As websites like Groupon and Living Social become more and more in vogue, these so-called “deal” sites (where visitors are presented with daily deals and coupons for products and services in their local area) are starting to make money… and lots of it.

And, it didn’t take long for entrepreneurial-types to bring the deals to the golf industry. In fact, just two months ago, we here at the Golf Stinks blog told you about one such website that we rather liked.

But a recent email exchange* between a new golf deal site (that shall remain nameless) and a few folks on this company’s spamming mailing list became rather heated. The email, which was announcing the launch of the new golf deal site, elicited the following response from one recipient:

“I personally believe discount sites like yours are the kiss of death for businesses, especially for golf as a business already experiencing many challenges. Training consumers that paying retail prices is unnecessary is going to crush most businesses and eventually will cause a complete degradation of service as companies struggle to deliver a discounted product. While consumers must like the deep discounts, they will ultimately lose as the quality of their golf experiences is worsened.”

The previous response was followed by another:

“Could not have said it better myself. For those of you considering using these sorts of services, please be aware that listing your product at cut rates to get traffic is not “advertising” (something many discount providers will try to convince you it is). This is training your consumers that your services are not worthwhile and rewarding them for the least desired behavior. I know of two golf courses who have run promotions and both have been unhappy with the resulting discounted consumer they attracted. They are not getting these discounted consumers back at the full rate and are finding themselves fielding frustrated phone calls from consumers that had the integrity to pay full rate at their facility and are now being punished for it.”

And another…

“It is important not to allow these types of programs to exist that basically whore ones services and products to new lows. The golf industry does not need this.”

But that was followed by someone taking the deal site’s side:

“I see a guy just trying to make a buck in a tough economy.”

And finally, by another golf deal site trying to explain to the group that not all deal sites are bad for business:

“We tried this many times and also found it only attracts the client who is looking for a deal and not one really interested in good value. As soon as the deal ends, the client moves on. In the meantime, the regular clients get annoyed that they are being penalized for paying normal prices. A better strategy I have found is to work on client retention and offer deals to existing clients who bring or introduce their friends. This benefits and rewards everyone as well as expanding the client base and winning new business by word of mouth and referrals. This year we are up around 40% and it is all through word-of-month and referrals from existing clients.”

Typically, all these emails would be rather annoying in general, but I think there is a good discussion point here: With the economy still struggling, these deal sites have a strong following. But is the practice hurting the traditional golf businesses that are also trying to survive in tough economic times? And furthermore, if deal sites are here for the long-term, will we see a negative net effect within the conventional retail golf industry?

Weigh-in by taking the poll below:

Are Deal Sites Killing Golf Businesses?

*It should be noted that Golfstinks, LLC became privy to this exchange by being one of the more than 100 recipients on the email. It should also be noted that Golfstinks, LLC did not opt-in to this company’s mailing list, nor had Golfstinks, LLC even heard of said company before receiving the email in question.