Michael I totally agree that this sort of marketting can be positive. I think in Cavendish's case they just have made a big mistake and they are not alone, other clubs have done similar. In this case a big mistake is allowing the coupon to extend to March 31st, thats 5 and a half months, I think they will sell a lot of these vouchers but in real terms Groupon will earn money and they not only will not make to much from this probably their winter take will be down, 10 groupons probably equal 1 normal winter green fee. The buggy inclusion seems bizzare, perhaps even another mistake, Cavendish does not paths does it? What if its wet, not many UK courses can have buggies in the wintertime unless pathed, there could be lots of damage.
If this promotion was concentrated to a single day, it does make sense, as you quite rightly say if the pro, secretary and committee members were there to greet welcome and sell the benifits of the club, they might get some new members, our trial Groupon involves giving a membership for a trial period, the proof for me if its good or bad will be seen soon as the offer is coming to the end. You are 100% correct when you talk about golfers and clubs stealing from other clubs, ofcourse what we need is new blood into the game and a welcoming for novice and new golfers, a trial lesson of 4 1 hour sessions with free clubs and a coffee afterwards can look great value for £19, in reality you could do a group of 12, that might give the pro an income of £20 per hour which is not crap money, the clubs cost nothing to hire really, the club can sport the coffee and the pro can talk about the benifits of golf and joining the club.
Couponing to just sell a green fee makes no sense to me, you lower your barriers to the nasty virus and risk getting infected.