Business Pulse

than $50 to $299. The club also
instituted a corporate program –
group pricing for a minimum of
four memberships at $199 each.
The equity certificate membership
remains $438.
BG&CC advertises golf widely
– Comcast, Golf Channel, CNN,
ESPN Sports Center, local radio –
but more for brand awareness as
reaping memberships. “Word of
mouth still drives 90-95 percent of
our business,” McAllister said.
Marketing events provide
residual revenue, like wine tasting,
cooking class, dinner dance,
and starlight dinner. “We set up
the restaurant on the course,”
McAllister said, and added, laughing.
“But not on a fairway.”
Mike Montgomery is director of
golf and head pro among three.
The golf staff also has a superintendent,
Dave Bocci, who has been
there 17 years, and eight course
attendants.
Montgomery revamped the
junior program from a three-day
camp to 14-16 days. On certain
Mondays, the tee boxes move forward
and only kids get to play the
course. “…Without the pressure
of adults wanting to play faster,”
Montgomery said. “We need more
areas for teens to play with appropriate
length.”
Montgomery probed the matter
of lagging interest by pushing
on traditional parameters. “We
must find ways to make it easier
for the everyday golfer and less
time-consuming,” he said. “Ask
ourselves things like, why play 18?
Why play four hours? Why not
an 8-inch hole (instead of 4.25)?
Why not two holes on every green
instead of the standard one?
“You have all different types of
golfers, so why not do things to
allow everyone to have fun at the
same time?”
He also sees diverse activities
cutting into golf. “I see people into
mountain biking, paddling boats,
triathlons, working out. Things
with no scorecard,” Montgomery
said.
“Golf has a brutal scorecard.
So how do we get from Point A
to Point B when you have a 15
handicap or higher and still have a
good workout?”
Why play 18? Why play
four hours? Why not an
8-inch hole (instead of
4.25)? Why not two holes
on every green instead of
the standard one?
—Mike Montgomery
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