Although the gyrating economy has some resort managers dreaming about the “good old days” when many business groups included a half day—or more—for golf tournaments, others say nothing much has changed.
They contend that integrating golf into the meetings agenda is still one of the best ways for attendees to network and get to know one another, adding that groups are holding onto golf because of its ability to deliver objectives, even in these times of economic and time poverty.
“People still want to have a golf component attached to their meetings,” says Doug Schmidt, director of marketing for Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club in Tampa, Fla., a golf-centric resort with three clubhouses and 65,000 square feet of function space. New owner Salamander Hospitality is pouring millions into a makeover for Innisbrook, including the addition of two new 16-seat executive boardrooms.
Schmidt acknowledges, however, that his resort has had to accommodate the changing golf needs of many groups.
“Planners are compacting meetings a little more and looking for the best value because of these economic times,” Schmidt says. “So the resort might add value to the golf segment by throwing in a play clinic that can benefit the novice as well as the advanced player. Another value-add our people like is a night putting tournament where we use glow-in-the-dark neon tubes. This is something where people can compete with a cocktail in their hands, so it’s good as an icebreaker and team-builder.”
It’s not likely that the expected flat economic climate of 2009 will dampen enthusiasm for golf at Innisbrook—at least not in the first quarter—because the resort is hosting a couple of celebrity tournaments in conjunction with Super Bowl XLIII in February.
Located just 20 minutes from the stadium, Innisbrook is offering a special four-night Super Bowl package for corporate VIPs and their clients. In March, the resort will once again host the PGA Tour’s Transitions Championship on its Copperhead course.
“What we are seeing is that it’s now more important than ever for companies to take care of their VIP customers and top performers, to make sure their sales people are still theirs and motivated to excel,” Schmidt says. “So golf is a means to that end.”
Time Challenges
For those whose financial or time requirements cannot allow four to five hours on the links, creative alternatives such as video swing clinics in the ballroom are among the possibilities. And when there is no substitute for getting out on the fairway, nine-hole courses are an increasingly popular option.
At Lansdowne Resort and Spa in Leesburg, Va., Managing Director Peter Faraone says his resort’s new nine-hole Sharkbite course is getting a lot of play from meetings groups as demand for traditional half-day tournaments subsides. Time poverty has business groups putting more time into meetings than recreation, he observes.
“We have two 18-hole courses here at Lansdowne, but this new shorter course is proving popular with new learners, people with time constraints and others who might be intimidated by the longer runs,” he says. “Also, if meetings groups bring in families, they are good for junior golfers so family members can be included.”
Julie Berry, director of sales and marketing at Eaglewood Resort near Chicago, says groups are increasingly choosing night golf over traditional daytime golf events.
“We are seeing groups play after dinner so they don’t disrupt the main meeting schedule,” she says. “They’re turning that into a team-building time.”
Scrambler and shotgun tournaments (where groups start on different holes at the same time), and crossovers (where foursomes begin on front and back nines at the same time) are also popular, according to Courtney Lowe, director of sales and marketing for Bedford Springs Resort in Bedford, Pa.
At Mission Inn Resort and Club near Orlando, where guests may enjoy 36 holes surrounding the resort’s Spanish-style architecture, Director of Sales and Marketing Suzee Warren says creative group golf alternatives include putting contests held prior to receptions.
“Creativity is certainly the order of the day as budgets and time are restricted,” Warren says. “But planners want to give groups at least a taste of the golf here because Mission Inn is a resort that emphasizes it.”
Indoor golf clinics and golf-themed team-building events are also fun ways to offer “golf experiences” that are integral to the meetings agenda, she adds.
In the golf resort mecca of Scottsdale, Ariz., the lackluster economy appears to be having a negative impact on the amount of time planners are allotting for golf, according to David Reed, director of sales and marketing for the Scottsdale Resort & Conference Center. He says local resorts are seeing less demand for golf and offering some discounts.
“I’ve been at this property for 32 years, and it used to be that virtually every group had a half day for golf or maybe even two half days,” he says. “But a lot has been eliminated these days. People are doing nine-hole tournaments or shotgun tournaments that take less time now. The outlook for ’09 is bleak at best with all the economic chaos that’s going on. It is looking as if there will be fewer meetings or they will be shorter with little or no time for golf.”
What planners need to remember, Reed contends, is that golf is the single best way for attendees to interact and get to know each other.
“A round of golf is better any day than a chili cookoff,” he says.
Still in Prime Time
Not all resort managers say they are seeing a downturn in demand for full-scale golf events. At The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colo., which offers 185,000 square feet of meeting space and three 18-hole golf courses, the economic climate does not make much difference in the reasons groups are attracted to the resort, according to David Fine, director of sales and marketing.
“We do a lot of incentive business as well as association and corporate business at The Broadmoor, so half-day tournaments remain in place,” he says. “While we expect 2009 to be a tight economic period, and some will re-evaluate whether they will include recreation in their programs, we have a bucolic setting here in the mountains and clients really want to take advantage of our golf features. Otherwise, they would meet in an urban center.”
In fact, The Broadmoor is about to open new golf-oriented accommodations in March, which are located alongside the East Course’s 18th fairway and adjacent to the course’s clubhouse.
The six new multiunit Broadmoor Cottages, which feature casually elegant decor, will bring the resort’s total accommodations to 744 units. Mountain and golf course views from expansive verandas adorned with oversized wicker chairs and rockers distinguish the new accommodations.
According to Fine, the cottages are being designed to promote intimate, retreat-style golf gatherings and will appeal to small groups of golfers who arrive midweek or on weekends.
Also not seeing a downturn in golf demand is South Carolina’s Kiawah Island Resort, according to Golf and Group Sales Manager John Haskins. Kiawah Island offers five golf courses, including the famed Ocean Course.
“We are a magnet for people who still want the full program and we don’t have a lot of scale-back,” Haskins says. “People still want the full Kiawah experience.”
As more women players join men on golf fairways, destinations such as Kiawah Island Resort are including spa treatments and clinics designed to warm up muscles and improve the swing. Haskins says women in particular enjoy the resort’s Pilates workout for golfers.
In Eastern Canada, the province of Nova Scotia, which has been a golfing mecca since its Scottish settlers brought the game across the Atlantic Ocean generations ago, continues to see high demand for golf among groups, according to Rene LeBlanc, former chair of Golf Nova Scotia and general manager of Digby Pines Golf Resort & Spa
“As a percentage of our total group business here at Digby, golf events are stable,” he says. “Eighty percent of our groups include a golf component in their programs, from just offering it on a recreation basis to including some tournament component like a scramble or something else that includes a broad range of players.”
As home to the world-famed Highland Links, considered by many to be Canada’s No. 1 public course, and offering easy air and ferry access (six airlines fly to Halifax from several East Coast gateway cities and United Airlines offers service from Chicago) from the Northeast and Midwest, the province presents plenty of good group golf options. From May through October, there are few better places to enjoy the game, Le Blanc says.
Two new championship courses will open on Nova Scotia’s Cape Breton in 2009 and 2010, including an $8.5 million five-star course, the Lakes Golf Club in Ben Eoin, located along the shores of Bras d’Or Lakes. Cape Breton will also offer an 18-hole championship course as part of the Louisbourg Resort Golf & Spa, scheduled to open in 2010. The new 2,500-acre resort will also offer an 18-hole par-3 executive course, conference center, spa and 400 chalets.
