Round Numbers

Mike Fontaine says the Ledges had a record year revenue-wise for fiscal 2025, and is on pace for another solid year.

Mike Fontaine acknowledged that most golf courses count rounds, and would prefer to use that number as a yardstick for success in a given month or season.

“But I’m the weird guy … we don’t count rounds — we count money, we count revenue,” said Fontaine, general manager of the Ledges Golf Club in South Hadley, a municipal course built at the height of the Tiger Woods-fueled golf craze in the late ’90s, and one that struggled to make ends meet for much of its existence.

But since International Golf Maintenance (IGM) was contracted to provide complete management services for the course in 2019, it has turned things around, and there is much more revenue to count, said Fontaine, adding that rounds are up as well.

“Financially, we’re doing very well — since IGM has taken over, we’ve been able to cover operational expenses,” he went on. “And we’ve actually been able to take some of the revenue we’ve made and put it back into the course: a new pump station, lots of tree work, cart path paving … we’ve come a long way.”

The turnaround story at the Ledges is one of many indicators that the golf business has improved considerably since before the pandemic, and, in many respects, because of the pandemic.

Indeed, while COVID shut down courses very early in that spring of 2020, they were soon reopened, and golf became one of the few things people could to socialize and get some exercise. Thus, many who had left the game for any of several reasons — especially the cost and time it takes to play 18 — came back, and many newcomers discovered it as well.

Nothing has been terribly easy, and the weather can still turn a potentially good year into a bad one, but golf is on much firmer ground than it was several years ago, as Atillio Cardaropoli can attest.

He’s the owner of Twin Hills Country Club in Longmeadow, which has made a turnaround of its own several years after being rumored to be headed toward redevelopment into a large housing subdivision. Still, the private course, like many in that category, was struggling a decade or so ago to maintain full membership, or something close to it.

“Financially, we’re doing very well — since IGM has taken over, we’ve been able to cover operational expenses. And we’ve actually been able to take some of the revenue we’ve made and put it back into the course: a new pump station, lots of tree work, cart path paving … we’ve come a long way.”

Now there’s a waiting list — which is good, because there is always attrition each year — and considerable interest in getting on it, said Cardaropoli, adding that there are several reasons for this, everything from improved condition of the course to new amenities, including, yes, pickleball, a common addition at many clubs.

“We’ve added six courts, and it’s really taken off,” he said, adding that while many golfing members partake in that sport as well, the club has a membership just for pickleball players — $500 a year.

“We’re doing very well … our course is in fabulous condition, probably the best condition it’s been in in years,” he went on, adding that the course has a new superintendent. “The greens are fabulous.”

Still, as noted earlier, there is nothing remotely easy about this business, and courses are having to work harder to enjoy the success being seen the industry.

Attillio Cardaropoli, owner of Twin Hills Country Club, says the golf industry has maintained the momentum it garnered during the pandemic.

Melissa Aitken, CEO of the Country Club of Pittsfield, said the club has been impacted by competition, the economy, and some changing demographics in Pittsfield and the Berkshires, meaning more residents with dual residency — in Western Mass. and someplace warm, usually Florida or Arizona.

Elaborating, she said the club has struggled to make up the losses from attrition the past few years, and so it has started “thinking outside the box,” as she put it.

Initiatives have included a traditional membership drive that brought in some new members, but also a fall incentive program (15% of the dues down, and the fall season is free) and the waving of initiation fees, as well as an open house for perspective new members — nine holes of golf, pickleball, tennis, and lunch at the lake.

“People see the value of services, and they keep coming back.”

“We had 25 prospective new members come out; it was an awesome day,” she said, adding that the club fared well through COVID and the years just following, but has hit what she called a “post-COVID slump.”

The club has amenities that enable it to stand out among the half dozen or so courses within a 30-mile stretch, and it will continue to promote those assets.

For this issue and its focus on food and lifestyle, BusinessWest takes a look at how the golf business continues to take full advantage of the boost it was given and parlay it into solid, sustainable growth.

Driving Business

As for the weather, it’s always a factor with this business.

In the spring, course owners and managers were talking about getting off to another early start, with many clubs open by St. Patrick’s Day. Then the talk focused on many Saturdays (if not entire weekends) were lost to rain in late April and May. It was eight or 10 in a row, as most recall.

Then the talk shifted to how great the weather was through most of the summer (July was hot and humid) and into the fall, putting most courses on track for another very solid year.

Melissa Aitkin says the Country Club of Pittsfield has been creative in efforts to grow membership, including the waiving of initiation fees for those signing up this fall.

“August and September were outstanding — it’s been a fantastic summer,” said Fontaine, adding that weather helps with everything from walk-up play to keeping tournaments on schedule.

The dry conditions contributed to the club’s best year to date, he went on, adding that, for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, the club had garnered more than $1.7 million in income.

“That’s more than this golf course ever made, and we know we had a record-breaking August,” he said, adding that September, which wasn’t done when he spoke with BusinessWest, was on track for something similar until two days of heavy rain near the end of the month.

Fontaine attributes this success to several factors, including course condition, value to the customer (an all-important factor in a region still saturated with courses), a full slate of outings, a reliable source of play, and facilities that tend to keep golfers on site for a beer and lunch or dinner after the round.

“People see the value of services, and they keep coming back,” he said, noting that the biggest factor with the bottom line is the surge in the number of people playing.

Cardaropoli agreed, noting that one challenge — and opportunity — for courses is to bring more players into the pipeline and also keep those who have found the game in recent years engaged and in a position to stick with it for years and decades to come.

“People are staying with it, but it’s a very difficult game,” he told BusinessWest. “We have a great instructor, and she’s doing a tremendous job of getting more women involved in the game. A lot of them are picking it up because she’s doing a fabulous job of teaching and giving lessons, and people are enjoying the game more.”

Getting people into the game and keeping them engaged is, of course, just one of the challenges, noted Aitken, noting that, for many clubs, including the Country Club of Pittsfield, the economy, rising costs, and competition are also on that list.

And for the Pittsfield club, there is the additional challenge of balancing the wants and needs of year-round residents with those with dual residency, especially when it comes to the price tag of membership.

“We have an interesting demographic at our club … we have a 50-50 split between dual residents and locals,” she explained, adding that the club currently has about 430 golfing members and would like to get to 500, if not higher. “So there’s a fine line you have to walk with the dues — you put them up too much, even though the dual residents will afford it, the locals may not be able to.

“We struggle with not outpricing ourselves,” Aitken went on, adding that yearly increases are necessary to keep up the rising cost of everything from labor to fertilizer.

The waving of initiation fees has been a major factor in attracting new members, she noted, adding that this is often the deciding factor in whether an individual or family, especially those living here year-round, will make the investment.

Value is another factor, she said, adding that it comes in many forms, from the restaurant to the condition of the course, which has been transformed following the removal of hundreds of trees, a pattern being followed by many courses today.

“I can’t describe the vistas that have been opened up,” she said. “I’ve been here for 19 years, and to see this transformation in such a short period … I’m in awe of what’s been done.”

Bottom Line

While the views at the Pittsfield course are now different and in many ways spectacular, the broad view from within the golf sector is equally impressive.

It’s a view toward continued — and sustainable — growth for a business where there are always ups and downs — and now, fewer of the latter.