Golf’s Newest “Birdie” – Country Clubs Embrace Drones

Golf and Country Clubs are embracing drones. Realizing that distinctive aerial images can help to attract new club members as well as facilitate the sale of banquets and events, club general managers are reaching out in record numbers to request aerial photography and videography of their country clubs.

The two most common requests are:

1.Aerial photography and videography of the clubhouse, tennis courts, pool, first tee and 18th green, entrance way and the outside deck areas and

2.Video and photography of the entire golf course – hole by hole, highlighting tees, fairways, sand traps, water and all of the greens

         Golf, like many other industries was hit hard by the economic downfall in 2008. But unlike many other industries, golf has yet to see a turn around. According to the National Golf Foundation (NGF) in 2013 there was a net loss of 400,000 players. The biggest losses were in the 18-34 age group, where nearly 200,000 people found something else to do with their spare time and their disposable income. When queried, this group deemed golf “boring” or just too long in the upcoming generations eyes, where everything is expected to happen in as short as a time as possible.

         Technology has become a large part of the game, like many other sports. Golf has rangefinders, GPS trackers, swing analyzers and many others. Now, the next gadget is here. Drones with cameras are now able to give you a hole by hole flyover or aerial view of the entire course.

         While drone technology may not be able to alter the macro decline in the golfing market it will likely be able to help individual country clubs differentiate themselves and attract new members. And, as an added bonus may allow golfers to add a few more “birdies” to their scorecard.