Golf Courses Thriving Amid COVID-19 Boom Cut Green Fees by 8% Following 'Excessive Charges' Criticism

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Despite golf courses experiencing a boom due to COVID-19, it has been revealed that they slightly reduced their fees (green fees) after four months in response to criticism that the fees were excessively high.

According to the Korea Consumer Agency on the 31st, a comparison of the fees (green fees) of 170 golf courses nationwide surveyed in early March this year and last November showed that public golf course fees dropped by about 8% in four months. This was analyzed as a result of accepting public opinion that fees were excessive despite public golf courses receiving various tax benefits.

Over the past four years, a total of 1,627 consumer complaints related to golf courses were received at the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center. The main issues were 'refusal to refund unused fees' at 18.3% (297 cases) and 'unfair or excessive fee charges' at 17.6% (287 cases), indicating many complaints related to fees.

The Consumer Agency also revealed that the number of public golf courses charging higher fees than the average membership fees has decreased. Compared to last November, the average weekend fee for public golf courses fell by 8.2% (15,554 KRW) from 190,341 KRW to 174,787 KRW, and the weekday fee dropped by 7.8% (11,355 KRW) from 144,998 KRW to 133,643 KRW.

The fee reduction by region was most notable in areas where fees were high last year (Gyeonggi·Incheon, Chungcheong, Gangwon). Both weekday and weekend fees dropped the most in Chungcheong [weekday 27,778 KRW (16.7%), weekend 29,444 KRW (14.3%)], followed by Gyeonggi·Incheon and Gangwon. Conversely, the Honam region, which had the lowest fees, saw a slight increase.

However, cancellation penalty policies at golf courses still require improvement. The Consumer Agency’s investigation of cancellation penalty policies at public and membership golf courses found that some golf courses still impose penalties even if cancellations are made 7 to 9 days before the usage date, and the number of such cases has increased compared to last year’s survey.

Based on this survey, the Consumer Agency stated that it plans to once again recommend golf course operators voluntarily improve cancellation periods and penalty regulations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.