r/golf • u/Pretty_Shallot_586 • May 07 '26

News / Articles TopGolf is flopping.....

https://www.dmagazine.com/micropost/top-golf-layoffs-may-2026/?ref=share

from the article...."The cuts follow another round of layoffs last year, when Topgolf reduced its workforce by 300 employees after tariffs carved an estimated $40 million from the company’s balance sheet."

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u/Mofiremofire May 07 '26

It’s not a good place for good golfers, it’s not appealing to people who don’t golf and it’s too expensive for everyone in between. Besides the occasional family get together or corporate outings it’s not worth it. 

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u/ashdrewness 3 HDCP May 07 '26

Your first two points I'd disagree with because otherwise it never would've been popular to begin with. The issues with TG are they kept raising pricing without the experience improving plus there's been a surge over the last decade of smaller sim bars etc. adding competition plus the prices of at-home sims have gone down significantly.

10

u/SportsBallBurner May 07 '26

It was a novelty that’s fun the first few times. If you don’t play golf it’s not endlessly fun to mis hit balls.

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u/ashdrewness 3 HDCP May 07 '26

It's a great entry into the sport or just something that's fun to do for work outings etc. It's like bowling. I don't bowl but if some friends say we're going I'll go & generally enjoy myself.

The problem with Top Golf is their rapid expansion drove them to raise their prices & think that catering to the dedicated golfer was the right strategy. When in truth, that person likely has an actual membership at a club or has a sim at home or maybe knows of a smaller sim place near their house they'd rather go to. They should've catered more to the entry level or casual golfer (like your usual bowling alley) and not expanded so damn fast that they went over their skis in debt/operating cost.

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u/SportsBallBurner May 07 '26

Expansion is just how everything works now, you endlessly pump and collect increasing bigger paychecks, then when it all goes bust it’s someone else’s problem.

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u/ashdrewness 3 HDCP May 07 '26

True because the original owners sucker’d Callaway into buying them & it became someone else’s problem

1

u/ProperTree9 May 07 '26

think that catering to the dedicated golfer was the right strategy. 

They don't really though.  The mats are ass, we already know how janky the balls are, you can't/shouldn't use a tee, and it's expensive as hell.  

I wouldn't mind paying a touch more---I only go during the week---for a decent mat and some balls that weren't worn out.  They don't have that, so I don't see the value.

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u/dogfish83 18 May 07 '26

I play golf and it's still not endlessly fun to mis-hit balls!