CLUBHOUSE NOTES
Putting Courses Help Spur Interest in Golf GOLF IS A TOUGH game on multiple levels. Learning the various skills takes time and patience, as does the act of navigating a course. It sometimes can feel like there is a secret code to master in order to play golf. In a past column, I discussed how clubs and businesses are providing more entry points to the game. Clubs are offering short courses with 6-hole or 12-hole layouts. Entities such as Topgolf and BigShots Golf have made the driving range experience much more fun with an entertaining atmosphere that offers games, music, food and drinks. These endeavors give golf novices a way to try out the game in a more welcoming and less intimidating environment. During the past year of working at Club+Resort Business, I often read about clubs and resorts building a multi-hole putting course as part of an upgrade project. The subject of this month’s cover story, Black Butte Ranch in central Oregon, has a 12-hole putting course that was opened in 2020. Shawn McCance, the ranch’s CEO, told me the course gives newcomers a chance to try out an important component of the game. He adds his daughter enjoyed some success on the putting course and now wants to give golf a try. Kim Kohn, the ranch’s Director of Sales and Marketing, adds, “It’s challenging…you won’t find any windmills on [the course], but you will enjoy 12 holes of great, great putting.”
To amplify Kohn’s point, this is not miniature golf. Rather, participants are putting on the same type of surface with the slopes that they would find on Big Meadow and Glaze Meadow, the two 18hole championship golf courses at Black Butte Ranch. I believe—and I think many golfers would agree—that mastering the putting stroke is the toughest aspect of the game and the most important. You can hit beautiful shots on the course, but a solid putting stroke is essential to scoring well. Putting courses, therefore, offer a fun way for beginners to start learning what I would argue is golf’s most essential skill. I’ve seen multiple examples of country clubs and resorts installing putting courses as part of their golf offerings. In addition to Black Butte Ranch, Saint John’s Resort in Plymouth, Mich. will open a new championship golf course in spring 2024 and one of the features will be a 2-acre putting course. Streamsong Golf Resort in Bowling Green, Fla. will offer a 2-acre putting course along with the short course it is constructing. Even though putting is a very important skill, I think it’s safe to say that many
people don’t enjoy practicing it. A good number of people would prefer teeing it up on the driving range and seeing how far they can hit the ball with a driver or 3-wood. I love the concept of a putting course because it offers a setting where both practice and competition can occur. I think having an element of competition will make golfers more engaged in the activity and thus more likely to continue doing it. The connection for clubs and resorts is clear. By offering this entry point to the game, more members and guests will be interested in trying out golf. I would love to hear from club and resort leaders who added a putting course to their facility. Did the course attract golfing newcomers and did some of that interest translate into increased participation on the golf course and/or a rise in membership? Let me know what your experiences have been. Some responses may be included in a column in a future edition. Feel free to drop me a line at pkeren@wtwhmedia.com.
Phil Keren • Senior Editor
pkeren@wtwhmedia.com
8 l Club + Resort Business l July 2023
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