Ask any golf course GM about their food and beverage operation and you'll hear the same thing: "It barely breaks even." Some will be blunter: "We lose money on food."
Which is wild when you think about it. You've got a captive audience of 100+ hungry, thirsty people stuck on your property for four hours. They can't leave to grab lunch somewhere else. The margin on a $15 burger and beer is great. Everything about this setup should print money.
So why doesn't it?
The F&B Problem Nobody Talks About
It's not the food. It's not the pricing. It's the selling — or rather, the complete lack of it.
Most courses treat F&B as a service they're obligated to offer, not a revenue stream they're actively growing. The kitchen opens, the menu goes up, the beverage cart rolls out, and everyone hopes players buy something.
Here's what actually happens on a typical Saturday:
- 120 players come through
- Maybe 25-30 buy food or drinks (about 24%)
- Average ticket: $12-15
- Total F&B revenue: ~$400
- After food cost, labor, and waste: you're lucky to net $50
That's a break-even at best. And your kitchen staff still needs to be there whether 25 people buy or 60 people buy. The fixed costs don't move.
The other 90 players? They walked right past. Not angry. Not opposed to buying. They just... weren't asked. Or they were asked by a beverage cart that showed up at the wrong time with the wrong menu.
Why Traditional F&B Selling Falls Flat
The beverage cart only reaches a fraction of players. One cart, one attendant, 120 players spread across 18 holes. She's doing her best, but she physically can't get to everyone. And when she does pull up, it's a quick "anything from the cart?" — no personalization, no suggestion based on what the player likes.
The turn stand is invisible. Players are focused on their round. They're checking their scorecard, talking to their buddies, grabbing a ball from the bag. A printed menu board at the halfway house doesn't register. They walk right past it.
Nobody's tracking preferences. Dave had the brisket sandwich last week and loved it. But nobody on staff knows that — or if they do, they're not working the turn today. Every interaction starts from scratch. That's the player data problem most courses don't realize they have.
Timing is everything, and it's always off. The beverage cart catches you on hole 3 when you just had breakfast. By hole 8 when you're actually hungry, she's on the other side of the course.
What Happens When AI Does the Selling
SimpleUP Golf AI treats F&B like what it should be: the single biggest untapped revenue opportunity at your course.
Here's the difference. Instead of hoping players notice the menu at the turn, the AI reaches out to them directly — by text, right on their phone — at the exact moment they're most likely to buy. And it doesn't send a generic blast. It has a conversation. This is mid-round AI upselling in action — and it works.
🥩 The Brisket Regular
Dave's on hole 7. The AI knows he had the brisket last Saturday and the Saturday before that.
"Hey Dave — the smoker's going again today. Want me to have your brisket ready at the turn? I'll tell the kitchen to start it now so it's hot when you get there."
"You guys know me too well. Yeah, do it."
"Done. Brisket at the window in about 15 minutes. Enjoy the back nine."
Dave didn't have to walk up to a counter, wait in line, or decide what he wanted. It came to him at the right time with the right offer. $18 sale, zero friction.
🍺 The Hot Day Group
It's 92 degrees. Four guys are dragging on hole 9.
"Brutal out there today, fellas. Kitchen's got ice cold pitchers of lager and we're doing a wings-and-pitcher combo for the group — $45 for the four of you. Should I set it up at the patio?"
"Absolutely. We're dying out here."
"Four wings and a pitcher at the patio when you come in. Ice water on the table too. Hang in there."
$45 from one text. And those four guys are going to sit on the patio for 20 minutes, maybe order a second round, and tell everyone about it. That's the kind of AI-driven revenue growth that adds $50K+ per season.
🍜 The Rainy Day Save
Rain picks up on the front nine. Five groups are out there getting wet and annoyed.
"Rain's not letting up — the clubhouse has loaded potato soup and hot coffee going right now. Perfect day for it. Want me to have a bowl ready when you come in?"
"That actually sounds great. Two bowls — my partner wants one too."
"Two loaded potatoes and coffees, ready at the bar. Get dry."
Rainy days usually kill F&B sales. With AI, they become comfort food opportunities. The kitchen was prepped anyway — now you're selling into a moment most courses write off as a loss.
The Numbers Behind AI-Driven F&B
- F&B attachment went from 24% to 39% — nearly four in ten players are now buying food or drinks, up from less than one in four.
- F&B revenue up 30%+ per season — same menu, same kitchen staff, same hours. Just smarter selling.
- Average per-player spend increased $32 — and a big chunk of that is food and beverage.
Here's what those numbers look like in real dollars. Say you do 15,000 rounds per season. At a 24% F&B rate with a $14 average ticket, that's $50,400 in F&B revenue. Bump the rate to 39% with the same ticket? That's $81,900. That's $31,500 more — from the same kitchen, same staff, same menu. And that doesn't include the higher-ticket group orders and combo deals the AI generates.
Most courses see the F&B operation go from "break even" to "real profit center" within the first season.
Why F&B Responds So Well to AI
Three things make food and beverage the perfect fit for conversational AI:
It's an impulse buy. Nobody plans lunch two hours ahead on the golf course. They decide in the moment when they're hungry or thirsty. AI creates that moment — a well-timed text when hunger hits on hole 8 is all it takes.
Zero competition during mid-round AI upselling windows. Your players can't walk across the street to a restaurant. They're on your property. If you make it easy to order, they will. The only competition is "nothing" — and a good text conversation beats nothing every time.
The margins are already there. A $15 food order costs you $4-5 in food. The kitchen's already staffed. The incremental cost of one more burger is close to zero. Every AI-driven sale is almost pure margin.
The Personal Touch That Scales
The best F&B operations in golf are the ones where the staff knows the regulars. The grill guy who starts Dave's brisket when he sees him on the 6th tee. The bartender who pours Jim's Michelob Ultra before he sits down.
That personal touch is gold. But it doesn't scale. Your best people can track maybe 20-30 regulars in their head. SimpleUP Golf AI tracks every single player's data — their order history, preferences, dietary notes, how often they play, and what they tend to buy at different times of day and in different weather.
It's a personal concierge for every player's F&B needs. Not a menu board. Not a coupon. A real conversation that feels like the course knows them and cares about their time there.
And here's the key part if you're the GM or owner: you don't set any of this up. There's no food menu to program into a dashboard. No rules engine to configure. We learn your operation — what you serve, when the kitchen's running, what your specials look like — and the AI handles every player conversation from there. You keep running the kitchen the way you always have. The AI just makes it sell better.
Beyond the Turn: All-Day F&B Opportunities
Most courses think about F&B as "the turn" — hole 9, halfway house, quick grab. But the AI finds opportunities throughout the entire round and beyond:
- Pre-round: Amy mentions the lunch special when booking a tee time. "We're doing a pulled pork platter today — want me to have one ready for the turn?"
- Early holes (3-5): Coffee and breakfast items for early tee times. "Cold one out there this morning — hot coffee and a breakfast sandwich at the turn?"
- Mid-round (7-9): The prime F&B window. Lunch, drinks, snacks timed to hunger.
- Post-round: The 19th hole. "Great round — the patio's open and we've got the Blue Jays game on. Wings and a beer?"
- Events: Group outings, corporate events, leagues — bulk F&B orders coordinated through conversation with the organizer.
The AI turns every interaction point into a potential F&B sale. And each one is a real conversation — not a pop-up ad, not a coupon code. Pair this with AI-driven loyalty programs and you're rewarding the behavior you want while boosting pro shop attachment rates at the same time.
Getting Your Kitchen From Break-Even to Real Profit
If your F&B is barely breaking even right now, here's the honest truth: the food probably isn't the problem. The selling is. Your kitchen is ready. Your menu works. You just need someone asking every player, at the right time, in the right way.
That's exactly what SimpleUP Golf AI does. It's the mid-round text conversations that turn a walk-past into a sale. It's Amy on the phone mentioning today's special when someone calls to book. It's a full revenue system that treats F&B as the profit center it should be.
Curious what the numbers would look like at your course? Talk to Amy for an instant demo or check the full feature list and SimpleUP Golf pricing. No sales pitch required — just the math. And if you're wondering how this fits with your existing software, our guide to the best golf course software in Canada covers the integration side.
