January 2010 - Parks & Recreation - 46

Fairways to the Green continued from page 44

need to overcome? Do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and your niche
and other key messages will quickly emerge.
The actual plan could be structured along these
lines:
■■ Goal: Increase golf-related revenue by 10 percent
■■ Strategy #1: Use value-added promotions to fill tee

sheets during slow times
■■ Tactic A: E-mail coupons to your list-serv (using
Constant Contact) offering a free hot dog and drink
for rounds during key times.
■■ Tactic B: Target daytime leagues at nearby courses
and attempt to convert them to your facility.
Advertising-even when targeted and done
well-isn't as effective as direct promotion (e-mail)
or media relations. If you do nothing else, set up a
bi-weekly e-mail blast offering either a value-based
promotion or new playing opportunity and develop
a real effort to reach out to local golf writers, bloggers, and broadcasters. Bring them to your facility,
one at a time, treat them like kings and sit back and
watch the positive clippings pile up.

Pricing
Finally, there's the thorny subject of pricing. Even
if you have the option of discounting fees, don't do
it. That's difficult in a market where competitive
mom-and-pop facilities are virtually giving away
their product, but the fact is that discounting is a
death spiral. Once you lower prices, you have to

Star
Courses

For its August
2009 issue,
Golf Digest
magazine
sought out the
best municipal golf
courses. The editors
define a " muny " as a course owned by
a city, town, county, or state. Listed
below are the courses receiving the
highest number of stars-four and a
half-along with their greens fees listed
at peak, nonresident walking rates.
Lists Compiled By Ron Kaspriske,

Ashley Mayo, Jeff Patterson,
Sue Sawyer and Mike Stachura

44 Parks & Recreation

JANUARY 2010

justify raising them later. And, as Dennis Lyon, the
longtime leader of the Aurora, Colorado, golf division points out in a companion article (see page
40), all you have accomplished is lowering the value of a round of golf in the entire area. In short, no
one wins.
Instead of broad discounting, consider valueadded promotions that keep your price point where
it should be but which enhance the perceived value
of a round.

A Final Thought
There's an old saying worth remembering: When
the going gets tough...the tough steal market share.
The golf business is and will be flat for the foreseeable future. To succeed and thrive in this environment, you absolutely need to re-examine every
aspect of your operations and focus on what matters: good conditions and great service. Then, go
out and take revenues and share from the facilities
in your area that are hunkered down, cutting back,
and letting things slide.
In the era of golf's " Wal-Martization, " try to emulate that retail giant: Be aggressive, creative, thrifty,
and smart and you'll be among the winners at the
end of golf's latest evolution.

Pat Jones is a veteran golf industry writer and
strategic business consultant. He can be reached at
psjhawk@cox.net.

But, first, the only five-star winner:
NEW YORK: Bethpage State Park
(Black), Farmingdale, $120.
Four and a half star courses:
ALABAMA: Ol' Colony Golf
Complex, Tuscaloosa, $35.
CALIFORNIA: Torrey Pines G. Cse.
(South), La Jolla, $218.
CONNECTICUT: Wintonbury Hills
G. Cse., Bloomfield, $79.
DELAWARE: Ed Oliver G.C., Wilmington, $32.
FLORIDA: The Links at Boynton Beach
(Championship), Boynton Beach $59.
GEORGIA: The Lakes G. Cse. at Laura
S. Walker, Waycross, $25.75.
IDAHO: Pinecrest G. Cse., Idaho Falls, $20.
ILLINOIS: Aldeen G.C., Rockford, $45.
INDIANA: Hulman Links G. Cse.,
Terre Haute, $22.
IOWA: Landsmeer G.C., Orange City, $25.
KANSAS: Buffalo Dunes G. Cse.,
Garden City, $25.

www.NRPA .ORG

MICHIGAN: Leslie Park G. Cse., Ann Arbor, $29.
MISSOURI: Rivercut G. Cse., Springfield, $48.
MONTANA: Old Works G. Cse., Anaconda, $50.
NEBRASKA: Holmes G. Cse., Lincoln, $29.
NEW JERSEY: Knoll C.C. (West),
Parsippany, $86.
NEW MEXICO: Pinon Hills G.
Cse., Farmington, $47.
NORTH DAKOTA: Riverwood G.
Cse., Bismarck, $24.
OHIO: The Vineyard G. Cse., Cincinnati, $33.50.
OKLAHOMA: Cedar Creek G.
Cse., Broken Bow, $18.
SOUTH CAROLINA: Cheraw State
Park G. Cse., Cheraw, $35.
TENNESSEE: Gatlinburg G. Cse.,
Pigeon Forge, $60.
UTAH: Bountiful Ridge G. Cse., Bountiful, $24.
VIRGINIA: Bide-A-Wee G. Cse.,
Portsmouth, $52.
WASHINGTON: Gold Mountain Golf
Complex (Cascade), Bremerton, $40.

January 2010 - Parks & Recreation

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