Jack Dillon and the staff at Meadowbrook Golf Group believe they’ve come up with a simple but successful formula for attracting newcomers to golf and keeping them playing: Focus on making the game fun.
That’s what’s generated such positive response to Meadowbrook’s “Golf for the Fun of It” program, which was launched at Ridgewood Lakes Golf & Country Club and two other Meadowbrook Florida properties last year. The clubs have seen more than 450 adults take part in lessons since last August.
Dillon, corporate retail director for the ChampionsGate, Fla.,-based management firm, expects to roll out the program at additional company properties by this fall.
“We created a program of general instruction that gets adults out from in front of a TV set,” he said. “It gives them a way to enter a sport with very little risk. It’s fun and it’s totally free.”
The result has been a boost to the participating clubs’ bottom line, with staffs using point-of-sale systems to track F&B, rounds and merchandise purchases by program participants.
“Very conservative numbers indicate that by 2010, this program will generate in excess of 10,000 new golfer rounds at just five of Meadowbrook Golf Group’s locations,” said Scott Beasley, vice president of operations.
The program was conceived out of concern that so many people were leaving the game because they didn’t enjoy it. Dillon and his associates wanted to create a way to remove the barriers that many novices to golf face.
It focuses on teaching participants the basics of golf, including the golf swing, rules, respect for the course, equipment and course management.
“The goal is to allow a participant to go out with someone and be able to play 18 holes,” Dillon said.
Meadowbrook has gotten cooperation from equipment makers like Callaway Golf, which provides six clubs free of charge for each participant to use during the program. Each graduate also gets a dozen free Callaway balls.
The program consists of six lessons over a six-week period. The first session is two hours, and next fo
ur are 90 minutes each. The last session is a scramble in which the students play together on the course with their professionals.
Dillon said the goal is to make the novice golfers feel comfortable on the course and to reach out to people who are interested in playing golf but might feel intimidated or embarrassed to try to learn on their own. That approach is especially appealing to women, who have made up a minimum of 40 percent of every class, he said.
After graduation, each participant gets a gold membership card that provides various F&B and other product discounts. And if they don’t have a set of clubs by the time they graduate, the club provides a loaner set for 30 days.
“I believe we have only scratched the surface,” said Jason Dewildt, general manager at Ridgewood Lakes. “There are a lot of people who want to learn this great game but don’t know where to go.&rdquo
Comments
I think Jack & Meadowbrook Golf has struck a 'golfing' nerve when it comes to not only developing, but retaining new golfers. Haven't we heard enough horror stories in the past decade from NGF & the like about flat / declining numbers, and as many golfers dropping out (the game altogether) as there are new golfers, that will grow the game? I hope this grows into a tsunami of new golfers.
Good article and idea. It is time for the Golf Management Groups to put the "Golf" back into Golf Pro. They have made todays golf pro, nothing more than bean counters. They would not think of going out and playing with members, guest or anyone else for that matter without fear of being fired, let alone working on their own game.
You reap what you sow and for over 20 years the golf business for the most part has been turned into bottome line oreinted business with managers that take advantage of young aspiring men and wormen, work them to death, burn them out and find more ready to jump into the dead a dead end job. I think it is to late, the days of the freindly local golf pro are over and as a result the time these great ambassitors of the game could have been spending growing the game has been wasted on doing what management and boards see as more immediate duty's making money at all cost. To many golf courses, to many robotic scared golf pro's. They got into the business becaused they loved the game but their job description revolves around anything but that. We have lost the GAME. Your golf professionals have to have Fun if they are going to show others how to have FUN.
The truth hurts but ask nearly any Golf Pro today and he will tell you the same thing.
Good Luck to Meadowbrook!
Meadowbrook’s grow the game program sounds similar to the No Embarrassment Beginner Golf Schools, Jemsek Golf has been running since 1991. I encourage all of the management companies to take ownership over the game, like many of privately owned and operated members of the NGCOA have been doing for years. It's time for operators to realize we don't sell widgets, we are selling fun, passion, and experiences. Golf must be nurtured and cared for or else it will continue to see declining precipitation.
This issue has been discussed quick often in NGF and the more I see it the more it becomes a reality. I'm guilty, I realize some times I can be hard on someone who is a hacker. But if these people had the proper basics covered they would feel confident to play more. It amazes me how many adults would love to learn but don't know where to begin.
I think golf courses need to develop programs like this to get new prospects and keep high handicappers in the game.
Good work!
-Cameron
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