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There's nothing worse than having a round curtailed or cancelled altogether by weather.
At the best of times, it's an annoyance. You need to crowd into the pro shop and wait in line while other damp, disgruntled golfers seek reimbursement from the pro based on how many holes they missed out on. Once you've secured your own rain check, you need to keep track of it until your next round at that course, when you can roll it forward.
At the worst of times, inclement weather can ruin a day, weekend or entire golf trip. After all, a rain check could turn out to be useless if it's issued by a course you've traveled hundreds or thousands of miles to play, and may not be returning to anytime soon, or ever.
Enter Sensible Weather, an insurance company new to the golf space that has begun working with nearly two dozen courses in one of America's most popular destinations: Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The company seeks to bolster the compensation from what can be an irritating rain check process - for both golfers and courses - with hassle-free, automatic cash refunds.
And in certain circumstances, it can even result in near-free golf for those who come to the course armed with a good rain jacket and a little luck.
What is Sensible Weather, and how does their service work for golfers?
Founded by Nick Cavanaugh, who holds a Ph.D. in atmospheric dynamics and physics from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC-San Diego, Sensible Weather uses more than a decade's worth of data, as well as high-tech satellite imagery, to measure the likelihood that weather might interfere with a given event. Since launching its Weather Guarantee product in 2021, Sensible has covered thousands of outdoor events and travel experiences, selling more than 50,000 Weather Guarantees to date. The company leverages satellite imagery and data from other developing technologies as well as historic climate information to calculate the risk of weather disruption for a given event.
After entering into a partnership with the PGA of America in January, Sensible Weather recently announced that 23 Myrtle Beach-area golf courses are on board to make Weather Guarantees available, attached to vacation tee times. Mike Strantz gems Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue Golf Club were the first to implement the service in late October, and the 21 golf courses in the Founders Group International portfolio - including Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club, TPC Myrtle Beach, Grande Dunes Resort Club and other popular area courses - followed soon after.
“The option to add a Weather Guarantee to their tee time gives golfers some control over an uncontrollable factor of the sport,” said Nick Cavanaugh, PhD, Sensible Weather CEO & Founder. “For golf facilities, Weather Guarantees help reduce operational headaches from rain checks, minimize lost revenue due to rain, and enhance golfer satisfaction during what might have been a less-than-optimal day otherwise.”
A Weather Guarantee typically costs around 10% of the green fee of a given round - e.g. about $15 on top of a $150 green fee. In the event that the forecast for a golfer's round meets a certain threshold for inclement weather, Sensible Weather will proactively and automatically refund the full green fee for that round prior to the golfer's tee time. The Weather Guarantee fee itself is not refundable.
An interesting wrinkle to the system: being reimbursed by Sensible Weather for a potentially rained-out round does not necessarily preclude a golfer from showing up and trying to play anyway. Weather prediction has improved over the years, but it remains an inexact science. A golfer could conceivably be reimbursed for a round that he or she ends up completing.
"It's a win-win-win," said Bart Romano, director of golf for Caledonia and True Blue. Even if the weather forecast triggers a reimbursement from Sensible Weather, "[golfers] can still play, and they're still eligible for a rain check."
You read that right. Backing up a round of golf with a Weather Guarantee does not disqualify a golfer from also seeking a rain check from the course he or she was supposed to play. So, if you paid a $150 green fee initially, plus a $15 Weather guarantee, you could conceivably end up receiving $150 back from Sensible Weather as well as a full-round rain check from the course.
"If it's a frog-choker or a washout, [golfers who bought a Weather Guarantee] don't lose anything. They only gain," said Romano. "Missing out on a round of golf stinks, but they're getting a full refund. If it's not that bad and they still decide to play, they can 100% do that.
"It gives guests a few more options."
