Or how AI has democratized opinion but not experience

I’ve been in the commercial golf business for over two decades. I’ve managed courses in Spain and international markets, experienced crises, openings, closures, and that awkward moment when your best client tells you they’re going to the competition because “they have better Wi-Fi.” And yet, every week I receive the same message on LinkedIn: someone explaining to me how I should manage a commercial golf course… when their only experience is managing clubs with completely different business models.

The curious thing isn’t that it happens. The curious thing is that it’s happening more and more. And now, with AI, this has multiplied exponentially.

A social club is not a business club (and vice versa)

Managing a membership-based club and managing a commercial sports field are two different things. It’s like comparing padel to rugby. They both use balls, but that’s where the similarities end.

The membership-based club: A model based on predictable fees. Captive customers who have already paid their membership dues. Decisions made by a board of directors. The goal: to keep members happy. Pace: slow, traditional, “we’ve always done it this way.” With all due respect, “you need to have a thick skin.”

The business landscape: Every day is a battle for green fees; you live in uncomfortable uncertainty, you’re on thin ice. Volatile customers compare prices in real time. Business decisions where every euro counts. The objective: profitability, survival, growth. Pace: frenetic, adaptive, “innovate or close.”

Can you learn from one another? Of course. Are their experiences interchangeable? Not at all. And yet, there are professionals with exclusive experience in either model, giving you lessons in revenue management. Or sales directors explaining to a century-old club how to “modernize.” All of them offering opinions on what they know nothing about, with the certainty of someone who has never had to explain to an owner why the numbers don’t add up at the end of the month.

AI: the all-knowing oracle (or so it thinks)/h2>

And then came ChatGPT. And Claude. And the rest of the Gemini gang, etc. Suddenly, anyone with a well-written prompt can write an article about “The 10 Keys to Maximizing RevPAR on Your Golf Course” without ever having closed a real deal in their professional life.

Don’t get me wrong: AI is an extraordinary tool. I use it myself. But now we have generic articles that sound good but say nothing specific. Advice taken out of context from other industries. And soulless analyses from other markets, without any real engagement, without any real effort.

AI can tell you that you should implement dynamic pricing. But it can’t tell you what it feels like when a long-standing tour operator calls you in a rage because the price changed between yesterday and today. Nor can it tell you how to manage that conversation without losing the customer.

Millennials: the last generation to see both worlds

This is where our generation comes in, Generation X, as they call us, the generation of the 80s. That strange and privileged bridge between two eras.

We still remember the paper reservation lists, the phone calls to confirm each green fee, the faxes (yes, faxes) with group confirmations. But we were also the first to embrace email marketing when no one believed in it, we built the first social media strategies for golf courses, and we implemented online booking systems when the industry viewed us with suspicion.

We are analog in our training and digital in our execution. And I think that duality gives us a perspective that younger generations don’t yet have and older generations no longer fully understand, and from which I’ve learned. We’re living through the transition. And many of us don’t even realize how valuable that is.

The real problem: experience can’t be googled

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: you can’t learn how to manage a golf club from a blog post. Not even from ten. Not even with all the AI ​​in the world.

Real sales management is learned when you have to renegotiate a contract with your main tour operator in the middle of the off-season because their numbers don’t add up. When a competitor launches an aggressive offer and you have 48 hours to decide whether to match it, differentiate yourself, or lose 30% of your forecast. When you need to explain to your CEO why you rejected a group of 200 departures that seemed like gold but would have destroyed your average price for the entire month.

Those decisions aren’t made by AI. You make them. With your gut, your experience, your instincts honed by a thousand past mistakes. And that can’t be improvised. It can’t be found in a manual. It can’t be generated by a prompt.

So, what is AI good for?

I don’t want to sound like a bitter Luddite. I use it to analyze data trends that would take me days to do manually. To write first drafts that I then personalize with my voice. To explore hypothetical pricing scenarios. To automate repetitive tasks that don’t add strategic value.

But never I trust her to make critical business decisions. Nunca asumo que su respuesta es la única válida. Never I forget that behind every piece of data there are people: customers, employees, tour operators, agencies.

AI can tell you “what”. Only experience tells you “how” and “why”.

A tip for those who are just starting out

If you’re new to this, welcome. The industry needs fresh talent. But acknowledge what you don’t know. There’s nothing more dangerous than unfounded confidence. Respect those who have been in the trenches for years. That director who seems old-fashioned has probably survived three economic crises. He must know something.

Use AI, but use it wisely. It’s your assistant, not your boss. And accept that you’ll make mistakes. Every mistake is a lesson. But make your own mistakes, not the ones dictated by an algorithm.

Wisdom cannot be downloaded

We live in an era where everything seems instantaneous. Information instantly. Answers in seconds. Solutions with a click.

But commercial experience—the kind gained through years of tough negotiations, failed forecasts, unexpected successes, and sleepless nights wondering how to salvage the season—that can’t be downloaded. It doesn’t come in an upgrade package. It’s not bought with a premium subscription.

We live. We suffer. We celebrate.

And when someone wants to give you advice on how to manage your golf course commercially, ask them first: How many summers have you ended up in the red? How many times have you had to pivot your business strategy because the market changed overnight? How many awkward conversations have you had with clients, tour operators, your CFO?

If their answer is “none, but ChatGPT told me that…”, smile politely and go on your way.

Because in this business, as in life, there are no shortcuts to mastery.