How to sell more golf gift cards before the holidays

Key takeaways

1. The National Retail Federation reports gift cards were the second-most popular holiday gift in 2025, with spending expected to reach $29 billion, so the demand already exists before a course does anything.
2. Many golf gift buyers do not play golf, so cards named after experiences, such as 18 holes for two with a cart, are easier to buy than a blank dollar amount.
3. A holiday bonus works best as a separate card, labeled promotional, that can only be used after the holidays, ideally on the days and times your tee sheet needs help.
4. A gift card is only half a sale until it comes back as a round, so capture the recipient's email at purchase and send a booking link on opening day.
5. Federal and state rules limit expiration dates and fees, and unredeemed balances may eventually go to the state, so write a clear policy and confirm it with your attorney and accountant.

When should a golf course start selling holiday gift cards?

The holiday gift card season is short. Treat it as a calendar with several pushes, not a single promotion you remember in mid-December. A practical plan is three pushes, plus a small one after Christmas.

Real offers follow this shape. Pinnacle Golf Club in Columbus, Ohio ran its 2024 holiday bonus from Black Friday, November 29, to December 22. Woods to Wedges, a lesson, fitting and simulator facility in Williamsville, New York, ran a bonus only from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday 2025. Topgolf ran its 2025 bonus from November 13 to December 1.

In practice, a firm end date often does more than a bigger discount. It gives a buyer a reason to act today instead of meaning to get around to it. Pick one date and repeat it everywhere.

Who actually buys golf gift cards for the holidays?

Two groups: golfers, and the people who love them. Write your offer for both.

Start with the general market. The National Retail Federation (NRF) reports that 43% of holiday shoppers planned to buy at least one gift card in 2025. More than half of shoppers 65 and older planned to buy one, the highest share of any age group, and they expected to spend $58 per card, about $5 more than the average shopper. NRF says they were also the most likely to say they would like to receive one. Shoppers told NRF they like gift cards because recipients pick their own gift and because cards are easier and faster to buy.

Golfers are big holiday spenders. The National Golf Foundation (NGF) reports that about half of Core Golfers, a group of almost 13 million people responsible for over 90% of golf spending, say golf gifting is part of their holiday routine. NGF says this group has in recent years spent, or planned to spend, about 50% more on the holidays than the typical American shopper. In 2023, NGF found 87% of Core golfers planned to spend as much or more on holiday gifts than the year before, $934 on average, compared with $620 for the typical shopper.

Non-golfers matter too. In a 2021 NGF survey, about 25 million people bought or planned to buy golf gifts that season, and 20 million of them were non-golfers. The same survey found women made up 25% of golfers but 33% of golf gift-givers. Those figures are from 2021, but the lesson is practical: many of your buyers may not play golf and may not know what a round at your course costs.

What price points should you sell?

Sell experiences first and dollar amounts second. A card that says 18 holes for two with a cart tells a non-golfer exactly what they are giving. A blank dollar amount asks them to guess what golf costs.

Include at least one lower-priced card. NRF's 2025 figures put shoppers 65 and older at $58 per card, about $5 more than the average shopper. Check your own rates and offer something near that range, such as a range bucket with nine holes or a short lesson, if your prices allow. The round for two and the foursome are where your bigger sales come from.

If you run a bonus, set the tiers at round numbers just above your typical green fee. A buyer who planned to spend a little less often steps up to earn the bonus.

Should you offer a holiday bonus, and how do you set it up?

For most courses, yes, as long as the bonus brings someone back on a day you need them. The common structure is simple. Pinnacle Golf Club gave a $25 bonus card with every $100 gift card, sold in $100 increments. Woods to Wedges added a 10% bonus automatically at checkout on purchases from $100 to $2,000. One course listed on GolfMichigan.com paired a $100 e-certificate with a free 18-hole round with cart.

Make the bonus a separate card with its own window

The clearest public model is Topgolf's. In 2025, a buyer who spent $75 on gift cards between November 13 and December 1 received a $25 bonus card valid from December 2, 2025 to March 31, 2026. Topgolf says its purchased cards have no expiration date and no dormancy fees, while the bonus card is labeled promotional. The structure pulls a visit into the slow late-winter months instead of discounting the holidays.

• Keep the bonus off the purchased card. Issue it as its own card or code so the paid value and the free value follow different rules.
• Start the use window after the holidays. A spring or shoulder-season window turns the bonus into a second visit.
• Aim it at your gaps. Consider limiting bonus cards to green fees, weekdays or afternoons so they fill empty times instead of your Saturday mornings.
• Print the terms on the front. Label it promotional and show the use window, what it covers and the end date.

What the federal and state rules say

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says that under federal law, a gift card cannot be sold that will expire in less than five years, and that gift cards cannot charge inactivity or service fees for 12 months. Federal Regulation E puts promotional cards from a merchant's sales promotions in a separate category. Under the CFPB's official interpretation, a promotional card can satisfy the disclosure rule by stating on its front, for example, Reward or Promotional, and the expiration date for its funds must also be on the front.

States can go further. California's SB 22, approved October 1, 2025, makes it unlawful to sell a gift certificate, including gift cards and electronic gift cards, with an expiration date or a service fee such as a dormancy fee. Starting April 1, 2026, California cards with a balance under $15 must be redeemable in cash. A California promotional certificate given away without payment can carry an expiration date if it appears in capital letters in at least 10-point type on the front.

Where should you sell gift cards besides the pro shop counter?

In December the counter mostly reaches golfers who are already at the course. Many of your buyers are not. Go where they are.

• Your website, on a phone. NGF reports 54% of golfers bought golf-related merchandise online in the past 12 months, up from 38% in 2019. Put a Gift Cards button on the homepage and the tee time booking page from November through December, with instant email delivery and a custom amount option.
• Your own lists. Email past golfers, members, league players and outing organizers. Members and regulars often buy for their own guests and families.
• Every register. The grill, the bar and the banquet desk should all sell cards, and every staff member should know the offer.
• Holiday shopping nights. Golf Inc. reports that one Minnesota private club turned its pro shop into a holiday lifestyle boutique, built around a pre-Christmas Sip and Shop night and a holiday gift guide, and saw an 8% increase in December 2023 revenue over the year before, according to its director of retail. Golf Inc. also reports that an Indianapolis club runs a wine-and-cheese holiday shopping event, and its GM says seasonal events like this keep the golf shop top of mind in slower periods.
• Local businesses. Pitch bulk cards to your outing clients and nearby employers as client and staff gifts. If you discount bulk orders, check your state's rules and ask your accountant how to handle cards sold below face value.
• Regional directories and associations. GolfMichigan.com lists many courses' gift cards and advance rounds on one statewide page. Look for a similar directory or association program in your region.
• The envelope. For in-person gifts, a good envelope with a printed card naming the round or lesson, plus the terms, makes a card look like a present.

Multi-course and prepaid products can sell well in the same window. The New England Golf Course Owners Association put its 2026 Golden Passport on sale December 1, 2025 at $449, with coupons at 47 New England courses and a cap of 200, and it sold out. The association says 100 passports sold in 3 minutes the year before. Oklahoma City Parks sold discounted 2026 municipal golf cards from early December through February 28, good through December 31, 2026.

How do you turn holiday gift cards into spring rounds?

Plenty of gift cards never get used. Bankrate's 2024 survey found 43% of US adults hold at least one unused gift card, voucher or store credit, worth $244 per person on average, up from $187 in 2023. Bankrate also found 24% had received a card for a place that was inconvenient to get to. A golf card that sits in a drawer brings no golfer to the first tee, sells no cart or lunch, and stays on your books as a balance you owe. Here is how to get it played.

1. Capture the recipient at purchase.

   Add an optional e-gift to field for the recipient's name and email alongside the buyer's. The recipient is the person who plays, and the one you need to reach in spring. Ask permission before you market to them.

2. Put the booking path on the card.

   Print or email the terms, the balance and a direct link to book a tee time. Make it obvious what the card buys.

3. Let cards work in online booking.

   If a golfer can apply a balance when booking online, not only at the counter, redemption gets easier.

4. Send an opening-day email.

   When the course opens for the season, email every recipient you have: the course is open, here is your card, here is the link to book.

5. Offer an easy first visit.

   Many recipients are newer or occasional golfers. Point them to a beginner clinic, nine holes or a range package if a full 18 feels like too much.

6. Remind before any promotional window closes.

   Send a reminder a few weeks before a bonus card's end date, with the booking link.

7. Suggest an add-on at redemption.

   Train staff to offer a cart upgrade, lunch after the round or a sleeve of balls when a card is used.

8. Track it every month.

   Record cards sold, cards redeemed and balances still outstanding by month, so you know how much golf you still owe and which promotions brought people back.

What happens to gift card money nobody redeems?

It does not simply become yours. Writing in NGCOA's Golf Business magazine, the association's senior director of advocacy explains that unredeemed gift certificates may become subject to escheatment, meaning the money goes to the state. Laws vary, but the article says most states require transferring unclaimed abandoned property to the state treasurer after five years, and the card value that triggers escheatment also varies by state. NGCOA has compiled a list of state escheatment laws and tells owners to check their state's rules or call the state treasurer.

NGCOA also advises having a clear policy in place. Write one page that covers expiration, if any is allowed in your state, promotional card terms, lost cards, balance checks and who answers questions. Put it in the staff manual so the counter, the grill and the phone all give the same answer.

On your books, do not count outstanding balances as earned revenue until your accountant tells you how and when you can. A course that tracks balances monthly will have the numbers ready when that conversation happens.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. Gift cards gain popularity as top choice for holiday shoppers in 2025National Retail Federation · 2025-12-11
2. Is Holiday Golf Purchasing Changing?National Golf Foundation · 2024-11-22
3. Follow the MoneyNational Golf Foundation · 2023-11-30
4. Santa Is On the First TeeNational Golf Foundation · 2021-12-02
5. Survey: 43% of Americans Have At Least One Unused Gift CardBankrate · 2024-09-23
6. Unwrapping gift cardsConsumer Financial Protection Bureau · December 2020
7. § 1005.20 Requirements for gift cards and gift certificatesConsumer Financial Protection Bureau
8. California SB 22, Chapter 207 (chaptered text)California Legislature via LegiScan · 2025-10-01
9. Managing Unredeemed Gift Certificates and Initiation Fees in Golf Course BusinessesNGCOA Golf Business · March/April 2024
10. The pro shop P&L playbookGolf Inc. · 2025-06-24
11. NEGCOA Golden PassportNew England Golf Course Owners Association
12. Gift CardsTopgolf
13. Double the Joy: A Bonus Gift Card Awaits This Holiday Season!Pinnacle Golf Club · 2024-11-27
14. Holiday Gifting 2025Woods to Wedges · 2025-10-28
15. OKC Parks offering golf discounts cardsCity of Oklahoma City · 2025-12-04
16. Michigan Golf Course Gift Cards and Advanced RoundsGolfMichigan.com