I’ve been at Anniston Country Club for eight years, but my GM experience dates back to 1996 when I was promoted to the role at Mirimichi Golf Course in Millington, Tennessee after a few years as an Assistant Golf Professional.
Despite having a wide array of responsibilities and duties, engagement with my 420 members is among my top priorities each and every day. Whether it’s in the golf shop, clubhouse, dining room or outside on the range or course, it’s imperative that I forge relationships with my members that go beyond “hello” and “goodbye” to create a more meaningful, lasting connection. With about 7,000 rounds of golf played annually, it’s vital that I proactively initiate engagement with members that results in golf shop sales.
We use social media to promote new products as they come in, keeping members anticipating new merchandise arrivals and making sure they’re in the know when such shipments are delivered. Word of mouth also brings them through our golf shop doors. Annual member travel also keeps engagement brisk.
We also do some member events that include tee gifts and golf shop credit that boost shop revenues throughout the year. One such idea is a Thursday night 9-hole game that we started three years ago and has really taken off since. Thursday afternoons and evenings were traditionally slow, so I wanted to proactively create opportunities for member engagement and competition while boosting golf shop and F&B sales when members get out of work.
It starts in early April and runs through August. I’ll email the membership every Thursday morning to see who’s in for that night, and they have until 4:00 that afternoon to respond. I’ll put groups together and keep a running average of their point totals each week using a Stableford scoring system. We welcome 35-40 golfers each week and do a blind draw for partners in the competition. The team with the highest point total wins the pot for the week.
We charge $25, which includes their cart, a couple of beers and entry into the prize competition for golf shop credit. $7 per person goes to the golf shop, generating a couple hundred dollars each week that builds up over the five months.
We host a dinner for them that costs an extra $15 after play, generating F&B revenue that historically wasn’t there on Thursday nights. Golfers hang out for at least another hour after play which fosters camaraderie among members as their week winds down and they look forward to the weekend.
I believe whenever you can cultivate programs and initiatives unique to your membership and your club, this will continually strengthen those bonds and produce a positive culture. This positive culture, and the one-of-a-kind experiences born from that, is a connective tissue that retains members and keeps them loyal to your club.
Steven Driggers, a Quarter Century PGA Member, is the PGA of America General Manager and Head Golf Professional at Anniston (AL) Country Club.