Source: Dallas Morning News
Eastern Hills Country Club in Garland calls itself "one of the area's best kept secrets." Grand Prairie Country Club says it's "the hidden jewel of North Texas." Oakridge Country Club is "North Dallas' best kept secret!"
That's the way golfing purists want to keep the clubs -- secrets shared only within.
But lower-end country clubs are opening their iron gates of exclusivity to survive in a saturated golf market, club executives and analysts say.
Golf courses continue to pop up faster than new golfers, purging backed-up tee times and membership waiting lists. Once opposed to publicity, clubs increasingly advertise to boost dwindling membership levels.
"The old-school approach of a country club was the members recruited others," said Eastern Hills manager Brad McCollum.
"There was no marketing, no advertising. The marketplace has gotten so diverse, so competitive, so many different country clubs that are affordable. So country clubs have decided, 'Hey, we need to market ourselves and set ourselves apart.'"
Elite clubs -- such as the Dallas Country Club, Dallas National, Preston Trail and Brookhollow -- are unaffected and maintain their status. But other clubs now advertise on door hangers, postcards, billboards and even grocery carts at Tom Thumb. One joined with BMW to advertise on ESPN. Another offers a free one-day trial.
The national trend, mirrored in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, worries traditionalists that the value of a club membership is diminishing."What's a club if you're advertising memberships? It wouldn't be the Corvette club if you can have a Pinto," said Ted Keyser, general manager of Timarron Country Club in Southlake, which does not advertise. "A club is something with like interests and lifetime friendships. You can't get that through advertising."
Market factors
Three factors drive the marketing jump, according to the National Golf Foundation and golf industry analyst Kevin Reilly:
The slowed economy after Sept. 11 reduced spending on luxuries. Coupled with that, Americans are working more and have less free time. And it wasn't just individuals. Businesses cut down on entertainment budgets, meaning fewer corporate golf outings, charity tournaments and events.
Developers built golf courses at a much faster rate than the number of golfers grew since 1990. From 1985 to 1990, 1,045 courses opened for 5.5 million new golfers, according to the National Golf Foundation.
From 1990 to 2003, 3,649 courses opened with only 4.4 million new golfers. About one-third of the Dallas-Fort Worth area's 207 golf facilities opened in 1990 or later. Since 2000, 19 public courses and four clubs opened. More are planned.
A surge of high-level, well-maintained public courses relieved chronically crowded fairways, giving clubs new competition. And some offer memberships at lower rates, enticing golfers who don't want a coat-and-tie restaurant and a Christmas party.
"The number of new golfers coming into the game doesn't even begin to come close to the number of new golf courses coming on line," said James Schelin, manager of the Trails of Frisco Golf Course.
Elite clubs immune
Most of the area's 63 private clubs took a hit in 2001. Some clubs lost members. Others lost some weight on the waiting lists.
New suburban clubs opened as public courses. They hoped to attract enough commitments to eventually privatize, but few have.
The elite country clubs are immune. Some do not even register in the Yellow Pages, which is free for a single, basic listing to companies with a phone line. Some don't have Web pages, either.
"Advertising? That's not something private clubs do," said John Finley, general manager of Prestonwood Country Club in Dallas. "I'd be leery of doing any of that."
Those clubs subscribe to the traditional approach: Members invite friends, who then sit on a waiting list. Initiation fees can run as high as $125,000.
Second-tier clubs, with initiation fees from $5,000 to $10,000, offered more perks and froze initiation fees after several annual increases. Several chains offer packages for golfers to play at courses across the country.
ClubCorp, a chain that operates 14 clubs in the area and 200 worldwide, experimented with advertising alliances with luxury brand names, including Rolex and Lexus. But those didn't last.
"Members don't necessarily like to see their club being advertised all over the place," said Frank Gore, executive vice president of ClubCorp. "They like the approach by invitation. When people join a club, they join for several reasons, and image is a part of that."
The Trails of Frisco opened in 2000 with a goal of drawing 400 members. Four years later, with only 165 members, the course remains open to the public. Even so, the club continues to avoid marketing and retains a $2,500 initiation fee.
"You would worry about it a little bit, but at some point in time it comes down to the business of it all," Mr. Schelin said. "In order to run a private club, you have to bring in members."
Lower-end clubs attract a more diverse clientele and the less- wealthy, rendering them more vulnerable to economic changes. The clubs' reaction to tougher economic times further separated them from the elite.
Many slashed once-lofty initiation fees to a few hundred dollars. Some dropped to zero. When that wasn't enough, they advertised.
Eastern Hills advertises on 250 grocery carts -- half the fleet - - in a local Tom Thumb. The club has held two open houses this year and plans another next month.
Grand Prairie Country Club dropped off 15,000 door hangers -- twice -- at nearby homes.
Clubs caught up quickly on the latest marketing tactics. General managers learned that consumers jump at deadlines: "Zero initiation fee! Act now! Offer ends May 31!"
Garland banker Rob Howard thought about joining Eastern Hills Country Club for two years; when he saw that deal advertised in the newspaper, he took the bait.
"We've been looking at it for a couple of years, and it finally came up," Mr. Howard said. "No initiation fee made us jump right away."
What Mr. Howard did not know is that Eastern Hills erased its $1,500 initiation fee back in January 2003 and renews the deal every month.
Eastern Hills' Mr. McCollum, who has a marketing degree, added: "If you make it too broad of appeal, they'll say, 'Aw, it's kind of neat, I'll think about it two months from now.' If you put 30-day deadline on it, they'll at least make a phone call."
Eastern Hills, celebrating its 50th anniversary this summer, boasted a full membership of about 525 in 1993. Membership slowly eroded until it plummeted to about 400 in 2002 before rebounding this summer to 450.
Hackberry Creek Country Club in Irving offers a unique deal -- a membership for one day -- to nearby residents. Everything from food to golf is free.
"It's just like test-driving a car," said manager Bob Sykora. "You don't tell people to come out to the Chevy dealership to test- drive a Chevy and charge $15 for gas."
Hackberry, built in 1986, hopes to return its membership to capacity, from 490 to 535.
Country clubs capitalize on an air of exclusiveness. Open houses, grocery carts, billboards and door hangers diminish that image, some golf experts said.
"If you're in an area where there's tacky advertising, that will hurt every club's image in the area," Mr. Reilly said.
Trey Hansen, general manager of Gentle Creek Golf Club in Prosper, said: "People want to peek over the fence and see what's on the other side. The more exclusive you are, the more marketable you. If every Tom, Dick and Harry can come, it kind of sours the air."
Clubs last struggled in the late '80s, before dozens of public courses opened but after a wave of private clubs opened. Clubs lowered rates but didn't tell anyone except those who inquired, Mr. Finley said.
Then came a new generation of clubhouse general managers. What was once a job for golfers who dabbled in business became a job for people with business degrees who enjoyed golf.
When the economy fizzled again in 2001, business-minded managers didn't shy away from plugging the bottom line.
Several managers said a few members complained, but most reluctantly accept the publicity.
"It keeps the door open," said Garland resident Mike O'Brien, a 12-year member of Eastern Hills. "The doors close and they sell the club -- that's the alternative."
Club managers reported early results show that advertising pays off. Membership levels are slowly climbing but still fluctuate. But spending on marketing eats away at already-shallow budgets and freezes improvement projects, such as expansions and new paint and carpet. Clubs are absorbing losses, waiting for membership to swell and profits to return.
"Everyone is spending less money here and there, but what most of us are sacrificing is profitability," said Mike Akeroyd, who oversees Texas clubs for American Golf Corp. "We're betting on the future of these clubs, that they will make money in the future."