The Volume Game: Why Golf Clubs Can't (and Shouldn't) Copy the QSR Rush

I started researching what I thought was Prezzo launching a Quick Service Restaurant or QSR brand this week. Turns out that wasn't quite the story... but what I found instead tells a much more important tale for golf club F&B.

The UK's restaurant landscape is rapidly polarising. Casual dining is contracting (down 4% in outlet numbers in 2024), whilst QSR is exploding (up 10% in the same period). Brands like Chopstix are aggressively expanding with counter-service models across motorway services and shopping centres. The message is clear: chase volume through speed and price, or get squeezed out.

But here's the thing your golf club needs to understand: this race to the bottom isn't your race to run.

The volume obsession sweeping hospitality

The stats tell the story perfectly. UK QSR market: £35.77 billion and growing at 5.23% annually. Fast-casual concepts like Leon are positioning themselves as "naturally fast food" with counter service and grab-and-go efficiency. Even premium brands are launching counter-service offshoots; Made Nice from Eleven Madison Park, Daily Provisions from Union Square Café.

The logic seems bulletproof: eliminate table service, reduce labour costs, increase throughput. Counter-service restaurants can achieve 200+ covers by the end of morning coffee rush alone. Traditional restaurants might manage the same number across an entire evening service.

Chopstix epitomises this model. Started on Oxford Street, now proliferating across service stations with Asian-inspired counter service. Order at the counter, grab your box, move on. Efficiency above all else.

But here's what the industry analysis doesn't tell you: this only works with massive volume.

Why golf clubs can't play this game

The brutal mathematics are simple: QSR success requires volume to offset razor-thin margins. McDonald's UK operates 1,382 outlets generating £35.77 billion annually. That's roughly £25.9 million per site. Your golf club serves maybe 70-120 members on a busy day.

When you compete on speed and price, you're playing a volume game. And volume is precisely what independent hospitality venues—including golf clubs—don't have.

The successful QSR model strips out everything that doesn't directly contribute to throughput: personalised service, ambience, the sense of occasion. It's a pitstop mentality. Grab, pay, go.

For a bacon roll before the round? Fine. That is a pitstop.

But when your members are celebrating a competition win, entertaining guests, or simply wanting to unwind after 18 holes, they're not looking for efficiency. They're looking for experience.

The danger is obvious: chase the QSR model and you'll deliver neither the volume economics that make it profitable, nor the experience that justifies premium pricing.

The opportunity hiding in plain sight

Whilst everyone else is racing toward commoditisation, there's a massive gap opening up in the market. Independent hospitality is becoming increasingly valuable precisely because it's not trying to be McDonald's.

The polarisation is creating space. Big brands chase volume through efficiency. Independent operators can focus on experience through personality.

Your members don't want faster service for their celebration meal. They want better service. They don't want cheaper wine; they want wine that tastes expensive but represents value.

This isn't about charging more for the same thing. It's about delivering something genuinely different that justifies its price point.

When I assess golf club F&B operations, the clubs consistently hitting profit targets have one thing in common: they've stopped trying to compete on the things they can't win (speed, price) and started competing on the things they can own (experience, atmosphere, personal touch).

The QSR revolution is actually doing you a favour. It's removing the middle ground and forcing a choice: be efficient or be special.

You can't afford to be efficient enough to win that game. But you can afford to be special enough that efficiency becomes irrelevant.

The lesson for club F&B

The brands succeeding in this polarised market understand their lane. Chopstix knows it's a pitstop. Leon knows it's healthy fast food. They're not trying to be something they're not.

Your golf club's F&B operation has its own lane: it's hospitality for a defined community with shared interests and higher disposable income.

The mistake is trying to operate like you have QSR volume when you have independent restaurant constraints. You end up with QSR margins and independent restaurant costs.

Instead, embrace what you actually have: members who want to linger, celebrate, and experience something that feels exclusive to their club.

That bacon roll before the round? Make it excellent, serve it quickly, price it fairly. That's your pitstop moment.

Everything else? That's where you compete on the things that matter to your members: quality, atmosphere, and the feeling that this is their place.

The QSR revolution isn't your competition. It's your opportunity to be everything they can't be.

Follow me for weekly insights on making golf club F&B actually profitable without chasing volume you'll never achieve.

What's your biggest challenge: competing on speed/price, or creating experiences that justify premium pricing?

Quick one — if you’ve not done this yet, my scorecard helps you spot gaps across guest experience, costs, and day-to-day ops. Takes a few minutes and you’ll get a proper report at the end.