Golf Courses Putt Ahead

Golfers are slowly making their way back to the green as some local golf courses offer incentives to drive business and the economy begins to recover. A few golf courses in the greater San Fernando Valley region say they are starting to make a comeback after taking a hard hit during the economic downturn, when individuals and companies trimmed back their budgets and cut expensive luxuries such as golf club memberships and corporate golfing events. As budgets loosen up, these area courses say are noticing an uptick in business. “Business has been going extremely well,” said Michael Gibralter, membership director at Valencia Country Club. “We have been consistently hitting our budget and bringing in new members since February of this year, when the rain stopped.” He is expecting the club to gain 35 to 40 new members this year, compared to 25 new members last year. And that’s without dropping its initiation fees, he said. It’s difficult to quantify how many people use the game for business, because no one tracks rounds played with the intent of doing business in one form or another. But golf courses historically have been a place where businesspeople could build relationships with a client or close a deal, and anecdotal evidence suggests they still are. Property manager and real estate agent Michael Bjorkman said he plays golf at Valencia Country Club three to five times a week, and half of the time he’s with a client. “When you bond with prospective and current clients, you create relationships that you normally couldn’t do over just a quick meeting or an e-mail,” said Bjorkman, who has been a member for three years. “Without a doubt, it’s paid for itself over and over.” Gibralter said Valencia Country Club is seeing some increase in use of the club for business-related gatherings, though the number of business rounds appears to be steady compared to last year. The club, however, has offered some new incentives for golfers in recent years to lure in more business. In late 2009, for example, the club started allowing members to pay their initiation fees interest-free over a three-year span. Last year, the club partnered with The Paseo Club, a private tennis, fitness and swim club in the area, to provide perks for new and existing members at the golf course, Gibralter said. Ron Sablowski, membership director for the Antelope Valley Country Club in Palmdale, said the club started giving members discounts for recruiting other golfers in an effort to increase its membership, which dropped by at least 25 percent in recent years. Any member that gets someone else to sign up receives a $50 discount on his or her monthly bill for up to a year, he said. “We’re just trying to get more members in,” Sablowski said, adding that he’s hoping golf memberships will increase by at least 10 percent this year. Business upswing Golf courses in certain Southern California metropolitan regions are showing some signs of improvement, said Tom Addis of the Southern California PGA. The greater Los Angeles area is one of the better-performing regions, he said. “There seems to be a trend to a little bit of an upswing, especially the golf courses and the staffs who are putting programs out there that draw people in,” Addis said. The Los Angeles area might be doing better, because people are staying closer to home to play, as opposed to traveling. The region also is highly populated, creating more opportunities for attracting members as the economy improves, he said. Oakmont Country Club in Glendale also is wooing more golfers and private party banquet bookings, said Mike Hyler, the club’s general manager. In addition, the club has noticed its members are bringing guests to the facility more often, he said. The golf course does not keep track of how many of its members golf for business purposes, but Hyler said the majority are businesspeople. He attributes the 10-percent uptick in business he’s seen this year to broader economic changes. “The economy seems to be improving just a little,” Hyler said. “People are tired of the Spartan lifestyle.” While some golf courses are making strides, Addis said he doesn’t know if the golf industry as a whole will ever fully recover. Nationwide, the number of rounds of golf played dipped 2 percent at private golf courses between January and June of this year, compared to the same period last year, Addis said, citing PGA of America data. At public courses, the number of rounds slipped 6 percent. “The golf industry has to work very, very hard to make sure that people are aware that they have places to play,” he said. “Once people understand that, and the facilities work hard to promote golf through family days and through forward programs … I think you will see golfers coming back.”