The Pellucid Perspective - October 2010 - (Page 8)

FACILITY IDEAS Alternative uses for your golf course ‘factory’ Some owners are finding new ways to combat golf’s time-expense-difficulty problem By Jim Dunlap he traditional 18-hole, full-length golf course is the are primarily designed to attack the “time” and “difficulty” objecposter child for T.E.D. (Time, Expense, Difficulty) syn- tions to the game, although Tustin Ranch’s Big Easy course is drome, the industry’s triple threat barrier to participa- also substantially less expensive than playing the full-size layout. tion. Once it is built, it becomes the operational equivalent of The Littles’ tee positioning system is based on locating tees at poa annua – nearly impossible to get rid of and too expensive to intervals which will allow players of all ages and abilities to esreplace. Some operators, however, have found ways to combat sentially play the hole the same way, and with the same clubs. T.E.D. by making better use of their existing facilities, and they Appropriately enough, the Littles refer to their system as “Deare paying off. sign Fairness.” The pricey semi-private Tustin Ranch Golf Club in Orange Rather than labels like “Men’s,” “Women’s” or “Seniors,” they County, Calif., found a way to provide affordable access with- suggest referring to sets of tees by colors, although not the traout discounting by creating a short course-within-a-course that ditional colors such as red which may have a derogatory conthey call The Big Easy. Arthur Little and notation. The actual positioning of the tees his wife Jann Leeming created a unique tee is set up so that a player who typically hits Pellucid has positioning system – again, within the exa drive 250 yards will be hitting the same historically equated isting framework of their standard length club on his or her second shot as the player golf course – that more than doubled their who typically hits a drive 180 yards but is golf courses with annual rounds and upped annual revenue teeing off from, say, the “purple” tees which factories. Like those are positioned significantly forward of the by $200,000. Other courses, like Red Hawk Ridge in Castle Rock, Colo., merely added a tee used by the 250-yard driver. bustling engines of nine-hole rate and watched their tee sheets “It’s perfect for women and seniors, as industrial America, fill up. well as beginners to the game,” Little said. Pellucid has historically equated golf “The balancing act is how you [set up the golf courses need courses with factories. Like those bustling course] without chasing away the macho to maximize the engines of industrial America, golf courses 45 year-old guy, but it can be done.” Little need to maximize the productivity of their said that the course he and his wife owned productivity of their operating hours. Obviously the “build it from 1996 to 2005, Providence Lake Golf operating hours. and they will come” days are long since over, on the Maine-New Hampshire border, and equally obviously the promised Baby had no such trouble – when it hosted the Boomer bonanza has been undercut by a New Hampshire State Amateur qualifying, downward spiraling economy. The number nobody broke par on the 6,300 yard layout of golfers has been dropping, retreating from nearly 30MM at from its back tees. its peak around turn of century to roughly 27MM today. The critical benchmarks of the Littles’ system? Rounds inSo, to keep the factory operating at anything approximating creased from 8,000 to 18,000. Women represented over one third maximum capacity, operators need to get creative. Rate card dis- of all play, and junior play increased five-fold. Seniors moved counting may produce a few more players, but no more net rev- up a set of tees and increased their play frequency. Pace of play enue, and the long term effect will probably not be positive. The improved by 15-30 minutes per round. Tournament and outing more logical solution is to find a way to fill historically vacant business tripled. Annual revenue increased by $200,000. As for times, regardless of the rate. All other things being equal, some the costs associated with creating the new tees, at approximately revenue beats no revenue every time. $1,500 per tee, the total reconfiguration of the Littles’ course cost only $67,000. Teeing up more players At Tustin Ranch, The Big Easy concept was created to counThe strategies devised by both the Littles and Tustin Ranch ter all three T.E.D. components at a semi-private course where T 8 The Pellucid PersPecTive OcTOber 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Pellucid Perspective - October 2010

The Pellucid Perspective - October 2010
Contents
Bringing a Pellucid Perspective to Golf Industry Information
What's In a Name.... and an Email Address?
September Weather Impact, August YtD Utilization
Will the PGA TOUR be Subject to Repricing?
Alternative Uses for your Golf Course 'Factory'
Los Angeles Market Profile
Survey Says... You're Still Employed
SCGA-PLGA Merger: Sign of the Times?
Sunshine Laws and Midnight Marketing

The Pellucid Perspective - October 2010