Since founding Bobby Jones Links 25 years ago, Steve Willy and Whitney Crouse have learned plenty about both the golf industry and the business of managing golf properties. In retrospect, the pair originally entered the business relatively innocently. “We just jumped in with a few clubs and felt our way,” says Willy. “Over the years, we learned what we needed to do, solving the problems our clients presented us, and added the systems, resources, and expertise to deliver solutions.”
Willy is a PGA member with more than 30 years of experience, having managed a diverse array of private, semi-private, daily fee, and resort properties in the roles of general manager and regional manager of multiple clubs. Similarly, Crouse, who applies his expertise as BJL's chief strategist, data researcher, key relationships manager, and idea generator, has spent more than three decades developing, building, and managing golf properties. He has written for Golf Digest, published two golf books, and currently serves as a board member of the National Golf Course Owners Association.
The most important foundation they discovered along the way was that to build relationships and trust with clients, they had to “do what we said we would, and be consistent with our services and approach,” says Willy. “We’ve had to be consistent so that people can count on us.” As steady as they’ve been taking that approach, they realized quickly that no two golf properties have the same demands because the ownership of clubs is diverse and agendas vary from one place to the next. That said, the most common issues they’re asked to address today are food and beverage and top-line growth, regardless of whether the facility is private or public.
“One thing we have learned is how uniquely challenging private clubs can be to manage, given their political nature and competing and ever-changing agendas within the club,” says Willy, who adds that maintaining healthy membership numbers at those private clubs has changed over time. “A key element to growing membership is knowing that a membership buying decision is no longer made by just men, but now requires the approval of the whole family, particularly spouses. From there, member retention has three pillars: Developing an onboarding process that connects the whole family to the club from day one; offering various experiences and activities year-round to keep them engaged and add value; and reviewing monthly usage patterns of the members to see who is using the club and who isn’t.”
Simultaneously, Crouse says there are several keys to capitalizing on golf’s current mega-popularity at public and municipal courses – including continuously investing capital into course and clubhouse maintenance; making sure play flows steady to keep tee sheets full; offering excellent service; and providing loyalty programs for frequent guests. “That includes things such as player development programs, creating men’s and ladies’ golf associations that offer tournaments and events, creating playing programs that give the customers a small break when playing the course a certain amount of times, and providing some social gathering opportunities open to all, are just some examples of this,” he says. “Being flexible and nimble to the needs of our clients has been paramount to successfully retaining clients for years.”
From a “big vision” and philanthropic standpoint, BJL has led the way in reviving historic municipal courses as non-profit community give-backs, starting with Bobby Jones Golf Course in Atlanta, and followed by John A. White Golf Course in Atlanta – among other projects.
“You can’t overestimate what impact a public golf course can have on its surrounding community,” Crouse said. “Not only do high-quality amenities, programming and service make a huge difference in getting the community to take pride and join in the various golfing opportunities, but even the open-to-the-public food and beverage options can elevate the way the locals see the neighborhood. A well-operated municipal golf course can be incredibly instrumental in galvanizing a community with junior golf programs, affordable access to golfers and a welcoming place that residents of all ages can congregate and have a unique home away from home.”
Another key to BJL’s growth over the past quarter century has been building a robust infrastructure and a wealth of expertise needed to serve clients. Through all that growth, the company has kept a family culture and retained clients at a very high rate by providing them an abundance of attention.
“It sounds too good to be true, but we really do spend more hands-on time interacting and strategizing with our clients,” says Crouse. “We are not a big-box management company. We started small and grew by having all the systems and procedures like everybody else, but we interacted with our clients more than the competition. We also came up with one differentiator – our service initiative, by which we engaged a professional trainer who had worked with Chick-fil-A and The Ritz-Carlton, to find out how to make our customer service sustainable. If you go to Chick-fil-A, a 16-year-old girl says it’s my ‘pleasure’ to help you, where you don’t get that type of service at other fast-food chains. That proved to us that exemplary service is achievable in the same labor pool. That's why we invested in a workplace culture focused on serving our customers and each other. It’s a difference here – we have a whole leadership center and initiatives around this culture and service.”
As for the future, Willy sees continued company growth in the right way. “That means making sure our culture stays in place by not growing too fast and having the people to handle the growth so that our first or 51st client feels like they get the same attention,” he says. “Sometimes companies grow rapidly and lose that personal touch. I don't ever see us growing to operate hundreds of clubs but growing four or five a year will allow us to do it the right way, where we build long-term relationships with clients.”