Need Some Advice-Golf Course Management

[thesnakejp]

I need some advice on if I should try to follow a lifelong dream of mine or not.  I'll start off by telling a little about myself. I'm 24 and pretty much finished with college(all I have left to do is an internship) with a degree that is completely unrelated to the golf industry.  In my relatively small town(4,500 people) there is a pretty nice little golf course that is having a hard time getting someone to take over management of the golf course.  The town does have more money than most because of the oil industry.

This position is based on a salary that the city pays plus commision on the sale of greens fees etc.  The clubhouse is not overly big, but the last guy that was running it did have a small restaurant that he ran there also.  One of my buddies is trying to get me to apply for this position and he would be the money behind it all since I am a poor college student!  He has stated that he would pay for the rental cart fleet and to stock the pro shop to get it all going.  All the money from the pro shop and carts would go to me and not the city.  I would also probably put in a bar since there is not one already. Maybe open a restaurant down the road, and I could have use of a pull behind trailer BBQ'er to cater for golf tournaments.

I know that I probably wouldn't sell much in the pro shop being the small town that it is, but i think that I could also get rid of stuff on ebay if I needed to.  I know that the hours will be long and I am not going to be making a lot of money on this as the salary is less than $30,000, but I am a firm believer in doing something that you love and then you will be happy in life just as long as you can pay your bills.  I also know most everyone that is out on the golf course and a lot of people would be behind me in this adventure.

The city wants a proposal on how to make the golf course a successful operation and in that proposal they want to know how the revenue will be split between the candidate and the city.

I also need some ideas on how to get more people to come out and golf, and how to get kids involved with golf at a young age.  I am a firm believer that the reason most people don't golf is because they have never tried it, and if we can get kids out while they are young they will play the sport for the rest of their lives.  When I was young I didn't have any friends that would come out and play because they thought golf was "stupid", but now they are addicted to golf and didn't pick it up until they were 20 years old.

Alright sorry for boring everybody with this long post, but here is what I need:

• Need ideas on a proposal to to submit to the city.( Maybe a template also, what should be stocked in pro shop)
• Ideas on how to get more people out to golf.( Family golf night, kids golf, etc)
• Maybe some other links on where I could be looking to find out about some of this stuff.
• Tell me I'm not crazy for trying to follow a dream that I would love doing!!!

[awmgolfer]

Your situation sounds very similar to our town except our course is established already, but it is a small town. I coach our golf team and the biggest thing is to begin getting youth. Go into the school, offer great deals for kids, try to find grants to buy rental clubs for kids that you will rent for very cheap. Do anything you can to get excitement in the kids. We have done a number of things between the golf pro and myself that really anyone with some good knowledge on teaching can do with kids and they love it. Organize different types of leagues, couples tournament, etc.. Also, get a website and a facebook page for the course. Not tooting my own horn..lol, but I design sites for low cost compared to the big companies and I can tell you site business tied with facebook can be a huge help. Just because you are in a small town if your course has the right resources people will travel to get to you.

[tws1098]

Are there any local pros that you think would like to have your course be their teaching center? This will get people coming to your course, pro shop, and you get some money for renting to him. If the pro is good and is reasonably priced, I think it could be a great way to generate interest.  You could always have a few pros too.  I know some places will have one that works with kids (may just be a coach from one of the local schools).  But as stated, the youth are extremely important for our sport, the future of your course, and a lot of parents are willing to drop considerable coin for their kids (practice, playing, equipment, lessons).  Since you will not have a restaurant at first you could open a small snack bar and/or have a cart girl.  I'll think about it more and see if anything else comes to me. Good luck.