Section 8 - Making the Most of On-Course Assets
8.1. Property.
8.1.1. On Course Buildings.
a. Many courses have valuable assets that are not exploited. The most common is the cottage or bungalow that was once occupied by greens staff or the club secretary. Dependent upon the area, these are often let at modest rental. However a bungalow that is let for say £400 per month or £4,800 p.a. can gross a great deal more if put to proper use. Given the benefit of two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and sitting room, they can easily be made available for small societies from 4 persons upwards. Even charging a party of four just £100 per day for accommodation and golf (£700 per week), just 40% occupancy delivers £14,000 p.a. Realistically, with good marketing, each unit will deliver far in excess of that figure and two units could match the income from 40 or 50 members that you could not recruit. Sadly, many club committees lack business acumen and such opportunities are never spotted or there is not the expertise or drive to develop the concept.
b. Some courses, particularly those that were originally developed from complete farms, still have valuable barns and other structures that offer opportunities for conversion to dwelling houses. Often these buildings are simply used as storage for club machinery or supplies without the commercial potential being recognised. If you have such a building, get a planning consultant to take a look at it with a view to at least identifying it’s potential.
8.1.2. Club Restaurant.
The Club Restaurant is often of a really good standard, with staff that are quite capable of maintaining a high quality food service. You cannot afford for it to be otherwise. Deficiencies in your course will be related to other golfers, deficiencies in your catering will go global! You can charge premium prices for a top quality product, but you cannot defend selling a poor quality product at any price. Everyone is a catering expert and will have a view. In the eyes of the majority, your food will define your overall worth.
A lot of the time your staff is simply producing fast food or snacks, but on certain occasions they move into another gear to service club functions. Anyone who has been in the restaurant business will testify to the difficulty of running a successful venture. One of the problems is that there is generally not a secure client base that guarantees that the bills can be met. A golf club restaurant is a different sort of venture. There is a potential client base of 600 or 700 members who may not all make use of the facility, but if it does not operate profitably they all contribute to make up the deficit through the fees they pay. The facility therefore has a fairly solid base and most have scope for business development by competing for outside business. If you have the capacity and are in an area where you can meet the competition on quality and price, why not consider increasing your revenue by taking bookings from the public?
The final message here though has to be; don't try to make your catering profitable by cutting corners in quality. It will seriously damage your overall reputation.
8.1.3. Half-Way House.
(This item could quite well be in the section on Practical Marketing, but being applicable only to some clubs, may be better dealt with here.)
- Asset or Liability
An open half-way house is a real marketing asset; a closed facility is a real marketing minus as players pass by wondering why it’s not open. Those who have played in North America will be aware that there are only a hand full of clubs that do not have a mid-round facility and a mobile service. Certainly circumstances are different in the UK, but running the facility on Saturday and Sunday should certainly be possible.