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Many golf ranges with extra real estate have discovered short-game practice areas are a good investment—offering them an edge over competing facilities, more diverse teaching resources for their instructors and, in some cases, potential for increased revenue. Golfers can walk away from such ranges better prepared for the golf course, and they’ll come back more often because they can practice every skill they need from tee box to cup.
The majority of golf ranges today feature some type of short-game practice area, where golfers can hone their pitching, chipping and putting skills. According to a recent survey by Golf 20/20, 75 percent of ranges surveyed offer putting greens, 69 percent feature chipping practice areas and 58 percent have practice bunkers. A short-game area at your range will provide a tremendous benefit to the instruction side of your business—whether you’re a range owner who teaches, or if instruction is an important element of your business model.
“A short-game practice area is great for the teaching aspects at a range,” says Brad Bachand, director of instruction and part owner of Man O’ War Golf in Lexington, Ky. “If you ask most golfers about their short game, they’ll usually say it’s pretty good, but when you ask about their scores, you know [the short game] is where they need work.” Bachand says ranges that offer short-game practice provide instructors with everything they need to teach the game.
If you’re deciding whether to add a short-game area at your facility, you might want to ask yourself these questions:
1) Should I install a putting green, a chipping practice area, a practice bunker or all three? 2) Should I charge customers for short-game practice, or include chipping, putting and sand shots in the price of a bucket of balls? 3) Do my competitors offer short-game practice areas?
Don’t forget the costs, either. Short-game areas can cost as much as $50,000 to install. You’ll want to make your short-game area a profitable venture, but depending on whether you charge customers for short-game practice, your return on investment might not appear on the bottom line.
“I still would not say it’s a revenue producer,” Bachand said of his facility’s short-game practice offering, “but it’s a big attraction for the membership here. None of our competitors offer [short-game practice]. What we offer is what makes us one of the top ranges in the country.”
Bachand’s approach at Man O’ War Golf is to offer choices to fit almost any budget. Man O’ War has two short-game practice areas—one exclusively for members and instructors, and one for the public. The two practice greens are similar. Both offer pitching and chipping practice from up to 30 yards away, and both have several bunkers for practicing sand shots. The third practice area for short shots is a 5,800-square-foot putting green that’s available to any customer free of charge.
Membership at Man O’ War Golf ranges from $100 a month to $1,150 for annual individual privileges. (There’s also a $1,800 family option.) Privileges include unlimited balls, access to the members-only practice area, plus lots of other benefits. Customers who want to practice on the public short-game green simply must purchase an extra-large bucket of balls.
Exclusive membership at public facilities like Man O’ War Golf might seem like a contradiction, but the concept is increasingly popular. Range operators say most serious golfers know they are going to spend a certain amount of time at the range anyway. Fees help offset construction and maintenance costs for short-game practice areas and other services. Plus, offering membership options helps ensure golf ranges will attract a wide variety of customers—from people who hit occasionally on a family outing to lifelong golfers who are out there hitting range balls every day.
Most golf instructors will tell you that students who concentrate on accuracy in the last 50 yards to the hole are the ones most likely to improve their scores, and no golfer will deny the importance of those numbers on the scorecard. Investment in a short-game practice area at your range might be one of the best ways to keep your customers from giving up and selling their clubs at a yard sale.
Marshall Norton Jr. contributed to this story.
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