|
Business meetings tee up profits for Virginia courses
by
Arthur Utley
Virginia Business
March
2005
A
group of Hanover County school principals recently gathered
at Central Virginia's newest golf course, but a round
of 18 holes wasn't on their agenda. "They're coming
back for that," says Chris Ferris, general manager
at Mattaponi Springs Golf Club at Ruther Glen in Caroline
County.
While
the golf was on hold, the principals were among the
first to use the meeting facilities at Mattaponi Springs,
which opened in November after six years of meticulous
planning and construction by owner and builder Jim Oliff.
With its lodge, restaurant and conference center, the
golf club can handle groups of up to 250 people.
Recruiting business meetings and outings is a way for
golf courses to tee up profits, and courses around Virginia
continue to add amenities to appeal to this market.
"It is one of the spokes we're pushing," Ferris
says. "You can get off campus and mix business
and pleasure."
Mattaponi Springs joins a long list of business-friendly
golf courses in Virginia. More than 340 private and
public courses are available across the 500-mile breadth
of the Old Dominion. The courses are as diverse as the
state's geography. As a result, there is a golf course
with the right style and price tag for almost everyone.
The arrival of warmer and longer days signals the return
of corporate and charity golf outings. Corporate-, charity-
and association-based golf provides "our single
largest customer base," says Jason Paul, general
manager of Westfields Golf Club in Clifton. "A
relatively large amount of attention is geared to that
segment, and 70 percent of our outings are repeat business."
Westfields features a Fred Couples/Gene Bates signature
course that opened to rave reviews in 1998. The course
is open to the public and it has a small membership.
However, its association with the Westfields Marriott
hotel makes it a prime spot for a one-day outing or
tee times for someone attending a conference in Northern
Virginia.
A combination of location and service is the drawing
card at Westfields. "There aren't many public facilities
this close to the beltway," Paul says, "and
the focus is on customer service because it's Marriott
managed."
The outing season for most golf courses is April to
October. Outings are held every month at Westfields,
but the highest numbers occur May through June and September
through October. "Corporate business is the most
lucrative segment of our business," Paul says.
"They tend to spend a little more in the golf shop
and in the restaurants."
Westfields plays host to a number of Washington Redskins
charity events. In addition, the Congressional Black
Caucus has held outings there, as have companies such
as Washington Technologies and National Geographic.
Business-friendly courses walk a fine line of meeting
the needs of the corporate or charity client and the
demands of their regular clientele whether it be daily
fee players or private club members. Outings scheduled
in the morning leave the course open for afternoon play,
and vice versa. "We will always try to strike a
balance [between outings and daily play]," Ferris
says. "We project having 30 to 40 outings a year.
We are seeking the business, but we aren't driving for
it."
Westfields limits its corporate outings to Monday through
Thursday. Other resorts and public courses have similar
limitations. Private clubs often hold outings on Mondays
because that is the day the club usually is closed.
Public and private courses are more likely to be the
sites for one-day outings. Resorts are usually the choice
for corporate or association meetings. "All resorts
are business friendly and try to accommodate you,"
says Anita Nelson, manager of Covington Meeting Management
in Richmond. "They are easy to work with planning
tournaments or group play."
For incentive travel (meeting a sales goal, etc.) more
than for regular meetings, "a recognizable course,
whether it's a destination or the course, is an important
factor," Nelson says. "If everything is comparable,
a resort with a recognizable course will have the edge."
Virginia resorts have some of the most recognizable
courses in the country. In its annual Middle Atlantic
Source Book, Washington Golf Monthly lists 17 resorts
in Virginia. They cover the spectrum from affordable
to expensive. "For every resort, group business
is an important component," says Wayne Nooe, vice
president for golf and club operations for Kingsmill
Resort & Spa in Williamsburg. "When our salespeople
go out, they know groups are looking at other sites.
You try to separate yourself with the services you provide.
A business group is looking for ease at getting out
of the meeting and onto the golf course. The services
a golf staff provides that facilitate that is the No.
1 factor."
The River Course at Kingsmill played host to a PGA Tour
tournament for 22 years and now is the site of one of
the richest tournaments on the LPGA Tour, the $2.2 million
Michelob ULTRA Open. The resort has two other 18-hole
courses and a nine-hole par-3 layout. "Larger groups
will ask about playing a specific course. For other
groups, the course isn't that [important]," Nooe
says. "Some groups want to play the River Course,
and they will adjust their schedule to do so."
The venerable Homestead in Hot Springs has three 18-hole
courses, including the Cascades, a layout that is a
fixture on numerous lists of the top 100 courses in
the United States and is rated No. 1 in Virginia. The
U.S. Golf Association has conducted seven tournaments
there.
Ford's Colony in Williamsburg has 54 holes. Colonial
Williamsburg's Golden Horseshoe Golf Club's Gold and
Green courses have been the sites for three USGA events.
Wintergreen offers the golf course with the highest
elevation in the Old Dominion, Devils Knob, and 27 holes
at Stoney Creek in the valley below. If the weather's
right, you can attend a meeting, play golf at Stoney
Creek and ski all in the same day.
The Tides Inn in Irvington, the Boar's Head Inn in Charlottesville
and Lansdowne in Leesburg have meeting facilities, excellent
accommodations and golf courses — the Golden Eagle,
the Birdwood and the soon-to-be 36 holes at Lansdowne
— that are among the most challenging in the state.
Golf schools are among the amenities at the The Homestead,
Kingsmill and Wintergreen. Kingsmill's school offers
women-only programs for corporate and social interest.
"We have seen quite a bit of growth in that area,"
Nooe says.
The multitude of amenities offered by resorts makes
them great sites for conferences and large meetings,
but daily-fee and private courses are the backbone of
the one-day outings.
Word of mouth about Mattaponi Springs has spread rapidly.
From its grand opening on Nov. 1 until mid-January's
chill and snow, the course did 1,750 rounds. "It's
new. It's challenging. And [players] aren't packed in
like sardines. Players are getting around in 3:55 to
4:10 on a regular basis," Ferris says.
The 18-hole track is the first East Coast design by
Illinois-based Bob Lohmann. Mattaponi Springs opened
when owner Oliff was ready for it to open. Everything
was complete: clubhouse, restaurant, practice range,
lodge and conference center. The bent grass greens and
sodded zoysia fairways (zoysia makes a great playing
surface but is a difficult grass to establish) were
given plenty of time to grow. The course has the look
and feel of having been there for a while.
Elevation changes on the property create dramatic downhill
(starting with the first tee shot and concluding with
the second shot on No. 18) and heroic uphill shots.
A rock-lined lake comes into play on the 13th, 16th
and 17th holes. The fairways are generous. Out of bounds
stakes and houses do not exist here.
Five sets of tee markers give players the opportunity
to match yardage with their skill levels. And there
certainly are multiple skill levels on display in business
and charity outings. The course stretches to 6,937 yards
for the low handicappers and is 4,881 yards from the
forward tees.
Players' fees range from $55 to $90 depending on the
day of the week and time of year. Carts, practice balls
and a player amenities package are included.
Meanwhile, golfers can take a technological step forward
through an initiative spearheaded by the Virginia Golf
Network. Through the network's distribution channels,
Virginia courses have the opportunity to sell their
tee times on a corporate network of sites including
Lockheed Martin, the U.S. Department of Defense and
Nike Worldwide. The Virginia Tourism Corp. has endorsed
the pilot program that aims to help Virginia become
the first state in the United States to offer online
booking for every golf course.
Return to Virginia Business - March 2005 |
