Tie Your Sale Into a Charity

Often times, a golf shop will run a sale on golf shirts and hear repeatedly from their members "if I bring home one more golf shirt, my wife/husband is going to kill me!"  Well, take away that objection by requiring a donation of an old shirt in order to get the sale discount.  Bring in one shirt, get 25% off.  Bring in 2 two, get 40% off.  Make sure the members all know their donated shirts are going to a homeless shelter, women's shelter, etc.  A Win-Win for everyone!

Source: Josh Black - Hail Ridge GC, Boonville, MO

Reward Good Behavior

So many times, course marshals and rangers (and the occasional superintendent) are viewed as the policeman of the golf course, someone there only to catch people being bad.  But what if they were empowered to REWARD good behavior.  Create a custom poker chip with your course logo on the front and something like "REDEEM FOR A FREE DRINK" on the back.  When a course marshal "catches" a player like me, who fixes multiple ball marks on the green, that employee has the power to toss me a reward.  Give the chips to all pertinent staff members, encourage people to post/tweet about their free drink.  Start a revolution in golf course care!

Source: ME! - Brad Wuhs Golf Sales

Single-Day Membership

How many times do you hear a prospective member say "I'd really like to join, but I just don't see how I can be out here often enough to make it worthwhile" as they weigh their options.  Consider the Single-Day Membership.  For one day each week, the club can be used exactly as it is with a full membership.  If your season membership is $2500, consider a $550 Single-Day Membership, and allow your prospective member to pick the day that best suits their needs.  Offer a 10 or 20 round punch card as a supplemental to their Single-Day Membership to help fill the gap.

Source: Jim McGuire - Old Hickory CC, Beaver Dam, WI

Boosting Membership

Turn your membership into your best new-member recruiters with this plan: let's say your annual dues runs $5000.  If a current member brings in 3 new members, those dues for the foursome remain just $5000, or only $1250 each.  For each of the next 6 years, dues will rise 15% each year until the full $5000/member is reached.  If a member drops out, the other 3 members have 60 days to fill that spot before they have to cover that missing spot.

Source: Mitch Merrill - Sioux City CC, Sioux City, IA

Tailgate Package

You're putting together your tailgate necessities.  For your libation of choice, what do you need?  1. Something to keep your hot drinks hot, and your cold drinks cold, and 2. Something to pour those drinks in that can't break if it's dropped.  Combine my two brands: HydroFlask and SiliPint and get the best of both worlds.  HydroFlask's 64oz "Growler" will keep your hot drinks hot for 24hrs, cold drinks cold for 12hrs.  And when it's time to pour and drink, use a custom SiliPint that's indestructible!

Source: Debbie Shatzer - Hallbrook CC, Leawood KS

Practice Club

Create a practice club to introduce new players, reach more students and increase revenue.  A Practice Club is limited to a certain number of students (70, in this case) and offers supervised practice for up to 10 members per session.  Sessions are offered Tuesday-Saturday at several convenient times throughout the day, and members are free to choose whichever time fits their schedule that day.  At Wichita CC, they were able to grow lesson revenue $42,000, increase club sales 11%, and also saw tangible increases in food and beverage sales.

Source: Cary Cozby - Wichita CC, Wichita KS

What a crazy year 2021 has been!  Between supply chain issues, containers literally falling off shipping barges, and staffing challenges, it has certainly taught us the importance of prebooking!