 people are offered a two-hour session to learn the basics and play one or two holes on a golf course with one of our pros for free. From this first introduction, about a third sign up for our one-year, all-inclusive package, which includes unlimited lessons and unlimited access to the golf course for one year. The lessons are on a group basis, but most of the time is spent on the golf course. Why? Because our way is to make golf fun and social.
Nathanaël, can you tell us more about UGOLF International and what its plans are going forward?
Nathanaël: UGOLF International is a branch of UGolf which has been created for the international expansion of the brand. UGOLF is owned by the Duval Group, a large real-estate group which is based in France, but is also involved in multiple activities in Europe, Africa and Asia.
After the merger between UGOLF and Blue Green, we decided to create a specific entity to develop our brand outside of France. We already had dealings in Spain and New Caledonia, but when we started to work in Rwanda and received a lot of interest from groups keen to use our expertise in Africa, we decided to create a dedicated company.
We now manage one club in Germany (Bad Saarow), one in Rwanda (Kigali Golf Resorts) and six in The Netherlands, and we are looking to expand in other areas of Europe on a case-by-case basis.
Africa is a good target market for us, as 40% of the countries speak French, with a total population of more than 400 million. In fact, Africa represents more than 50% of the French-speaking world.
What does the future hold for UGolf and how optimistic are you about the future of golf in general?
Pierre-André: We are currently the fifth largest golf operator in the world and it’s our aim to break into the top three in the next three years through the projects we have in Africa, Europe and Asia.
When you consider that ten per cent of the golf courses in the world are managed by golf operators, and there are 38,000 courses, there are clearly plenty of possibilities and avenues that we can get involved in a range of different markets.
I am sure that golf, and the golf industry at large, has a tremendous growth potential globally. Golf as an activity fully aligns with many social trends: it helps reconnect with your inner self, with nature and with others in a genuine way. It unites people of all ages and physical conditions. The golf industry is very aligned, professional and innovative compared to other sports and I’m convinced it will keep growing in the next few years.
Finally, the Paris Olympics get under way in just a few days’ time. How important is it for golf to make the most of this spotlight to help create the next generation of French golfers?
Céline Boutier and Matthieu Pavon have been doing a great job these past few years of flying the flag for France on the international stage, and we are rooting for them to bring home the gold medal at the Olympics. Whatever their results, I hope they inspire lots of young girls and boys watching to follow their lead.
We are very involved in school programmes, with many long-term local partnerships to create the next generation of golfers. We also support our young golfers chasing their dream of playing professional golf through a project called ‘Race to the Finals’. We offer a special individualised coaching programme to the 12 most ambitious ten-to-16-year-old golfers in our clubs and a chance to attend the PGA Tour Championship in Atlanta in August.
For more information about UGolf, visit https://jouer.golf