2015.09.15 EDA Agenda Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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TAKEA�A�Kf�y Oneka Ridge's value proposition is grounded in making golfers feel particularly at home. A robust league prograr5 forms the foundation of business at Oneka Ridge and has helped the course maintain consistent rounds played numbers. Management uses small, ., constant, low-cost fix -ups to show customers that ey're willing to reinvest `.. in the course. r weekends, and you can to ship for $1,400 a year—though it's a bargain at just $1,400 per couple if both are age 62 or older. A full -year range pass is $300, and a three -lesson instruction package with one of the PGA professionals costs $150. "We don't do banquets, and our food -and -beverage facilities are pretty modest, says Arcand, whose activity with corporate and civic golf outings adds up to "about 30" events a year, most of them numbering 60 players or fewer. "But; he adds, "we still do well on a per -round rev- enue basis for all our play" Arcand's head golf professional, Jon Hatcher, brings addi- tional emphasis to that statement. The value proposition at this facility in White Bear Lake, which was named Course of the Year in 2013 by the Midwest Golf Course Owners Associa- tion, is that golfers feel particularly at home there. Looking at the various lines of business, Hatcher doesri t hesitate to say that "revenue is strong in the bar, strong on the range and strong in our golf shop;' directly based on that extra sense of connection that public golfers feel for the place. 34 GOLFSUSINESS J u I y/ A u g u s t 2 0 1 5 at, o understand that sense of at- tachment calls for a close look at the Oneka Ridge approach to golf leagues. The facility has a men's league, a senior men's league, a wom- en's morning league and a women's afternoon league. It hosts a couple's league, a nine -hole evening league and a junior league. If you have an idea for some other type of league—and you can talk management into giving up some of the open -play space still on the tee sheet—you have a shot at adding to this already lengthy list. Even when an adult beginner learns the rudiments of the game at Oneka Ridge through Get Golf Ready, the course has a decent track record of drafting the newbie into a league within a year of his or her GGR expe- rience. "We've done that quite a few times, Hatcher says. "Moving people on from Get Golf Ready to league par- ticipation is a pretty logical next step, the way we look at it." It's worth pausing to think a mo- ment about golf leagues. They're commonly associated with outside parties—usually industrial or civic groups—that organize on their own then shop for a course that will set them up with a consistent block of times through the seasons. Oneka PPOPLE eYi U Q I GOLFREADY TO LEAGUE PARTICIPATION IS A PRETTY LOGICAL NEXT STEP THE WA'(WE LOOK AT l.{„ Ridge caters to some of these, but management also creates and main- tains leagues of its own, to para- phrase the old movie title. This end of the business has been nurtured for the last five or six years, according to Hatcher, who is a Minnesota native but whose previous posting was the resort -centric world of Pawley's Is- land, South Carolina. Nonetheless, he was drawn to the idea of leveraging the league experience proactively. "We did have leagues that came to us from the outside, and still do, he recalls. "Our idea in organizing our own was to take advantage of the guaranteed income" It was also driven by a wish to mar- ket more effectively in response to inbound phone inquiries. "People call up public courses and they might ask about weekend availability or green fees, but often they're asking in gen- eral about your golf program;' Hatcher says. "They want to know if there's a comfortable place for them so they can play regularly!' That's a wise observation, but aren't golf leagues a burdensome building that comes with them any old time. To those who doubt the allure of a league invitation, Hatcher sug- gests an experiment: Script staffers so that incoming calls from golfers who are unfamiliar with your facility get answered with a basic set of bullet points, plus the open-ended question, "Would you be interested in joining qualifies you from walk-up play and the rack -rate green fees that are so important to profitability? "Maybe in the past that was the case;' surmises Hatcher, "but open -play revenue isn't even close to what it used to be, now that we have all the coupons and cards and third -party reselling." These days, Hatcher will take league bookings and the relationship - an effective form of invitation. Early on, there were 12 golfers in Oneka's self -initiated Tuesday league; now, that number is up to 85. Of course, there's often a second knock on heavy league activity, one based on market positioning. The belief is that it pushes the image of the facility down market, which in turn will reduce its green -fee pric- GOLF$USINESS.COM 35