Golf may be the main attraction, but it represents only part of what happens on many club properties. A facility might host a tournament one weekend and a wedding the next, while operating dining facilities, providing transportation, hiring outside vendors, and maintaining the course throughout it all. When agents review golf course insurance, the full range of activities on the property needs consideration.
Identify How Clubs Use the Property
Golf properties can accommodate far more than traditional play, driving revenue beyond the game. The National Golf Course Owners Association points to multifunctional uses for golf courses, including concerts, car shows, fitness classes, and other recreational activities that can put underused areas of the property to work.
Tournaments, weddings, corporate outings, dining, instruction, resort activities, and transportation can similarly expand a club’s revenue streams. They can also change who comes onto the property, which vendors and services are involved, and what activities take place there. Those operational changes can introduce additional exposures.
Agents should ask which activities contribute to the club’s revenue, what has been added or expanded since the last review, and who is involved in delivering those services.
Connect Club Activities to Real Exposures
Multi-use operations can create several exposures within a single event. Consider a corporate golf outing with a post-tournament reception. The club may have nonmember guests driving carts, a caterer preparing food, bartenders serving alcohol, and a shuttle transporting attendees.
Golf carts also create a bodily injury exposure as clubs bring more guests onto the property. A study of golf cart injuries estimated 35,453 emergency department visits for serious orthopedic injuries involving golf carts between 2012 and 2021. The potential for passenger, pedestrian, and operator injuries gives agents another exposure to consider when clubs expand events, transportation, or other activities involving carts.
Outside vendors add another layer. Caterers, entertainment companies, event crews, and other contractors bring their own operations onto club property. Agents should review vendor agreements, insurance requirements, and responsibility for potential injuries or property damage.
Matching Coverage to Exposures: Common Questions
What coverage should agents review for events and alcohol service?
Weddings, tournaments, corporate outings, and other events may involve alcohol service and activities outside normal club operations. Review liquor liability and special event coverage based on how the club currently hosts and serves guests.
What coverage applies when clubs provide transportation?
Club-owned vehicles, shuttles, rentals, and employee vehicles used for club business can create different auto exposures. Depending on how transportation is provided, agents may need to review commercial auto and hired and non-owned auto coverage.
What should agents consider for groundskeeping operations?
Herbicide, pesticide, and other chemical applications can create liability exposures involving course property, neighboring property, guests, and other third parties. Agents should determine how the club handles chemical applications and whether its golf course insurance addresses those operations.
What about risks specific to the golf course itself?
Errant golf balls can cause bodily injury or damage property, while storms and other events can damage greens, trees, and other outdoor property. Consider errant golf ball coverage, umbrella or excess coverage for severe liability losses, and coverage for outdoor course property.
Cover Golf Course Insurance Gaps
Revisit a client’s golf course insurance whenever the club adds events, expands dining or alcohol service, introduces transportation, hires new vendors, or adds other uses of the property. Matching the insurance program to current operations can uncover gaps before a loss tests the coverage.
Contact T2Green Insurance to discuss coverage for golf clubs, resorts, and golf management companies with diverse operations.
About T2 Green Insurance
T2Green Insurance provides comprehensive insurance that is customized to your club, resort, or golf management company, from industry professionals whose sole focus is insuring this class. We are dedicated to providing you with innovative products, underwriting expertise, and exceptional results so that your insurance needs are covered with confidence. Reach us at 844-223-9005 with any questions or so we can begin tailoring a package that works best for your club.
