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A GIFT THAT
<br />KEEPS GIVING
<br />Lvrti, stulace water and leav-
<br />lwi :r arounriv.rater its your ago+tt:i
<br />li a .:iy
<br />tapped IS cine c+[ the "good
<br />r avv ` 5 e ,ar,05 fot ;any gulf [casJrse
<br />Tlic I `iia arre� that corTiprise Oneka
<br />,�!dc,e rirlf Course in Mrsuie,�ota vlere
<br />fe"W,,sly 9,#=sd vmh. a i;aw water haz-
<br />ar.-. jT ,u,4 ct-);+Nets a rd ,teas some 32
<br />illi car; ywllons of atrz-m vat+?r run )ff
<br />as i ye ar. Jelivered alc;nq an agrrCui-
<br />xur?', <,ay.Al J ,a1 originates near Bald
<br />Lake. The resOt Is a projected
<br />. aivioi3 (;T grcundwrater ;j -;e at r mA-,.
<br />R�=�I9c; c3rin9 fc-,wiard_
<br />T.-� fund the project, president
<br />brad genera' r::anager Scott Arcand
<br />sec.ur,ed public 9ran6 for $493,101;
<br />lvl>~an.vhlle, so many cubic yards ro
<br />,Airr wore.:inearthed during excava-
<br />tion tl a{ lar:anal _'Ind ?xls staff had to
<br />g,tlrry nrotrl c the prap:rty Vinding
<br />;I,.j9 vej-7 rtn to tees, greeyi site,,,
<br />ruid,aiivYa3 adclesthat tJouldabso-b
<br />Ilik! Gfr;i Wfiiit, cn:lC Uig rtiU5r5P,,-9nd %7oS-
<br />4�r_• to the 04-,9,31al layout.
<br />A frit 4olo;ert utrfolded and galf-
<br />i.}•..;;: 1Yi ifi l.lpg,,-,,IcisthatraIth^ t'!'ica-
<br />t;::,,r<i'sry,;ai'F+:.
<br />c-r,rc� rf;:.1 , tl,, r• alas a lzig bump
<br />Ov;a',-o Midge. AT:3rrd a6is ;hat'+hire
<br />Was'lis", a se^:ie anlorg gotfers and
<br />iu:Ftri rt,-;rr6or o tho i xublic: tliat gr.*if
<br />ht:d dor,^ A by Oi(u loci uruloyy
<br />`°Af,,� rt Haat ieo dback frorr,
<br />p,��opie, ov..- cwi tomens arta; people `
<br />1�rca�,gl�o.r��th�,�,-.!rri�c,nity," �ivcarEd .
<br />s ys "it +vas- a Mlessn,)C! about gulf
<br />c;cilrjs: otr+??�.n; bf,; ny-aewdreti5 of
<br />36 GOLFBUSINESS J u l y/ A u gust 20 1 5
<br />Ing power. This notion may well be
<br />valid beyond the borders of Oneka
<br />Ridge and its unpretentious, family -
<br />built facility, but to listen to Hatch-
<br />er, the league -building tactic would
<br />have legs in a lot of places. "Golfers
<br />them early and you can hook them
<br />early," is the rule of thumb Hatcher
<br />espouses. As proof of that belief,
<br />you'll find a strong contingent of
<br />league juniors continuing to partici-
<br />pate up through age V.
<br />want a little competition, they want
<br />the friendship aspect, and they want
<br />a steady golf game" Just as poker
<br />buddies want their regular poker
<br />night, joining a league commits a
<br />person to golf, provides the cama-
<br />raderie of low-key competition,
<br />adds legitimacy to mid -week beer
<br />consumption, and makes it easy to
<br />maintain friendships.
<br />Further testifying to O cka
<br />Ridge's league -centric programming
<br />and marketing is the popularity of its
<br />junior leagues. At a time when PGA
<br />Junior League Golf is earning praise
<br />for drawing a dozen or so youth play-
<br />ers from any given facility, the junior
<br />leagues at Oneka Ridge have built
<br />themselves up to a participation level
<br />of 125 -plus. There's golf instruction
<br />for children as young as age 3, using
<br />the "Tiny Tots" approach that origi-
<br />nated in California years ago. "Start
<br />For any golfer who plays multiple
<br />rounds each year at Oneka Ridge,
<br />the appeal of coming back lies
<br />partly in the Arcand family's belief in
<br />constant small improvements to the
<br />facility. in fact, listening to the "honey -
<br />did" list Scott Arcand and his crew have
<br />steadily compiled, the whole idea of
<br />how capital-imnro parent schedules
<br />are bunt. rias to be rethought. Yes, the
<br />basis of it is to plan for spending on the
<br />HVAC in year one, on the cart paths in
<br />year two, on front -nine bunkers in year
<br />three, and so forth. But Oneka Ridge
<br />seems to have a "shadow" improvement
<br />schedule consisting of small, constant,
<br />low-cost fix -ups that get scattered in
<br />among the expensive jobs. These add
<br />up to a constant sense of important up-
<br />grades, even though most of them don't
<br />qualify as "capital" investments.
<br />'To give you an example',' confess-
<br />es Arcand, "there was a message that
<br />made its way to me about one of the
<br />stalls in the women's restroom. The gap
<br />between the door and doorframe was
<br />uncomfortably wide, apparently' Some
<br />slight settling of the units atter installa-
<br />tion must have widened this one gap,
<br />such that it violated the modesty factor
<br />for at least a few female customers -and
<br />Scott -a mortgage -loan executive by
<br />trade -was tapped to help run things.
<br />"I'm second generation,' explains
<br />Scott, "but I was part of that first gen-
<br />eration of our family that got things
<br />going. Now they have passed on, and
<br />it's my cousins who have ownership
<br />shares. But we're all patient, and if
<br />FrTLE
<br />C U-MPETI rr-t
<br />X I - U,6,� N
<br />16,
<br />11
<br />STEADY GOLF GAME.
<br />motivated the general manager to per-
<br />sonally take action.
<br />"I went to the hardware store and
<br />invested S2 in a weather Strip, then I
<br />rigged it to fill that gap; Arcand says.
<br />'wouldn't you know, pretty soon I
<br />had people coming up to me and say-
<br />ing, 'I really like what you did with
<br />that stall in the ladies' room' Now, if
<br />that doesn't prove to a golf operator
<br />that the little things make a big differ-
<br />ence, 1 don't think anything will. We
<br />rebuilt tee boxes along one section of
<br />the course, we brought in a brilliant
<br />shaper who built new mounding and
<br />new bunkers, but when you fix some-
<br />thing small, it's got a similar effect"
<br />From a coldly business -like stand-
<br />point, it must be noted that the Arcand
<br />family places a very light levy on Oneka
<br />Ridge as a cash -generator that needs to
<br />support anyone's upkeep. Twenty years
<br />ago, when family patriarch Warren Ar-
<br />cand laid out the course and matriarch
<br />Janice Arcand assumed oversight respon-
<br />sibilities on the finished product, nephew
<br />there's a distribution in a given year,
<br />that's a bonus for everyone"
<br />indeed, management of Oneka Ridge
<br />truly is a family affair. Arcand's cousins,
<br />Jennifer Trusty and Patty Copeland, sit on
<br />the club's board, and his brother Gale Ar-
<br />cand serves as executive vice president.
<br />Even as managing partner, Scott
<br />Arcand works without cash compen-
<br />sation, although he seems to enjoy
<br />the intrinsic rewards of overseeing a
<br />people -oriented golf links in a tightly
<br />knit community. "Our superintendent
<br />and our golf staff keep challenging us
<br />to improve the facilities, and we keep
<br />challenging them to tighten the oper-
<br />ation so it runs just a little better, Ar-
<br />cand notes. "We have very productive
<br />discussions, then we make a decision,
<br />execute it, and see where it brings us."
<br />Where it seems to have brought
<br />them is a very good place -you might
<br />even say to a league of their own. 'M
<br />David Gould is a Massachusetts-based freelance
<br />w iterand frequent contributor to GolfBusiness.
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