The Operator Revenue Playbook for 2026: AI, Booking Insights, and What's Actually Moving Golf Course Revenue
Real results from operators managing 70+ public courses, plus where AI is already changing how golfers find and book tee times
Golf courses field over 6 million phone calls a year, and 70% of operators say that time could go toward higher-value work. In this webinar, Landscapes Golf Management and CourseCo, who together operate more than 70 public golf courses, break down what happened when they moved to online-only booking and prepay policies, including an 11.6% revenue increase at one course despite a worse weather year. Metolius Golf's Ross Liggett then walks through why direct website traffic is already dropping as golfers shift to AI tools to find and book tee times, and what operators need to do about it heading into 2026.
Who's on the panel
- Jake Gordon, Co-Founder & CEO, Noteefy (moderator)
- Lee Finkel, VP of Finance, CourseCo (47 courses, primarily California and the West)
- Scott Wellman, VP of Sales & Marketing, Landscapes Golf Management (70+ courses, 27 states)
- Ross Liggett, Founder, Metolius Golf (600+ courses)
What's Inside
- The phone call problem, and what to do about it. Why golf still books 40% of tee times online compared to 83% in hotels, and what operators are doing to close that gap.
- A real online-only case study. How a 49,000-round Omaha-area course eliminated phone booking, added a mandatory cancellation policy, and grew revenue 11.6% in a worse weather year, without losing senior or junior rounds.
- Prepay and deposits, and what it does to no-shows. How one 47-course operator's $10 deposit policy dropped serial cancellations by 98% countywide, with only one customer complaint.
- The AI shift already underway. Why direct website traffic is falling as golfers turn to AI tools to find tee times, and what an "open API" tech stack means for staying visible.
This isn't theory. It's what happened at real courses that made the shift first: a 49,000-round public course in Nebraska, a 47-course operator across California and the West, and the data behind why golfers are already using AI to find where to play. If you're deciding what to prioritize going into 2026, from booking policy to your technology partners, this is the operator-level version of that conversation.
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