For driving ranges, one’s saleable inventory is not a physical product; it is the number of bays and the hours they are available for use (let’s call these “bay-hours”). Each bay hour represents potential revenue, and each hour sold converts this to actual revenue (let’s call this “volume,” and we will address this in the next of the series).

Therefore, one way to increase profitability is for range operators to increase their bay-hours by increasing the number of bays per hour that are available for sale or by extending their hours of operation.

Unlike a retail business where unsold goods can be stored for later sale, unused bay-hours represent permanently lost revenue.

Operating Tactics

1. Adding more bays

When demand consistently exceeds supply, increasing the number of physical bays available for sale is the most effective way to expand your bay-hour inventory. Options include:

• Horizontal Expansion: Repurposing underutilised areas adjacent to the range to introduce more bays, these could either be covered bays or even uncovered bays using outdoor screen or mobile technology.‍
• Vertical Expansion: Adding an additional floor to an existing range. Upper floor bays can be very attractive to entertainment customers as long as these are easy to access and ideally have a good view.

Adding new bays is potentially the most expensive option for increasing your inventory. Therefore, it is crucial to consider whether these new bays will be as attractive and valuable to customers as the existing bays, and whether there are any planning or regulatory constraints.

This tactic has been used very well by a number of Inrange partners, however planning permission as well as the opportunity cost of closing the range or parts of the range in order to do the development often poses a material constraint.

2. Leveraging Multi-Use Inventory

Maximising inventory doesn’t always mean adding new space, it can mean optimising how existing bays are used:

• Coaching Bays: Using coaching and fitting bays in non-coaching times for sale to regular customers. This can be particularly effective for entertainment golf purposes as these customers are often playing after coaching hours.
• Single vs Multiplayer Usage: By incentivising players to share bays and thereby free up inventory for sale to other customers ranges can increase the number of participants (and effective rate) per bay-hour without requiring additional space. This can be achieved by introducing competitive challenges, team-based formats, or social game modes.

This tactic was used to amazing effect by one of our partner ranges where they opened up their 8 coaching bays for use in the evenings which in effect increased their bay-hours by 960 hours per month (8 x 4 x 30).

3. Extending Operating Hours

If physical expansion isn’t feasible and you have demonstrated demand at the fringes of your opening times then increasing bay-hours available is an obvious next best option. Considerations include:

• Weather proofing: Investing in bay heating and protection from the wind so that even on the off season bays can be utilised later into the day.
• Seasonal Adjustments: Extending evening hours during high-demand seasons.
• Lighting and Facility Upgrades: Investing in night-time accessibility and bay heating to make late-hour play more appealing.
• Staffing Efficiency: Structuring shifts to allow for extended operations without significantly increasing costs. For example opening an entertainment focused facility in the morning with limited staff to encourage practice golfers.

We have seen year on year evidence of sustained play volumes throughout the cold season at a large number of our partner facilities who have leaned into the above.

4. New Site Expansion

Once you have demonstrated to yourself, your players and perhaps your investors that the range business is a great one and that you have a demonstrated ability to run yours profitably then the next exciting opportunity is to expand your brand into a new site. This could either be:

• Build a New Range: Perhaps the most difficult but we have many partners around the world investing in this.
• Repurposing  Existing Golf Real Estate: A number of courses are ripe for a reduction in their number of holes which can pave the way nicely for the build of a commercially focused driving range. 
• Purchase an Existing Range: Our experience is, as with all businesses, great operators can materially improve the profitability of ranges which they purchase and this can return a great ROI if you don’t overpay (by too much anyway).

Our partners in Sydney, Australia, provide a compelling example of how strategic site acquisition can drive long-term success. Recognising the growing demand for premium golf and entertainment experiences in urban areas, they acquired land in a prime urban location and built a compact, high-footfall range that optimised both space and profitability.

Before expanding bay-hour inventory, its crucial to track key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure the investment is justified. Metrics like bay utilisation rate, peak vs. off peak occupancy, and revenue per bay per hour will offer valuable insights into where additional bay-hours can drive the most impact.