Community - GolfBusiness

hese days, you can’t grow revenue unless you
promote and “program” your course energetically.
But golf’s need to hustle up business is nothing
to be ashamed of—not when America’s most popular
form of entertainment is also forced to scramble. Yes,
that means television, which is now retaining viewership
through a wrinkle called “Personalized TV.”
The software giant Cisco, which makes technology to
support “DVR and time-shift TV,” published data recently
showing rapid growth for these platforms. Without them,
research proves the audience for cable and broadcast
would be sagging. “Reports of the decline of TV have been
greatly exaggerated,” Cisco reports, heaping praise on “services
that liberate consumers from the broadcast schedule
and allow them to watch programs whenever they choose.”
What’s that got to do with Sean Patterson, the professional
in charge of instruction at Hilton Head Lakes in
Hardeeville, South Carolina Go back to the phrase “timeshift.”
Patterson was thinking in those terms a year ago
when he devised an innovative instruction product: the
“dollar-a-minute tune-up.” This light bulb came on while
the 27-year-old pro was flipping through golf’s most
profitable instruction medium, monthly magazines.
“I was looking at one-page tips in Golf Digest and
GOLF Magazine,” Patterson recalls. “We all know how
popular they are with golfers, so it got me asking why
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