There are only two ways to increase golf revenue, Ruth Hatcher said at Wednesday regular committee meeting. Either the price per round goes up or more rounds are played. Part of the reason the POA offers special prices in the afternoon is to increase rounds.
Hatcher, a member of the POA Board and their liaison to the golf committee, was responding to Steve McKee, who used the a board open forum to suggest that the annual greens fee be discontinued. The annual fee of $1,866 is equivalent to paying the member price of $39 for one round each week. He compared that to a restaurant giving a patron six free meals a week, if they paid for one.
The extra rounds of golf don't add costs, board member John Nuttall pointed out. Once the golf course is open for the day, there's very little difference in cost if more people play.
The afternoon specials were developed to bring people in to play when the course is not busy, Hatcher said.
The committee also discussed the marketing subcommittee's efforts. William Barr, a member of the subcommittee, has spoken with the representatives of Golf 18, a website that handles tee times for people traveling through the area, subcommittee chair Susan Nuttall said. After the meeting, she described the website as Expedia for golf. People can not only see what courses are in the area, they can reserve a tee time.
She also asked the committee to think about personalizing the other golf courses like what has been done to Scotsdale. Scotsdale is closed for green renovations, but at the same time Scottish pot bunkers will be added and the clubhouse will be renovated. The plan is to make the course like golf courses found in Scotland. Each of Bella Vista's seven golf courses should have its own personality, Nuttall said.
Committee member Tom Stephens suggested that the new "Play It Forward" tees be marked by color like the other tees on each course. The color of the tee indicates the distance to the green. Play It Forward is a program that encourages golfers with less powerful swings to move even further forward. The suggested location is marked on the cart path and players walk onto the fairway to tee off. Stephens said that, in the future, tee boxes could be added at the Play It Forward mark.
Member Harris McKee said that because the PGA has endorsed the Play It Forward program, Bella Vista should use their terminology and take their advice.
Committee Chair Jake Grasmick said the POA can't spend money on new tee boxes, but he would speak to the maintenance department about cutting that section of the fairway as if it were a green. However, depending on the slope of the fairway, that isn't always possible.
General News on 07/20/2016