Deer Island Country Club in Tavares, Florida, faced a common challenge: attracting first-time players to their secluded, island-based course. Recognizing the need to enhance their marketing and customer acquisition strategies, General Manager Peter Kokinos turned to NBC Sports Next for Golf.
By leveraging NBC Sports Next’s comprehensive suite of solutions, including the Golf365 Pro Course Operations Technology, Deer Island achieved a 40% increase in rounds played and a 20% boost in revenue within a year. This partnership not only streamlined their operations but also expanded their reach to a broader golfer demographic.
“The challenge for us has been getting players out and enjoying a first experience,” says Deer Island’s general manager, Peter Kokinos. “Once they’ve played the course, they’re sold on it.” His operation needed to turbo-charge its marketing and customer-acquisition machinery, so Kokinos and company turned to the proven suite of solutions from NBC Sports Next Golf.
“We increased our rounds played by 40 percent in the year after we switched and we upped our revenue by 20 percent,” says Kokinos of his strategic reboot. “And there is more new business coming to us behind that first wave.” According to Kokinos, that is very much thanks to the marketing reach of NBC Sports Next and the sophistication of it’s Golf365 Pro Course Operations Technology.
Course partners are free to pick and choose from the menu of NBC Sports Next Golf services as they onboard. Deer Island started with that approach but soon opted for virtually every tool in the toolkit. The program starts with simply being on the Platform. From that initial step, a course like Deer Island can leverage tee time distribution on GolfNow.com, marketing itself to higher-income golfers from the executive ranks and the professions—as new research into the user group has shown. Website management, an option Kokinos also selected, has freed up the GM and his team to interact with golfers and ensure a great experience for them. That goes for returning players as well as first-timers.
In the Deer Island package there are numerous further upgrades.“We use the Golf365 Pro management platform,” says Kokinos, “which we’ve found to be tops in the industry. We use the Answers system for phone reservations and support, and we also go with GolfNow for credit card processing. We also take full advantage of the Premium Marketing Platform.”
The latter tool provides Deer Island with two dedicated Plus Specialists focused on brand management and inventory management. Every other Tuesday morning, there’s a scheduled call between Deer Island management and the NBC Sports Next team covering the facility. That’s the baseline for communications and discussion, but there’s additional back-and-forth on a regular basis, depending on whatever challenges or opportunities arise in the course of a season.
“I can pick up the phone at any given time and ask Justin his opinion,” Kokinos explains, referring to specialist, who teams with Market Sales Manager Jennifer Funk and additional support staff. Out of that conversation will come some relevant research and reports. Armed with these assets, the Deer Island crew will consider all factors and go forward with a decision.
Switching to a new operating platform can be a daunting proposition to any course operator, but onboarding with Golf365 Pro was apparently a hassle-free experience for Deer Island. “The transition to Golf365 Pro was expedited and smooth,” recalls Kokinos. “It took just over a day for installation and for basic training in how it operates.” Armed with Golf365 Pro-provided iPads, the team soon found itself in motion around the facility, decision-making on the go instead of being tied down by location-based servers.
Golf365 Pro’s highly popular Check-In and Pay feature proved to be a game-changer from the start. “It gives a customer the ability to check in, pay for their round, pick up a cart key, get their complimentary bottle of water, and head straight to the tee,” Kokinos says. Frictionless arrival at any golf course is appreciated by players, but at a remote facility like this one it’s that much greater an advantage.
Either way, the support is there, according to Kokinos.
“You’ve got people who know you, they know your golf course and they know the business overall,” he says. That includes a lead person on social media, overseeing how Deer Island shows up on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networks.
Well-timed and well-expressed messaging on social media is key to enshrining a great golf experience in memory and keeping a course high up in the customer’s awareness. That’s true if you’re located at a busy crossroads or—like Deer Island Country Club—in a beautiful spot that’s a ways off the beaten path.
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