Industry News

Driving the business at public course ranges

TurfHound Inc. continues to grow the game, one practice shot at a time

As more and more golfers have been playing on the course over the past two years, there has emerged a considerable demand for golfers to hit more balls on the ranges at all types of golf facilities -- private, public, municipal and military courses.

Brian Golden, the Senior Vice President of Sales & Marketing at TurfHound Inc., the pioneer and leader in premium dynamic synthetic golf tee systems, has pushed to increase the number of public/municipal/military courses and standalone ranges that are now utilizing the company's exclusive dual-density foam technology on their ranges.

Golden reports that TurfHound has experienced a 376-percent growth among those types of facilities from 2019 through the end of 2021.

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"We're coming off our best year ever, and the acceptance of our product at public, municipal and military courses is a big reason why," says Golden, whose four-decade career in the golf business included his time overseeing the game-changing launch of Softspikes, Inc. "TurfHound tee systems are the best products out there to help golfers experience the feel of hitting off real turf, and they're a great return on investment for those facilities that are using creative ways to get more golfers to their ranges."

The list of the more than 100 public/municipal/military courses that are benefitting from TurfHound tee systems includes North Palm Beach (Florida) Country Club, an 18-hole municipal course designed by local resident Jack Nicklaus. The large, lighted range that runs adjacent to U.S. 1 has extended hours and is seemingly always busy, made even more so since North Palm Beach C.C. installed TurfHound tee systems. All 17 of the hitting stations feature TurfHound systems, with a minimum of 200 buckets of balls sold daily.

"Our range is a gathering spot for golfers of all levels in North Palm Beach County," says PGA Director of Golf Allan Bowman. "We have a very limited amount of grass, and after substantial research, I chose TurfHound because of the quality and durability of their product. The decision has paid off handsomely as we have had tour players, public and members visit the range to practice. The feedback has been extremely positive, and we could not be happier with the decision to employ TurfHound."

The Preserve at Eisenhower Golf Course is an 18-hole public facility in Crownsville, Maryland, that was redesigned by Andrew Green, whose renovation of the famous Blue Course at Congressional Country Club is drawing rave reviews. The Preserve at Eisenhower golf course opened last May after a two-year overhaul, and PGA Director of Golf Ed Ruiz says the facility also upgraded its practice facility last spring and installed TurfHound Tee systems in all 18 hitting stations.

"We went from a 230-yard, limited-flight range to a full-length, 280-yard practice facility with four target greens scattered on the range and precise yardages from each hitting station," says Ruiz. "We've made a major commitment to try to grow the number of players we have at Eisenhower by getting more people on the range. The TurfHound systems are maintenance-free, they're soft to hit off, and their durability has been great for our business. We haven't had to rotate any of the panels, and they provide a clean and continuous look. The people love them -- we haven't had a single complaint -- and our range did extremely well in 2021."

Ruiz's further comments about spaces built into the TurfHound tee systems that allow golfers to insert their own tees on the range are echoed by Bruce Mohler, PGA General Manager at Jacksonville Beach Golf Club, a popular, 18-hole public facility that has incorporated TurfHound tee systems into all 33 of its hitting stations since last summer.

Mohler says he went to several local ranges that had new tee lines and, "inevitably, I always either saw people teeing it up in the grass in front of the tee line or I saw divots where people would have hit from."

"That proprietary tee slit in their product is second to none. Nothing is easier to tee up than the TurfHound product. It makes it so easy for people to tee up the ball that we have zero issues with our players who may want to move forward into the grass. That was always a constant fight and one that is now non-existent."

In St. Louis, PGA Professional Adam Betz continues to transform the player-friendly experience at the Family Golf and Learning Center (FGLC), which he purchased in March 2018. A former mini-tour player, Betz discovered his passion for teaching while serving as director of instruction at nearby Meadowbrook Country Club, where he said club members loved hitting off TurfHound tee systems.

Therefore, one of his first decisions at FGLC was to install TurfHound tee systems in all 60 of the facility's hitting stations, half of which are covered and heated.

Last year, Betz says, some eight million golf balls were struck at the Family Golf and Learning Center, where Betz and his staff gave just shy of 8,000 individual private lessons.

"TurfHound really helps set us apart," says Betz. "They feel like you're really hitting off actual turf, they're incredibly durable and they don't soak up any water. We have avid golfers, university teams and high school teams, and those just starting the game. We're trying to show off golf in different ways and break down all the deterrents to the game. The feedback we get from the broad range of our customers is incredible. It's an investment in our business that has helped make us the biggest public range operation in the Midwest."

Golden says he constantly hears from public course officials about the tales of woe of worn-down, hardened mats, that have since been transformed to the stories of excellent conditions, with well-struck golf shots off of the durable, performance-driven TurfHound tee systems.

"I know of some public, municipal and military facilities where people would call and ask if they were using mats on a particular day," Golden says. "If so, those people simply would not go out. Since those facilities switched to TurfHound tee systems, they tell me how much their players love the feel of hitting balls off  them. That's been huge for their overall business."

For more information, visit TurfHound.com, follow TurfHound on Instagram and Twitter, and call Brian Golden at 301-529-7825.


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