Stay open or close the course?
Last year I was asked by a friend about the pros and cons on keeping the course open all year. This is a topic that comes up more frequently as the weather seems to stay better longer in the spring in fall. (I'm writing this today as it is expected to be 50 degrees in Chicago.) So is it beneficial to stay open all year?I have a client, Jester Park, in Des Moines who stays open all year. They are a public golf course and have been doing this for years, so it must be beneficial to them. Last winter, due to the mild conditions, I asked them how this helps them out.
First, you need to look at how you are serving your existing clients. Jester Park is a heavily used golf course that puts through over 35,000 rounds a year on its 18 hole course, and another 12,000 on the par 3 course. They also run a lot of golf leagues. These vary from after work and women leagues, to senior leagues. By having this many leagues, they get a variety of golfers at the course. This came into mind as I completed a renovation for the course. I had to keep the course enjoyable, and challenging for all levels of golfers. And we accomplished this task.
So keeping the golf course open allows these golfers, especially the retired ones, a place to get together. If they are season pass holders, they may stop by with their group, enjoy some coffee, a few holes of golf, and maybe a beer at the end. It gives them a place to socialize and they pass this on to their friends. If they are pay as you play golfers, you get a little additional revenue, but at least they know where they can go to play. It may only be a day or two a week, but it goes a long way in customer satisfaction.
An added bonus to having your regular golfers show up all winter. They tend to renew their season passes earlier. This helps with the cash flow as you spread out the incoming cash from your golfers. This little bit can go a long way.
Next, you have to look at your competition. Depending on your market, you need to evaluate what all the other courses are doing. If nobody is staying open, it might help you out as golfers will seek a place to get some exercise and hit a few golf balls. This provides you with more word of mouth publicity. Golfers that may normally play another course may hear through friends that you are open and wander out to the course.
After completing the renovation, this word of mouth helped spread around the new changes. Golfers from other courses would play a round or two in the winter months to stay active. After seeing the course changes, they come back in the summer to play under normal conditions. Soon they would play a few times a year, then join a league, and now you got another regular golfer. All this by just having the word spread that you are open year round.
So what are the cons to staying open. According the Jester Park last year, there were none. The staff are salaried employees who would be there each day anyway. You may have additional wear and tear on the golf course, but this seemed to be nominal. Most golfers in the winter do it for the exercise. So they are walking and not taking a cart. One issue that came up last year was the inability to cut new cups in January and February. After playing the same hole locations for two months, we wondered how that would affect the greens. According the grounds staff, there was no significant damage.
So according to this course, the benefits of staying open all year out weigh any potential damage. Golfers make it out the course more often and come out earlier in the spring as the weather gets better. And by the number of rounds they do, nobody seems to mind.
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