Not only is logoed pro shop merchandise often a hot sell, it can also be an effective advertising tool – if used correctly.

A member of the Pound Ridge (N.Y.) Golf Club staff recently took a trip to Great Britain. A man he met there saw his logoed baseball cap and said, “Pound Ridge … I’ve played there.”

Despite its minute footprint, a club’s logo—whether it’s on a cap, a shirt or even a golf ball—has a lot of power. That small symbol has the monumental task of summarizing a club’s personality and serving as an advertisement for the facility wherever the logo’s bearer goes, even if it’s halfway across the world.

The logo is a strong marketing tool when it’s used correctly. That’s why logo design and placement shouldn’t be taken lightly, club managers say.

Playing on Strengths

Some clubs’ brands are boosted thanks to recognizable logos that draw customers because of what they depict. For example, the logo of Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head Island, S.C. depicts the Harbour Town Lighthouse, one of the most recognizable landmarks on the East Coast aside from the Statue of Liberty. It’s the trademark of the state of South Carolina and the identifier for Hilton Head Island.  The logo also gets play on national TV every year when the club’s golf course, the Harbour Town Golf Links, hosts the notable PGA Tour event, The Heritage.

Merchandise bearing the lighthouse logo is so popular that even when the club has been closed in the past for short periods of time, sales volume hasn’t faltered, according to Cary Corbitt, Director of Sports and Operations at Sea Pines Resort.

Similarly, Saddle Creek Resort’s logo embraces the local flavor. It consists of the Egret, a bird of the Heron variety commonly found taking up residence on the course.

“We’re out in the country,” explains Bob Higgins, General Manager of the Copperopolis, Calif. resort. “Egrets are here in the pond and on the property. We try to sell the fact that we have a special bird that is part of day-to-day life.”

Other clubs are working to build up the reputation that will create buzz around the club’s brand and merchandise that displays it. Pound Ridge GC is only a few years old, so management is doing what it can to make the name known as a peer of the world’s most upscale golf courses, according to General Manager Todd Leavenworth.

“We want to produce the image that we’re one of the best in the country,” he says.

The plan is apparently working. Leavenworth says the club is sometimes mistaken for a private club with $250 green fees, when in reality it’s a daily-fee club where fees have peaked at $235 (fees only go as high as $150 in the off-season, and they will likely not go as high as $235 during the next peak season).

It can’t hurt that Pound Ridge is situated an easy driving distance from storied golf courses that already carry a prestigious reputation. Neighboring clubs include Winged Foot, Quaker Ridge and Bethpage Black, among others.

Priced to Sell

Club and pro shop managers are hip to the fact that their brands and logos mean something to visitors, and they’re finding ways to cash in on that. Logoed goods are commonly keystoned (marked up 100 percent) at many pro shops. Charging anything less would be unwise, Leavenworth argues.

“If we mark logoed merchandise up 50 percent, we’re losing out on money because people would have bought it at 100 percent markup anyway,” he says.

Higgins agrees.

“People are willing to spend more for apparel with the logo,” he says. “If they’re from here or have been here, it’s important to them.”

This idea might not hold true for both sexes, though. Like many other buying decisions, there is a divide between men’s and women’s preferences when it comes to branded merchandise. Sea Pines sells 80 percent of its men’s apparel with logos, while logos adorn only 40 percent of the women’s line.

“Men like logos more than ladies,” Corbitt says. “Ladies prefer fashion more.”

If budget or space constraints only allow pro shops to choose one or two items to carry the logo, go for hats and shirts, club and pro shop managers say. Those tend to be the best-selling items.

Whether it’s the roughly 30-40 varieties of hats in Pound Ridge’s pro shop, or the four types carried at Saddle Creek, managers seem to agree that they’d be missing out if they didn’t carry some type of logoed hat. Hats make for popular gifts because they’re adjustable, so buyers don’t have to guess a size as they would for a shirt purchase, Leavenworth says.

Beyond the basics, the possibilities for branded merchandise are nearly limitless: club managers reported stocking up on everything from towels to ball markers to glassware.

One-Shot Deal

Successful club branding and logos aren’t an accident, club managers say. Put some thought into the logo to get it right the first time, says Beth Murphy, General Manager at the semi-private SouthWood Golf Club in Tallahassee, Fla.

“Updating or changing logos can be very expensive and confusing to your guests,” she says. “I highly recommend that clubs create/design logos that are simple but unique; that have reasonable stitch counts and can be effectively adapted from letterhead, to hats, to shirts.”

Also, consistency is key. “I would be sure that all vendors are using the same size logo. Logos that are too small or too large can be unattractive and undermine the desirability of a piece,” Murphy adds. “Additionally consistency regarding the placement of the logo on apparel is very important.  I would recommend that most logos be placed on the left chest unless the logo detracts from the design of the piece.”

Logos can have standard colors, be color coordinated or be tonal, Murphy says, adding she recommends color coordination for most apparel and using standard colors for accessories.

“Wavering too far from the basics can get confusing to the guests,” she says.

Not only do well-thought-out logos help identify and build awareness of the club’s offerings, but they can boost revenue as well.

“Logoed products help to brand the club and can be used to enhance the value of merchandise, so I would logo as many items as possible,” says Murphy, who adds 90 percent of the merchandise in her shop is logoed. “The better the overall golf experience, the more likely a guest will want to purchase a ‘memento’ of their experience.”

Dominion Country Club puts special touches on its annual Demo Day event, where golfers test-drive new equipment.

Demo Days can be more than just a good marketing tool for a pro shop. Sure, they let vendors show off their latest and greatest woods, irons and wedges to a captive—and clearly relevant—audience. But they can also help, when planned and executed well, to add a new layer of excitement to the club, drive more use of the course and club amenities, and maybe even bring some new members on board.

That’s proved to be the case at Dominion Country Club in San Antonio, Texas, which has fully capitalized on this annual opportunity in ways that go far beyond just getting golf equipment vendors to vie for their spots on the sales racks.

Director of Golf Anthony Re begins the buildup for Dominion’s Demo Day about 45 days in advance. Members and guests are notified with posters in the clubhouse, e-mails, a dedicated Demo Day page on the club’s web site, and information sheets that are given to all golfers as they head out for their rounds during the weeks leading up to the event.

To identiy the vendors that will be of most interest to his members, Re relies on the companies that have proved to be big winners at past demo days, and also takes a close look at members’ year-round pro shop buying patterns and requests.

“For example, we might get members who ask, ‘Hey, do you carry Adams Golf?’ ” Re explains. “If we get quite a few inquiries about a certain brand, we listen to them and try to get them in for Demo Day.”

Re also studies industry publications, to keep tabs on the hard goods that tend to sell well in private facilities similar to Dominion.

Feeding the Hunger

Dominion’s Demo Day takes place at the club’s three-tier driving range. The event generally draws a crowd of between 40 and 60 members and guests, reports Re. Besides those who come specifically for product demos, the event also helps to lure golfers in the morning before their tee times and keep other golfers around later in the day, when they’re coming off the last hole.

“It’s a good, steady stream,” he says. “Members are able to adequately try out all the equipment throughout the day.”

The club’s kitchen gets in on the action by providing a casual spread that includes hot dogs, hamburgers, chips and salads. And, according to Re, the payoff from the day’s purchases far exceeds the F&B costs.

“It’s more of an added value—especially for the members—knowing they can come to the club, try the new equipment and get a hot meal out of it,” he explains. “It makes them feel welcome and encourages them to use their club more often.”

In addition, Re’s staff takes an individualized approach designed to make each person feel special.

“One of the most important aspects of any demo day is to have the club’s golf pro available throughout the day, to fit the clubs and talk with members and guests about the equipment,” he says. “Clubs are rooted in being able to give that personalized touch; Demo Day is no different.  Your members are making a big purchase and they rely on your expertise, so you want to make sure they have all the information they need to make the best buying decision.”

The big purchases pack a punch for the pro shop’s bottom line, too. Each Demo Day nets Dominion about $30,000 to $50,000 in retail sales.

In an effort to bring even more benefit to the club, Re has also incorporated a membership drive into some of the Demo Days that Dominion has held in the past, with the golf pros offering a pretty significant incentive for those who join during the event.

“Prospective members who may be interested in belonging are invited,” Re says. “If they join that day, they’re fitted with a free set of irons, as a ‘thank you’ from the club.”

Another enticement for members to attend is vendor-donated loot that’s raffled off to participants.

Clubs, Golf Cars and Cars

Because golf equipment can represent a big financial commitment for members, Re puts a lot of effort into bringing the most sought-after manufacturers to Dominion’s Demo Days, so they can show off their new lines. These events can often be the only opportunity members will have to try out certain product lines, and Re wants to make sure the products that sell well will find a spot in the pro shop, too.

“We can only carry a limited number of brands, and the vendors know that,” Re says, citing a lack of space in the pro shop. “This is the vendors’ opportunity to get a piece of the pie. They have to bring the best of the best, or someone else will outsell them. Prior to the event, all of our pros are vetted on each product. And sometimes a vendor will throw a twist at us, with a hot-off-the-press Nike or Callaway, for instance, to help generate more excitement.”

While the club’s demo days are mainly about golf clubs, Re has found a way to incorporate a few bigger-ticket items. Along with a major golf cart dealer, Re sometimes brings in a local car dealership, to allow guests to kick the tires on a handful of different models.

“It’s not your typical Demo Day,” Re says. “Every year, someone ends up buying a car. It’s a win for the dealership, which then turns around and refers members to us, making it a win for us, too.”

There’s no shortage of merchandise out there for club retail managers that want to get their feet wet and monetize their swim facilities. The trick is figuring out which gear will make the biggest splash.

When Nancy Jones took the helm at the upscale swim and beach shop at Seabrook Island Club in Seabrook Island, S.C., she didn’t realize just how much merchandise it would take to fill the space.

“That first year, I (initially) bought about 50 percent of what we needed,” recalls Jones, Club Merchandise Manager at the private island community’s club (“Great Expectations,” C&RB, February 2010). Luckily, she was able to call in additional orders to beef up the stock, but she admits she was “clueless” when she assumed the role.

Jones is responsible for sourcing and buying merchandise for the approximately 1,200-square-foot shop, which sits next to the beach and two of the club’s swimming pools. In addition to swim necessities such as bathing suits and goggles, the shop also sells swim- and beach-related gift items, such as housewares – but not chintzy items that would be found along any beach’s boardwalk, Jones says.

Now in her fourth year as shop manager, she’s starting to get a feel for the ideal styles and quantities of gear to woo customers, but acknowledges that some element of the unknown will probably never disappear.

No Crystal Ball

Jones tries to plan for what she predicts will be big sellers in any given season, but she has learned that you can’t always see what’s coming. For example, she was surprised by the popularity of one-piece bathing suits last season.

“Some of the tiny bikinis you think are going to fly out the door don’t,” Jones observes. “It’s an interesting thing to watch what sells and what doesn’t sell. Swimwear is a tough category to buy for.”

Jones goes by the guideline that if something sold well last year, it probably won’t repeat this year because everyone already has it. So every year, she’s on the hunt for the new “it” item.

Kevin Williams, Swim Director at Phoenix (Ariz.) Country Club, on the other hand, plays it safe instead of messing with new lines or items.

“We really only carry mainstream items that we know will sell on a regular basis,” says Williams. “We have a strong adult base of fitness swimmers who just purchase basic suits with a solid color scheme.”

Williams adds he stocks up on the basics in his shop that coincides with the club’s three pools: a main pool, a game pool and a toddler pool and splash pad with a number of fun water features. His list of items to keep in stock includes goggles, fins, caps, suits and small miscellaneous items.

Seabrook Island’s shop also stocks some perennial best-sellers that always do well, Jones says. Aside from goggles, the big draw for young swimmers is the “Dive Dude,” a toy shaped like a little man that sinks to the bottom of the pool so swimmers can retrieve it.

What Wears Well

Jones has found that swim wear and sandals are difficult to buy—particularly for women—because of the multitude of body types and style preferences. She tries to appeal to the masses by carrying merchandise at several different price points.

“Our most expensive lines are Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren,” she explains, “then we have some mid-priced lines and some really inexpensive lines—those are more junior-style bathing suits.”

Jones notes that it’s really important to stock reasonably priced suits.

“Some of our members will be in a bathing suit once in a year because the whole family’s going to be visiting and they want to be a part of the fun,” Jones says. “She doesn’t want pay $100 for her suit, but she does want it to fit and be flattering.”

Phoenix Country Club’s swimwear sales benefit from its integration with the club’s swim team, a group of 30-100 kids that is active in the fall, spring and summer.

“We use a solid navy suit with the club logo printed on it so it can be used for a few years and my supplier always has it in stock,” Williams explains. “The same goes for goggles and swim team caps.”

The club requires the purchase of team suits, but makes them affordable, Williams adds.

Servicing the club’s exercise-minded set with fitness-specific clothing and gear can breathe new life into club merchandising efforts.

Kyle Flinton takes to heart one of his favorite architect ‘s recipe for a successful country club.

“He always preaches the three Fs:  family, female and fitness,” says Flinton, who owns and runs the pro shop at Quail Creek Golf & Country Club in Oklahoma City.

Heeding that formula, Flinton recently decided to add a line of female fitness wear to the shop’s offerings, realizing there was an opportunity to branch out from just golf merchandise when the club’s fitness facility was relocated closer to his shop.

Proximity also aids fitness retail operations at The Peninsula, a private club and gated community in Millsboro, Del., which includes a 10,000-square-foot athletic club with amenities including a pool, an aerobics room, 14 cardio machines, massage rooms, locker rooms, saunas for men and women and a children’s playroom. The building’s open floor plan allows for easy access from one amenity to the next, including the fitness shop, which is just beyond the lobby.

Brand Strategy

The Peninsula staff seeks out merchandise that will be a hit with members. In addition to an assortment of tennis and swim clothing and accessories, the club carries an array of gear for aerobics and other workouts, such as Zumba. Besides listening to the members for inspiration about which brands to carry, the staff chooses by avoiding brands that members can easily obtain elsewhere.

“We have a big Nike outlet close to us, so it doesn’t do well [at the Peninsula shop],” says Keriann Martin, Athletic Club Manager at The Peninsula.

On the other hand, she finds it worthwhile to stock a brand called “lucy” because of its limited availability anywhere in the region. Not only is the lucy brand elusive, but it has the double-duty qualities that Martin finds a lot of the women crave.

“People are wearing workout wear to work out, but they also want it to look nice to possibly go out in,” Martin explains. “That’s what’s been so great about lucy and a couple of the other lines. It’s multipurpose wear.”

Flinton agrees. His foray into fitness wear began with women’s athletic wear from Skirt Sports that not only provides an ideal fit for multiple sports, but also is appropriate attire for running errands.

Club merchandisers also find that customers are becoming more fabric-conscious. As a result, the options have expanded and improved substantially from the days of just cotton or spandex. Some of the hottest new pieces include fitness fabrics that can handle moisture or are antimicrobial. An increase in eco-conscious consumers has led to the rise in popularity of products such as eco-organic fabric with bamboo sewn in, Martin says.

Flinton is working on expanding his fitness gear selection by getting input from the club’s aerobics instructor. He also peruses the latest offerings at the PGA Merchandise Show each year.

Positioned for Profits

Martin finds it beneficial to help customers envision the possibilities that the shop’s merchandise offers.

“I try to put the big sellers on the wall to display how well the outfits go together,” she says.

She tries to redo one section’s display each week, making sure to change up the entire store’s display before holiday weekends to pique customers’ interest. Martin also attempts to lure customers by introducing a different “item of the week” each week and attaching a special deal or discount.

Martin and Flinton find ways to incorporate holidays or big events into store specials. For example, The Peninsula fitness shop hosted a March Madness contest and doled out discounts for participants who were able to shoot a basket from certain distances.

Sometimes featured items are placed at The Peninsula shop’s checkout counter, but because the area is small, the staff finds other ways to get members’ attention.

“The way the floor plan is laid out, the merchandise is immediately surrounding the athletic club front desk,” explains The Peninsula General Manager Donald DeMasters. “If members are checking in, they’re within arms-length of the ladies’ fixture or the Gatorade fridge.”

The human factor is another key to healthy sales. Martin doesn’t have a formal training program for employees, but she looks for candidates with a retail background when she’s hiring and then educates each employee about each product.

“One of the trends in the past couple years is to really find activewear, gymwear or aerobicwear that is functional for everyday life,” says DeMasters. “I think that Keriann does a great job of working with the team on going over the attributes of each piece. For example, ‘this piece has a pocket for your iPod, this piece has fabric that prevents moisture and helps you stay cool.’”

Fitness shops aren’t just bumping up sales based on what’s in their inventories. Flinton facilitates special orders for members, but prefers to find other ways to furnish members—especially females—with unique items.

“When we (place special orders) in groups for men, we can buy two mediums, three larges, three extra larges, and so on. You can’t do that with women because they don’t want to have the same shirt as Mrs. Jones or Mrs. Smith,” he explains. “I’ve tried trunk shows. That gives them a chance to see the merchandise there and make special orders that day. I host a wine and cheese type evening where women can try items on and purchase them before they’re even out. It saves me some dollars for later on.”

Martin says she enjoys being able to fulfill special orders, adding most vendors are easy to work with.

“It is a little bit more work,” she admits, “but being able to provide that service for our members is what puts us above and beyond any retail shop out there.”

Unmatched customer service and trendy on-court fashions net club and resort tennis pro shops an advantage over the competition.

Some of the stars on the WTA and ATP World tours are as renowned for their tennis outfits as they are for their booming forehands or their sizzling passing shots. There’s no reason that club players can’t be on-court fashionistas as well. Many club and resort properties have separate tennis pro shops to keep their tennis members and guests playing in style with the latest tennis apparel and top-of-the-line equipment

At the Top of the Rankings

One of the best ways for club and resort tennis pro shops to score sales is to offer lines that sporting goods chains and other retailers generally do not carry.

“We’re well known for our variety of clothes. We try to get unusual, glitzy, sparkly things for the fashion tennis player. Our niche is retail fashion,” says Tanda Bianco, Club Manager and Tennis Professional at Port Royal Racquet Club in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

Vivian Welsh, Buyer for the Quail Creek Country Club tennis pro shop in Naples. Fla., follows the same philosophy.

“We have a private, exclusive shop, and I try to carry brands that you’re not going to see anywhere else,” she reveals. “Every single item I get in is different. The same members are here day in and day out, so we only carry little bits of lots of different lines.”

The shop carries men’s and women’s tennis clothing and accessories such as hats, headbands and wristbands, and Welsh goes to shows twice a year to look for the latest fashions. Quail Creek CC also carries tennis bags with fun designs, patterns and styles. “The bags sell well. They get used a lot, so they only last one or two years,” adds Welsh.

When it comes to equipment, however, Quail Creek CC exclusively carries one of the most recognized names in the business.

“We are strictly a Wilson shop. We like the product. It sells well,” Welsh reveals.  “By making ourselves an exclusively Wilson shop, they give us better prices.”

Joe DeLuna, Director of Tennis at Oak Hills Country Club in San Antonio, Texas, says women’s and children’s tennis apparel makes up 80 percent of the tennis pro shop’s inventory.

One side of the shop features a racket wall while men’s tennis clothing occupies the opposite wall. The shop also carries junior and adult rackets and items such as sunscreen, lip balm and sunglasses.

Merchandise with the Oak Hills logo, which includes bags, hats, clothing and warm-up suits, are popular sellers as well. “When members bring their guests here, they like to buy a shirt that has the club logo on it,” notes DeLuna.

Every two to eight weeks, the tennis shop staff, which includes one full-time and five part-time employees, moves merchandise displays and racks to keep the shop vibrant. “We display new arrivals in the front of  the shop, and put signs on the sale merchandise,” DeLuna adds.

Game, Set, Match

Effective merchandising strategies translate into sales, and color and product coordination are hits at Port Royal. “We try to get a whole line of something so it creates a dynamic look,” notes Bianco.

Many of the brands that make racket bags carried by Port Royal also produce accessories such as makeup bags and water bottles. “Everything matches, and the merchandise creates a really nice display,” notes Bianco. “We try to get a whole line of something so it creates a dynamic look. Color is important.”

The Hilton Head shop also runs holiday specials and has a sale rack of older fashions that are marked down 25 percent to 50 percent.

Quail Creek, which offers its members a 20-percent discount off of retail prices, keeps items in stock for four or five months before marking them down to half-price. Welsh says the shop at the private facility never advertises and rarely offers specials.

“If we have a tournament, I might run a one-week special and mark items down an extra 10 percent,” she says. “But we start out at 20 percent off of retail to begin with.”

Members also receive a 20-percent discount off of merchandise at the tennis shop at the private, member-owned Oak Hills.

“Our members are our number one priority,” DeLuna explains. “Guests and nonmembers pay retail prices.”

He also says the shop discounts clothing that remains at the end of a season or that carries over from the previous season.

At Your Service

The ambiance and other amenities lure customers into the tennis shops as well.

The Oak Hills décor features dark wood fixtures, and the dark wood counter boasts an engraved logo on the front and a granite top. A TV room in the shop includes seating for eight people, and snacks such as chips, power bars and granola bars as well as beverages including beer, wine and sports drinks are available.

The high ceilings and open, airy layout of the Port Royal tennis shop create an inviting atmosphere, and the checkout counter is located in the middle of the store. “As soon as someone walks in the door, we can say, ‘hello,’” says Bianco.

Hats are arranged on wooden displays backed by fabric, and apparel occupies freestanding waterfall fixtures. The shop also features a shoe corner for tennis shoes and socks and a section for full-service racket restringing.

However, none of these features would matter if the tennis shops didn’t offer amenities such as special orders or regripping and 24-hour restringing services.

“Someone can bring a racket in for restringing any time during the day, and we’ll have it ready for them by 8 o’clock the next morning,” Bianco reports.

Port Royal has 24 employees for its entire tennis operation and 10 employees that work in the shop only. “All of the shop employees play tennis, but it’s not a requirement,” notes Bianco.

The four-person tennis staff at Quail Creek includes one full-time and two part-time shop employees. The shop keeps demo rackets in stock rather than an endless supply of rackets. “If someone likes a racket, then we’ll order it for them,” notes Welsh.

DeLuna says special orders are a big part of the merchandising strategies at Oak Hills as well.

“If we don’t have it, we will do our best to get it for you,” he explains. “Special orders are important to our shop sales and to our customer loyalty. If we can get something for our customers, then there’s a good chance they’ll come back and see us.”

In addition, DeLuna says, “We can customize your racket any way you like it.”

The Port Royal tennis pro shop staff also refers customers to other Hilton Head shops.

“The clubs on the island work really well together,” says Bianco. “If w don’t have a particular line, then we’ll send our customers to another shop. It’s a close-knit group. All of us have a few things that are the same, but we generally know what each other carries.”

Because the shop has a limited selection of tennis shoes, she continues, “We’ll send our customers to sporting goods stores, and they’ll give our customers a discount.”

Port Royal, which is owned by Heritage Golf Group, has corporate protocols for its operations. Nevertheless, Bianco speaks for everyone about the ultimate goal.

“I want every customer that leaves our store to be happy,” she says.

The offerings at many golf course pro shops have expanded over the years to include goods that have little to do with the game of golf. Pajamas, boxer shorts, home goods and accessories are now all common finds on pro shop shelves these days.

At the pro shop at Half Moon Bay (Calif.) Golf Links, for example, the necessary stuff—balls, drivers, putters and wedges—can still be found, but the shop’s retail focus is no longer on golf equipment. Instead, selling logoed apparel to out-of-towners is now the shop’s bread and butter, says Kevin Niessner, Director of Golf at the 36-hole resort course.

But as pro shops expand to reflect a much broader retailing perspective, with an increased emphasis on apparel, furnishings, keepsake items and other specialty items, their managers are finding that something else has to give—and items in other retail categories have to go—to keep an operation in the black.

“I think it’s always good for a shop to try to appeal to as many different factions of people as they can, as long as they balance that with a manageable inventory level,” says Chad Newton, Head Golf Professional and owner of the pro shop at Pinewood Country Club in Asheboro, N.C. “With the golf business being in a semi-recession, it’s more important than ever to keep a close watch on inventory levels. If you branch out into a new category, such as home items or personal products, then you have to cut inventory from somewhere else.”

Newton began cutting back on Pinewood CC’s inventory in the fall of 2007, when he started to see a slowdown in business. When the recession hit in 2008, and other shops found themselves flooded with inventory, Pinewood CC was already in conservative mode. Since then, Newton has found that it’s more important than ever to keep close tabs on average inventory and its rate of turnover.

Half Moon Bay has also trimmed its inventory in the past couple of years, Niessner says, mainly because of the recession.

“You may lose out on sales because there’s less to sell, but it keeps your inventory levels in line,” Newton notes.

When shoppers consider other factors like customer service and quality in buying decisions, pro shops have the ability to highlight a variety of other features that help them stand out from the competition.

Purposeful Purchases

As the economy limps toward recovery, members and guests are beginning to buy in pro shops again.

“People love to spend money,” Newton says. “As retailers, we have to give them an excuse to do so. It’s all about having a unique item, or extending an offer they can’t refuse.”

Part of his strategy is to make spending coincide with a guest’s purpose for being at the course. Newton finds it beneficial to run specials in conjunction with tournaments or other member events.

“When we have parties for a couple hundred people, I offer a discount to capitalize on that opportunity,” Newton says.

Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., has the good fortune of hosting the U.S. Open this year, which will mean a boost in pro shop sales from two new types of customers: those seeking apparel that bears the Open logo, and tournament enthusiasts who will be visiting Congressional for the first time and wanting gear adorned with the club’s logo.

Regular yearly events can also offer special sales opportunities. Half Moon Bay capitalizes on the holiday season by hosting a sale at the beginning of December each year. Congressional offers holiday specials—and gift-wrapping as well—but the club goes a step further for Presidents’ Day.

“Presidents’ Day is a big deal here, because five U.S. presidents founded the club,” explains John Lyberger, PGA Director of Golf and head of Congressional’s retail operations. The shop runs a U.S. President trivia contest in the club’s newsletter, and offers pro shop gift cards to the winners.

“Any time you can draw attention to your operation, it gives you another opportunity to make a sale,” Lyberger notes.

Finding ways to appeal to all market segments has also taken on added importance in a tighter economy. Half Moon Bay recently added a line of less-expensive clothing to attract more customers.

“Customers are very price-sensitive,” notes Neissner. “We’re doing our best to satisfy customers at varying price points, instead of only offering high-end items.”

As members open up their wallets for more discretionary purchases, pro shops will begin to believe that the worst may be behind them.

Keeping Up Appearances

Retailers generally agree that how a shop looks can have an impact on sales as well. To this end, some clubs are embarking on shop renovations to try to energize sales activity.

PGA National Resort & Spa, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., recently completed a comprehensive reinvention of its pro shop as part of the resort’s $65 million renovation. The changes included new carpet, granite countertops and up-to-date fixtures, all designed to give the operation a more contemporary feel. The new 2,200-sq. ft. shop also features separate check-in areas for visitors and private members, to make the shopping process more efficient and guest-friendly.

If capital funds aren’t available for a total renovation, less elaborate makeovers can still be effective. At Half Moon Bay, Niessner tries to change how items are merchandised once a week, to keep the shop’s appearance fresh and take advantage of “sweet spots” on the selling floor.

“We have certain flows and fixtures in the shop, based on traffic patterns, that tend to sell a little better, so we try to rotate what’s positioned in these spaces,” he explains. “Ultimately, we want to create an atmosphere that satisfies our diverse membership. If members are comfortable, they’ll be more inclined to spend their hard-earned dollars with us.”

For many years, owning the pro shop was as basic to the job description of a club or resort’s head pro as giving lessons and telling good golf jokes. But industry polls (such as the one recently conducted at this website [results below]) continue to confirm a growing trend toward bringing the ownership and management of the golf shop (as well as tennis, pool and other retail outlets, including online sales) into the same fold as membership, food and beverage, and all other parts of the operation.

There are several reasons why more club and resort properties are deciding that this makes sense. Primarily, club ownership is seen as a cleaner arrangement that ties in better with the overall need to operate all aspects of the property as a single business entity. Also, when the club owns the shop (particularly when golf management companies or other larger corporate entities are involved), more purchasing power can often be exercised, to take better advantage of vendor discount programs and reduce the risk that an individual owner must bear when trying new merchandise or carrying inventory. Properties’ financial managers can also have better control of the pricing and overhead costs involved with shop operations.
But clubs’ reasons for owning the shop aren’t always self-serving. They often include considerations for the golf pro, too, by offering better security and comfort through salaries and benefits, and by eliminating the need for the pro to invest personal funds or get immersed in hiring and other personnel issues.

With rounds no longer growing and a greater emphasis now being placed on servicing existing golfers and developing new ones, taking away the burden of shop management is also felt to be a better use of pros’ talents and experience.

Head Golf Pro Mike Tucker sold the pro shop back to Bellerive CC two years ago, after 10 years as a co-owner.

A Switch That Pays Off
At the private, 110-year-old Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis, Mo., which has hosted U.S. Open, PGA and U.S. Senior Open championships, Head Golf Professional Mike Tucker has experience both owning the golf shop and then continuing to run it after selling it back to the club. Tucker has been in the golf business for over 20 years, and spent 10 of them owning Bellerive’s pro shop. But two seasons ago, Tucker sold the shop back to the club, after his partner left the club and Tucker assumed the head pro position.

Craig Surdy, Bellerive’s General Manager, said the club approached Tucker about selling back the shop for most of the usual reasons: tidier management, more control of the shop’s look and layout to better match other parts of the property, and freeing up Tucker so he could focus on other aspects of golf operations and member service.

A desire to wring more profits out of the shop, though, was not a key driver of the offer, Surdy stresses. “It didn’t matter to us financially,” he states—and, he adds, the club took steps to make sure it didn’t matter to Tucker, either, working out a salary arrangement in line with what he was making for himself as a shop owner.

The main advantage of now having the shop under club ownership is the amount of money that can be spent on it, both managers say.  “I never could have renovated the shop when I owned it,” says Tucker. A recent club-funded upgrade of the 900-sq. ft. shop is being given much of the credit for the fact that with a month left in the peak season, projected sales for 2007 had already been surpassed. But otherwise, both Surdy and Tucker say, nothing has really changed, and that is how they both wanted it to be. “We wanted it to be seamless,” says Surdy.

Notable Exceptions
While club-owned shops are becoming more prevalent throughout the industry, it’s not hard to find examples of pro-owned outlets that are not only still existing, but thriving—and where the property’s ownership and management is just as happy about the arrangement as the pro.

Not too far from Bellerive, at the St. Louis (Mo.) Country Club (SLCC), Head Golf Professional Steve Spray has owned the shop for 32 years—and neither he, nor the club’s management, expects that arrangement to change.

Jeff Roderick, interim General Manager, has been at the club for 24 years, spending 20 as Clubhouse Manager before assuming the general manager role earlier this year. So he’s been at SLCC long enough to see that the club’s arrangement works well.

“With a pro’s expertise in retail, marketing and understanding trends, plus their invested interest and financial incentives, it benefits the club, and him,” Roderick believes.

Roderick does acknowledge that, as in all other parts of club operations, being a successful pro shop operator calls for special traits that go beyond just knowledge of the sport and its related products.

“It takes more than being a professional athlete to run a successful pro shop,” he says.  “You have to be an excellent businessman, and good people skills, with both members and staff, are essential. You have to be a good manager and leader.”

Steve Spray has proved to be so good in all aspects, Roderick notes, that he also owns the club’s golf carts—“a unique arrangement to many clubs,” Roderick says. Spray also employs all assistants, and the club provides insurance and meals for the group.

Bellerive’s shop sales are ahead of budget, and a club-funded upgrade is being given much of the credit.

All-Purpose Service
From Spray’s perspective, the success of the arrangement hinges on good service, which he says has always been “my number one-goal.”

His pro shop features several aspects of service not found at all clubs. Spray believes in golf professionals being well-trained in all aspects of the golf business, from pro shop merchandising to golf cart maintenance. His training regimen for assistants even includes tearing all wiring and parts out of golf carts during the offseason and giving them a thorough cleaning and rebuilding. All club repairs are done on-premise in a special room, making it possible for the club to be returned the same day if needed.

Spray also keeps members close in mind when buying merchandise for his shop. “Sales reps come and say, ‘Everyone’s buying it, everyone’s selling it’—but we’re not everyone,” he says. When considering new merchandise, the SLCC staff tries to think of three or four specific members who they feel might like a particular item—and won’t commit to buying until they can make enough mental sales.

Spray says SLCC has also been very successful moving away from traditional golf shop merchandise. His shop carries everything from ties, belts, and flip-flops to handbags and luggage. “Members like the convenience of shopping here,” he says.  “They don’t have to go to the mall, and they can charge it to their club accounts. We give them what I consider to be extremely good service.”

Spray’s operation has benefited from new stand-alone space (1,700 sq. ft.) that the club provided in 1999 as part of an overall property upgrade.  “[The old shop] was outdated and we outgrew it,” he says, “We needed everything we didn’t have.” The club told Spray it wanted to build new space for the shop that would never have to be enlarged. So Spray worked with the architect to design and tweak a plan that has worked well since it opened. 

Now, Spray has new, rent-free space, and the club also pays for utilities, maintenance and a portion of the golf employees’ benefits. Spray owns the shop’s merchandise, the club’s golf carts, and pays the salaries and remaining benefits costs for the golf employees.

Not surprisingly, Spray says he’s still “a big believer in the pro owning the shop—it’s good for him and the club.” His operation is a strong example that the concept can still be quite viable. But Bellerive CC, and other properties where a transition has been made, show that club ownership is a workable approach as well. In the end, the success of a pro shop will ultimately hinge on the time and thought that’s consistently put into it, no matter who’s in charge. 

When fancier shirts elbowed their way into golf apparel, the Promontory Golf Club in Park City, Utah, faced the challenge of keeping sales propped up for the more standard logoed shirts in its pro shop.

The logoed shirts had a higher mark-up, so it was critical to maintain their sales, says Steve Hupe, Promontory’s Director of Golf. The answer came through “creating a colorful, monthly advertising poster campaign, centered around the holidays, that succeeded in not only attracting the eye and interest of our clientele, but provided a true value through multiple purchases.”

Performance wear was another segment in Promontory’s shop where a prominent display wasn’t enough to get the garments moving. But framing literature about the benefits of these items, and making sure the hang tags with their technical information were visible, attracted more customers to the display, and encouraged more questions that led to more sales.

“Additionally,” says Hupe, “we added an old-fashioned desk fan and a couple of hand fans to the display, to convey a sense of ‘coolness.’ ”

As these examples show, more club and resort shops that don’t have the room to “stack it high and sell it cheap,” like their big-box competitors, are finding that ingenuity and creativity can still make the difference. “Unlike a public retail store, where you are likely to see clothing stacked in piles, members expect to see merchandise that is perhaps more creatively placed and displayed in the pro shop of a private club,” notes Sarah Silver, Merchandising Manager at Desert

Highlands in North Scottsdale, Ariz.
Recently, Silver and Doug Wescott, Director of Golf, draped every color of a particular shirt on one mannequin, rolling up the sleeves and “popping” up the collars. The members enjoyed it so much, they requested that the display be kept in the store. The staff also uses platforms and props such as books, trunks, antiques and artifacts to complement its merchandise.

When Promontory GC’s pro shop put its performance wear on display, the staff framed the product’s benefits, and added fans “to convey a sense of ‘coolness,’” says Director of Golf Steve Hupe.

“Wishpets” and Candles
At the Bald Head Island (N.C.) Club, the philosophy of Ron Thomason, Director of Golf, is to “Keep it fresh and keep members informed.”

“We try to change our displays weekly,” Thomason says. “We started putting something in our newsletter to members called ‘The Hot List.’ That has helped.”

Because Thomason feels it’s important to give equal time to merchandise in the “focal point,” the displays at the entrance of Bald Head Island’s 1,800-sq.-ft. store consistently change. He also peppers popular sales items like “Wishpets”—little stuffed animals representing the island’s wildlife—throughout the available retail space.

“It sparks sales,” says Thomason. “We also carry candles with our logo on the outside; we’ve been fortunate to sell those and spread them throughout the store, too.”

Even a seemingly insignificant move can make remarkable improvements, Thomason has found. “We sell pictures of our golf holes,” he says. “We had some prints in here, and once we stuck them on an easel, we sold more.”

To say that pro shop space isn’t plentiful for Rob McDannold, Head Golf Professional at the Hamilton Golf & Country Club in Ancaster, Ont., Canada, is actually an understatement. So McDannold has learned to use every nook of the 600-sq.-ft. pro shop.

Using nesting tables, mannequins and crested hangers, he is still able to create a sense of excitement. “We hosted a Hawaiian event,” he reports, “and decided to promote our Maui Jim sunglasses. We took sand from the bunkers and made a ‘beach’ on one of our feature tables. We accessorized the display with palm trees and leis, and put all the sunglasses on the sand.” The result: More than 15 pairs of the glasses were sold in one day.

McDannold insists that store size should not be allowed to inhibit displays. While he recognizes that bulky items, such as men’s bottoms and sweaters, can be difficult to incorporate into eye-catching displays, he’s still found that putting these items on the feature table. especially when they’re paired with some promotional pricing or gift, can make all the difference. “People do not realize how much potential they have in their retail space,” he believes.

Routes to the Register
“Displays must grab you,” says Joseph K. Gaffney, Director of Golf Operations at the Legacy Golf Resort in Phoenix. “The main display in the front of the shop must be eye-appealing and full of color, so it looks alive.”

To Gaffney, it’s also important that a shop’s layout create paths that snake past the upscale merchandise.

“It’s important that the front of the store has low displays, and builds in height to the back,” he adds. “Since this is a resort, there is also other merchandise not normally found in a pro shop. This actually helps to bring in additional patrons. Finally, the shop is designed so the golfer must walk through to the check-in desk and out again—making two passes by the merchandise.”

With only 600 feet of retail space, Hamilton G&CC uses every available space to highlight merchandise.

Where and how merchandise is located is critical, Silver agrees. Recently, the Desert Highlands staff moved the golf bags and clubs away from the wall to the center of the shop, to give members better access. But bags are also displayed around the perimeter, to showcase individual lines.

Points of Purchase
Keeping close contact with suppliers and creating volume through strategic alliances that can lower costs are among some of Gaffney’s other key strategies at the Legacy Golf Resort. And, because his location sees a fluctuation in population from season to season, he changes the type and lines of merchandise to complement the particular time of year.

At the Bald Head Island Club, Thomason’s approach to purchasing for a golf resort store is to buy deep and buy well. Instead of ordering a huge variety of shirts with only a few sizes in each style, he’s been more successful picking out a smaller selection of quality shirts, but in a surplus of sizes.

“We’ve got plenty of vendors,” he says, “but we try to bring in, say, larger quantities of seven or eight shirts, instead of four each of 10 or 12 shirts. That has really worked because we’ll normally have everything in stock.”

Since McDannold wrestles with limited space, he plans a buying strategy that staggers deliveries throughout the season, to keep the sales floor fresh. “This is not only a method that maximizes our profit,” he says, “but it’s also a great way to manage our payables. Just-in-time inventory is key—for equipment as well as apparel. The cycle of equipment and the pace of change in its technology is beginning to be a little like fashion, so not having a huge inventory of clubs is vital.”
Pro shop merchandisers have always found the women’s, seniors’ and junior beginners’ categories to be traditionally tough spots. “The ladies market has always been a challenge,” notes Hupe. “It’s important to first ascertain your female market, and, if you’re in a private club, poll [women] to find consistent size runs and if there’s a consensus on a handful of favorite merchandisers.”

Guests who do not play golf are also an important potential segment for apparel sales, Silver believes, especially for logoed-item sales that can provide a permanent connection with the property.

Creative placement makes the typical more tempting. “Displays must grab you,” says Joseph K. Gaffney, Director of Golf Operations at Legacy Golf Resort.

Knowledge With a Smile
Pro shop managers agree: The more all sales associates know about the merchandise sold in a shop, the better edge they’ll have in selling it.

“Associate knowledge is critical,” Gaffney stresses. “You want your staff to not only be familiar with the lines and types of merchandise, but also the sizes that are available, so they can continually interact with the buyer. The goals for the shop must be understood and embraced by all associates. The more informed the associates become, the deeper the commitment, and finally ownership takes place by all involved.”

Beyond knowing the products, associates also need to have an engaging demeanor. “They should say hello to the customer and introduce themselves,” says Thomason, “before getting into what they are looking for. While it’s important for the staff to know the difference between cotton and micro fiber and the other new climate-control products that are out there, the biggest thing is to be personable and helpful.”

Inside Still Wins Out
It has become easier to sell online with the advent of Internet services such as eBay, but pro shop managers admit it is still difficult to turn an electronic profit; only a select few seem to be taking advantage of Web site sales.

“Most high-end clubs have an online store component through their Web sites,” says Hupe. “Highly recognized clubs do well because of their exclusivity, easily identifiable and coveted logo, or a wide member base. But a majority of the clubs struggle [with online sales].”

So the heart of the pro shop remains on-site. And even for the most space-challenged, with out-of-the-box thinking, it’s still possible to churn out surprising sales. “You must know what you are, and deliver it,” says McDannold.

When Hershey Country Club scheduled its 31,000-square-foot clubhouse and aquatic center renovation, completed in 2006, it included new storage space in the plans, even though the club didn’t purchase new cars until March 2007.
“When we went through our major $20 million renovation, we also built two car barns,” says General Manager Renee Holloman. “In them, you’ll find our power packs, and we are able to plug in the new electric cars.”

In some cases, a new facility isn’t needed. When Ames Country Club purchased 40 electric cars two years ago, the club added storage changes to its to-do list.
“We have a storage facility here,” says Jay Giannetto, Assistant Golf Pro. “It’s not new by any means, but we modified the area for the electric cars.”

Modifications to existing parking areas can include adding charging outlets, dividing areas into specific parking spaces, and posting information about cart usage and tracking. —E.B.

See related story, On the Right Path.

Summing It Up

---

• Keep a regular maintenance schedule and a detailed log for each golf car in your fleet.
• Rotate vehicles to have equal wear on each car.
• Educate staff, as well as members and guests, on the proper operation of golf cars.

The avid golf enthusiast will likely notice your club’s course more than anything else. However, if your golf cars aren’t clean, charged or full of gas, the green may take a backseat to your members seeing red.

“It’s important for our facility to look good,” says Jay Giannetto, Assistant Golf Professional at Ames (Iowa) Country Club. “Golf cars are a big part of that. Having them in good condition lets people play faster, and also helps to make sure they can keep playing as they get older.”

That’s especially important at busy clubs, where things need to be kept moving. “You spend four hours on them!” says Renee Holloman, General Manager of Hershey (Pa.) Country Club, who adds, “They’re part of the overall appearance of the club, just like when you walk in the front entrance [of the clubhouse]. They’re critical to that first impression and in some cases, may be the only chance you get.

“These cars are [members’] personal vehicles while they’re here,” Holloman adds. “They expect the bathrooms to be spotless, and the cars, too. And we’re all about meeting those expectations.”

Checking and Recording
Most club and resort managers know the importance of regular maintenance for golf car fleets, as recommended by manufacturers. “Clubs need to check the batteries on a regular basis, especially on an electric vehicle, and make sure water levels are maintained,” says an executive with one manufacturer. “They also need to make sure the batteries are kept clean and there’s no acid buildup. If [clubs] have their own mechanic, they should also check the brake adjustment.”

Keeping cars in perfect working order also means first providing ample parking space. As more clubs switch from gas cars to electric because of environmental and noise concerns, as well as the rising price of gas, this can entail either constructing new facilities or updating older ones. When Hershey Country Club scheduled its 31,000-square-foot clubhouse and aquatic center renovation, completed in 2006, it included new storage space in the plans, even though the club didn’t purchase new cars until March 2007. “When we went through our major $20 million renovation, we also built two car barns,” says General Manager Renee Holloman. “In them, you’ll find our power packs, and we are able to plug in the new electric cars.” In some cases, a new facility isn’t needed. When Ames Country Club purchased 40 electric cars two years ago, the club added storage changes to its to-do list. “We have a storage facility here,” says Jay Giannetto, Assistant Golf Pro. “It’s not new by any means, but we modified the area for the electric cars.” Modifications to existing parking areas can include adding charging outlets, dividing areas into specific parking spaces, and posting information about cart usage and tracking. —E.B.

Equally important is having full maintenance and upkeep records at ready disposal for every car in a fleet. Without a good monitoring and tracking system, even the most basic car maintenance program can quickly get derailed.

Staying up on golf car cleaning, maintenance and performance records, and operational problems is, as Hershey’s Holloway describes it, a task that lasts “all day, every day.” Many properties now rely on a simple, publicly posted chart system, or a series of daily phone calls to get information that’s entered into a computerized log.

“We have a logbook in which we keep track of any problem with a specific car, and also keep track of the cars’ maintenance records,” says Giannetto of Ames CC. “When a car is flagged, in most instances, it’s because the battery is dead. We note the car in our logbook, and have a mechanic check the battery and charger. Because it’s all entered in the book, if something happens again, we know there’s a problem with that car.”

Logging car usage and performance also helps to ensure cars are charged and rotated properly on the course. Making sure that no one car gets used excessively will increase a fleet’s overall duration.

“We try to make sure every car is used equally and we don’t have the same cars going out everyday; that extends the life of all of the cars,” Giannetto says. “It’s important for trade-in value; you want the fleet to have the same amount of use on all of the cars.”

On the Charts
Hershey Country Club has also instituted a detailed tracking and labeling system that gets put into play as soon as new cars arrive.

“We’ve marked the cars with electric tape, in places where you can’t really see them, with numbers and six colors,” says Holloman. “There is also a color code on the ground [denoting where to park]. The color coding came out of my concern when we got the cars; I thought, I do not want a member out on the course with a car that’s not fully charged, so we would have to tow them in halfway through their round.”

Hershey’s chart is updated frequently by its outside operations manager, and the director of engineering regularly makes sure all chargers are working properly. The carts are plugged in overnight, with staff required to check for the green light in the morning, to make sure they are charged. If there is an issue with a car, the director of engineering is notified via a work order filled out by the staff.

Holloman has found the chart can help track rotation needs as well.

“Let’s say it’s Monday—then the chart says that on that day, you must start with the purple cars,” she says. “They need to get a certain amount of holes in before recharging. Then next week, we start rotating a different color.”

Wash it Out
Members’ cars may not get washed every day, but you’d better believe they like their golf cars to be.

“We have golf shop service attendants in charge of daily cleaning and upkeep of cars,” says Giannetto. “We follow a specific routine to keep them up; every night, they are washed down and dried and cleaned. We like to keep them looking as best as they can for the membership.”

That includes making sure new staff members know the routine, and that old ones haven’t forgotten it.

“We have, as far as daily upkeep, golf service staff and maintenance staff constantly being trained [on how to do it],” Giannetto says.

Hershey Country Club’s new golf storage space that came with its recently renovated clubhouse also includes wash pad cleaning areas for its golf cars, which are wiped down daily and washed thoroughly after storms.

“Just as you train your food servers, you also have ongoing training [for car maintenance],” Holloman says. “You’ve got younger people coming
in [as workers] and retirees who have never worked at a club, and we have them ‘buddy up’ at first to learn proper procedures.

“Then there are spot checks,” she adds. “Myself, the golf staff and others are consistently out there making sure the cars are lined up and looking beautiful.”

For the Members, By the Members
The future of golf car technology may include some exciting options. “You might see self-adjusting brakes, so fleet customers don’t even have them touched during the course of the lease,” says an executive with one car manufacturer. “There’s talk of maintenance-free batteries so you’ll never have to worry about the water level—you’ll just charge them. Unless someone damages it, you could have cars that are fairly maintenance-free during the course of their lease.”

Until those upgrades become reality, though, steps should still be taken to protect your fleet—and as you educate your staff about golf car maintenance, it never hurts to gently inform your members, as well.

“We have a basic golf car policy posted for safety issues—two people and two bags per car, responsible driving, etc.—that all of our members can see,” says Giannetto. “ We’ve found this helps our members take good care of the cars, too.”

When most people hear a reference to golf and a green garment, they think of azaleas, chirping birds and springtime in Georgia. But at the tip of Northern Michigan, mention of The Green Coat is the signal to rush and sign up for the annual men’s member/guest invitational at Birchwood Farms Golf & Country Club in Harbor Springs, Mich.

While many club staffs dread the drudgery of another member/guest cycle, Head PGA Golf Pro Cris Cavitt and his associates at Birchwood Farms embrace it as one of their most important activities of the year. The event’s success—it’s fully subscribed every year with more than 200 players, and even has a wait list—is all due, Cavitt says, to how the club’s departments work in the teamwork atmosphere generated by General Manager John Foster. And it’s no accident, he feels, that more than 10 current club members were first introduced to Birchwood Farms through The Green Coat.

While it’s a proven winner, Cavitt knows the importance of keeping the multi-day event fresh by periodically changing the format, adding new contests, and changing up the prize and gift mix. Three years ago, a father-and-son event was added within The Green Coat that quickly became an equally coveted part of the competition. Cavitt also makes sure to send a post-invitational survey for player feedback and new ideas, so he can keep trying to make a good thing better.

The ladies aren’t forgotten at Birchwood Farms, either. And unlike The Green Coat, the club’s women’s invitational, The Silver Birch, chooses a different theme each year. Selected annually by a committee, recent themes have included French, Mexican and Greek-inspired outings which all, Cavitt says, are fully reflected throughout the food, décor and favors.

In some years, Cavitt reports, The Green Coat has generated income, but more typically, the club breaks even. In part that’s because, like many clubs, Birchwood Farms (a 27-hole facility) chooses to keep some of its course open for members who don’t want to participate in the member/guest, but still want to hit the links.

Increasingly, though, some clubs are deciding it’s better to go all-out in trying to turn their member/guests into for-profit enterprises. For example, Rolling Hills Country Club in Golden, Colo., now closes for its four-day men’s member invitational, The Stampede.

“When we left it open, some members felt slighted who were at the course but not in the tournament,” says Jeff Seltz, Director of Golf. “We couldn’t give them lessons or the attention they needed. We decided we could only justify that by the event being a money-maker.”

So at Rolling Hills, members now pay to participate in the event, and Seltz also sells sponsorships, which about half the players purchase, he reports. Last year, it all paid off to turn August into the club’s biggest month ever. Yet from a management perspective, it hardly amounted to work.

“For my department, it’s seen as a four-day vacation,” Seltz says. “People are having a great time, and they make the staff have fun, too. For the maintenance staff, it’s a chance to showcase their course. There is big pride going into the event.”

The Stampede’s stroke-play format, Seitz adds, is another big reason why more than 100 players come out each year. Other clubs in the area tend to use a match-play format that doesn’t lend itself to the best team finishing first, he notes.

“In our format, the last day is the most important, and anybody can win,” he adds. “If the same people win each year, other members and guests will quit coming back. Our format eliminates this.” C&RB

Rolling Hills Country Club’s member/guest, The Stampede, is distinguished by its stroke-play format and for-profit management.

“The member/guest is ,” Plus, Pasha adds, it’s a natural event for generating referral sales of new club memberships. “When your members bring in non-members for the event, their guests will be similar in lifestyle, age and income, and in all likelihood, would be excellent candidates for membership.”

Pasha says you may want to at least keep morning tee times before the event gets underway. “You have those members who play every day and that’s why they joined,” he adds. “You don’t want to take that from them.”

For men’s events, casual is the way to go if you do choose to theme it. He recalls a Mardi Gras member/guest event that had small touches of Mardi Gras, nothing over-the-top.

Follow-Through
Whether it’s a themed event, men’s or women’s don’t forget the all-important follow up. Have players complete a survey to find out where you can improve; send thank-you notes to all involved; call all members, thanking them for bringing a guest; and don’t forget to post the winner and event photos to your web site and in any club publications.

“The day of the event you could have streaming video on your web site and then afterward post photos,” Pasha says. “Show the member, his title and who he works for—the stuff that people want to see and know. Be sure to get exact spellings of members and guests and if they won a trip to Cancun, say that.” Wherever you post photos include a save-the-date mention for the next member/guest event to generate excitement and encourage new participants.

The event itself is a chance for you, and your members, to show off the course and the club. Marketing before, during and afterward allows the members to keep bragging—and you’ll keep growing your event and your revenue.

To Theme or Not
While men are more likely to participate to satisfy their competitive side, women tend to participate for more social reasons and thus themed events may be a good fit for ladies’ outings.

At Rolling Hills, interest in the ladies’ event waned so they no longer hold it, yet an old cowboy theme has always been use
d for The Stampede. The event’s logo, used on marketing and outing materials, is an old cowboy with a horse. Seltz says how deep they go with the theme depends on that year’s committee members. Some years, club staff have dressed in jeans, cowboy boots and hats, but in other years they’ve gotten away from the theme and gone with a more casual, party atmosphere particularly at the closing dinner.

Lead the Way. “When I walk into a pro shop, I do what a customer does,” says Beth Ann Riecke, a former Midwest Regional Director of the Association of Golf Merchan-disers who is now a buyer for pro shops. “I look at the whole environment right at the door. Can I see if they have hard goods, and both men’s and women’s merchandise? Do they have things for kids or someone who’s not a golfer? I see if these things lead me deeper into their space.”

Make an Experience. “It’s more than buying the merchandise,” Riecke says. “You need to create an experience someone wants to be a part of. The longer they linger, the more they’ll buy.” She recommends lighting a candle. “It makes me feel warm, cozy and comfortable—like I’m at home.”

• Create Distractions. Provide coloring books and puzzles for the kids, a comfortable chair and a television for the men—as long as it’s far away from the ladies’ apparel, “so he’s not looking at his wife to see if she’s buying something that’s too expensive,” Riecke laughs.
Hire Women. “She is the eyes and ears for everyone,” says Riecke. “If you don’t have a female on staff in your shop, at least on a part-time basis, you’re not getting inside a female buyer’s mind. It’s that simple. And you’re losing money.”

Know When to Fold ‘Em. “We put our newest product on the front table, but it’s usually folded,” says Cathy McVean, Area Retail Manager for Troon Golf and based at the Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Ariz. “It’s on the front table for a couple of weeks, then a new group comes. The shirts get hung and the shop gets moved around. It looks different when it hangs.” Also, “switch those cheap plastic hangers out for a nice wooden hanger to show that even though the item is $20, it looks like it costs $100,” Riecke suggests.

Wear the Merchandise. “I think it really helps when your staff wears the product,” McVean says. “Having your staff be able to vouch for it helps to sell it.” —LWB

See related stories:

More Pro Shop Pro Tips 

Lady Luck

In the last year, Tony Chavez, Head Golf Professional at Mountain Vista Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif., has seen a 15 percent increase in apparel sales in his pro shop. Of that number, the most significant change was in ladies’ apparel, he says. He attributes the increases to educating himself on what women want.

“My main source of information has come from conferences, my own experience at the club and just going to the mall to see how big-time retailers do it,” he says.

After attending a seminar conducted at the PGA Fall Expo in 2002, Chavez changed his strategy on buying and displaying clothes when one speaker suggested that women would have the most buying power in the future—a trend he’s seen at his club.

“Ladies have the checkbook,” he says. “Most of the ladies [here] are baby boomers who had a career, they have money saved through retirement plans, and now they have an income and time to buy things for themselves and their husbands.”

To attract more women to his pro shop, Chavez dusted off the racks of women’s clothing and brought them to the front of the store. In addition, he began buying fashion collections, instead of a smattering of separates.
“We had comments here at our club that ladies’ apparel was always in a corner and not purchased in a fashion group,” says Chavez. “That was not very appealing—for me, either.”

Tony Chavez, Head Golf Professional, Mountain Vista Golf Course

Mixing It Up
Creating the right mer-chandising mix is one of the biggest challenges for most pro shops.

“The business is so hard,” says Courtney McDonough, Merchandising Manager at Wayzata (Minn.) Country Club. “I buy tight collections, especially for women, and I just keep trying to [sell] it. It makes it harder because either you have a size 2 or a size 14. We can’t do the size run we used to.”

In the vast majority of pro shops around the country, the average spending per round by gender skews higher to men than women. That makes managers a bit wary about investing in a large selection of ladies’ apparel, notes John Stutz, Head Golf Professional at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind.

“Because there are more rounds for the guys than the girls, some places don’t go as in-depth for women,” Stutz explains. “But one of our co-owners is a lady, and she has always been frustrated with other shops that don’t have a selection. We made somewhat of a commitment to make that available. It’s our feature.”

Purgatory’s pro shop offers ladies’ apparel in a variety of colors and sizes, including plus sizes. “The ladies get catered to,” Stutz says. “A lot of public courses don’t go to the trouble.”

The award-winning course (ranked as one of the top 100 public courses by Golf Digest) was designed with women in mind, too—from its well-manicured forward tee boxes to the restrooms spaced every 2 or 3 holes on the course.

The female-friendly environment creates opportunities to drive traffic into the pro shop.
“We do stuff to promote the game to women,” Stutz says. “When the weather gets colder, we also play nine holes of indoor golf games—Frisbee golf or ‘Tic Tac Putt.’ At each station, the ladies have an opportunity to earn dollars in the pro shop.”

Merchandise Buyer Beth Ann Riecke led a session about merchandising to women at last year’s PGA Fall Expo in Las Vegas.

Let’s Make a Deal
One thing women like more than earning money is spending it—especially if there is a sale. Purgatory Golf Club offers a new discount, special or promotion every week. The pro shop at Wayzata Country Club schedules two large sales each year, timed to coincide with major ladies’ events in the summer.

“[Women] love the benefit of the sale,” says McDonough. “We have come to look forward to it, because there are lots of guests.”

On top of regular store promotions, Mountain Vista now offers 10 percent discounts to its members on their birthdays. The club’s point-of-sale software has made it easy to offer this benefit.

“If you’re a member and the screen says your birthday is coming up, I’ve empowered the staff to offer the discount on their next purchase,” says Chavez. “I have not met a lady who has refused that.”

Try Before You Buy
In-store transactions aren’t the only way to promote and sell apparel and soft goods. Trunk shows have their benefts, too—not only for customers to preview new products, but also for pro shops to gauge interest in a particular line of clothing, accessories or shoes, says Beth Ann Riecke, a merchandise buyer for pro shops.

And, Riecke adds, when the pro shop takes advantage of a vendor’s buyback program, the risk of being unable to sell the merchandise is reduced significantly.

For example, if a pro shop commits to buying 36 pairs of shoes from a vendor that agrees to buy back 18 unsold pairs at the end of the season, the shop can often get enough orders at a trunk show to cover the first half. “If you get 18 orders on a member/guest day or ladies’ opening luncheon, you only have to buy 18 other pair,” Reicke says. “And you can sell back the 18 you ordered if you don’t sell another pair the whole year.”

For Chavez, trunk and fashion shows are a necessity due to the lack of space at Mountain Vista, which only has 700 square feet of retailing area. “Our golf shop is very small,” he says. “We sometimes have to sell outside the pro shop.”
Wayzata Country Club takes the trunk show concept to a whole new level when the pro shop takes over the club’s ballroom once a year. “We have five other vendors besides me set up, have cooking classes with hors d’ouevres, and a wine tasting,” says McDonough. “It’s good for sales, but better for the PR. That’s what this business is all about. We’re here just for the service.”

 See related stories:

Pro Shop Pro Tips

MORE Pro Shop Pro Tips 

Here are some additional tips that we couldn’t fit in the pages of the magazine:

Develop Vendor Relations. Developing a relationship with the vendor is key to getting what you want and need for your pro shop, says Beth Ann Riecke, a merchandise buyer for pro shops. “Often they will go above and beyond for you.” However, she cautions, “Don’t rely on the reps to write your order. That’s a big mistake. They are going to order what everyone else likes, but they don’t know your customer.”

Get Many Happy Returns. Take advantage of a vendor’s return program so you can return merchandise that hasn’t sold at the end of the season. “If you get stuck with bottoms, you can pack them up and get them out of there,” Riecke says. Even if vendors don’t offer a return program, you should ask for one. “If you don’t ask, you will not receive,” she adds.

Break up with Your Vendor if Things Aren’t Working Out. If a line is underperforming, it’s important to do what’s best for the pro shop. “You have to be able to make the decision when something is not right,” says Fabian McIntyre, Head Professional at Falcon’s Fire Golf Club in Kissimmee, Fla. “You may feel like you’re hurting someone’s feelings, but if the line isn’t right, I don’t buy it. I look at the importance of the sell-through of a product.” Tony Chavez, Head Golf Professional at Mountain Vista Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif., not only tracks sales, he keeps tabs on the vendors themselves. “I did a scorecard for all the vendors that I had, and rated them—both the line and the vendor,” says Chavez. “That way I could evaluate who I should keep for the following year.”

Change Displays Frequently. “We try to make sure that everything gets a shot at being in the high-traffic area—the path from the front door to the counter where people are going to check in and pay their fees,” says John Stutz, Head Golf Professional at Purgatory Golf Club in Noblesville, Ind. That means rotating merchandise seasonally, but preferably more often. “We rotate the floorplan every seven to 10 days,” says Chavez.

Rack up the Sales. “People like to get a deal,” says Cathy McVean, Area Retail Manager for Troon Golf, who is based at the Whirlwind Golf Club in Chandler, Ariz. “We keep a sales rack all year long and we keep feeding it.”

Keep Someone On the Floor at All Times. If a shopper can’t find something, he or she will “give up if they don’t know if you have extra sizes or other products,” says McVean. “Having people on the floor full time really helps.”

Go Beyond Golf. If a male golfer wants to buy something for his wife, McVean’s first question is, “Is she a golfer?” More often than not, she isn’t. To cater to the non-golf crowd, Whirlwind Golf Club stocks jewelry, Native American pottery, books and stuffed animals for kids. The latter is nice for “grandparents that don’t know their grandchildren’s sizes.” Furthermore, complimentary gift wrap during the holiday season is a “huge hit with the men. We wrap it and they can put it right under the tree.”

Sock it To’ Em. Despite often being overlooked, accessories bring a display to life, not to mention boost profit margins, says Riecke. “Selling the shorts pays your bills,” says Riecke. “But when you sell the socks, belts, shoes or gloves, that’s your profit. If you can talk someone into the socks, you’ve increased your sales by 12 percent.”

Get Steamed. Some pro shops recommend using a steamer to keep apparel free of wrinkles. “We spend a lot of time steaming the merchandise so that it looks nice when it’s hanging on the racks,” says Stutz.

Distinguish Yourself from the Competition. Customers won’t necessarily find clothes made with high-tech fabrics at the department store, says Stutz. “It’s something different they don’t get just anywhere and it gives us uniqueness,” he says. “There’s more urgency to buy, so they get it here.”

Brighten Up Small Spaces. Lighting is a great way to make a pro shop appear larger than it is. “Our golf shop is very small, so we decorate accordingly,” says Chavez about his 700-sq.-ft. retail space. “We changed the lighting to illuminate the areas better.”

Get to Know Your Customer. “We try to take care of our customers and see that they are happy and satisfied,” says Stutz. “A lot of the job is knowing everyone’s wants and needs when they walk in the door.” Courtney McDonough, the Merchandising Manager for Wayzata, (Minn.) Country Club adds, “We’re very attentive and supportive, but there’s no pressure. I call people when something comes in that I know they’ll like. That’ll bring them in when they might not have otherwise.”

Never Say No. “We rely a lot on good customer service, and we’ve had success with the ability to place special orders,” says Chavez. “If something is not available, we’ll make a trip down the street to see if another retail store has it. If we can’t get it, we make other suggestions.” When you do go the extra mile for customers, they will take notice. “Loyal customers will not go elsewhere, and they will sell for you,” says Riecke.

Hire a merchandising buyer. “From a golf professional’s standpoint, we do a lot of different things, so it’s hard to focus on one area,” says Stutz. He hired a merchandising consultant to help him with the buying and merchandising in his pro shop. “She knows the ins and outs with the vendors,” he says. “She has more time to devote to that specific aspect.” Take advantage of merchandising managers to develop promotions, buy the right merchandise, work with the vendors’ sales representatives and write the orders.

See related stories:

Pro Shop Pro Tips

Lady Luck