Like many of its private contemporaries, Cattail Creek Country Club, which dubs itself one of Maryland’s family-friendliest clubs, had been feeling the economic pinch since the recession that gripped the economy in 2008. Membership at the club, located approximately 30 miles outside Baltimore, had been strong earlier in the decade but was beginning to be challenged over the subsequent years, and dues and revenue from outings and other events were no longer enough of a financial buoy for the club to either maintain or grow.
“For many years, our club was stuck in neutral with membership growth,” said General Manager Bill Jankowski. “We needed a solution that would increase our marketing efforts and gain exposure to our fantastic amenities.”
Always an innovative thinker, Jankowski tapped into his creative side in his search for a solution. In 2019, he entered into a partnership with GolfNow, exposing his club to an entirely new audience through GolfNow’s industry leading tee-time distribution platform, as well as taking the opportunity to leverage the marketing power of NBC Sports to generate outside revenue.
The initiative was immediately successful, garnering 50 new members in the first year, the most successful year of new-member recruitment since the club’s inception. Naturally, visiting golfers were so impressed by Cattail Creek’s course that some inquiries for membership arose from the incremental guest play. And the revenue the club generated from additional member-guest tee times booked through GolfNow has returned its investment in the platform several times over.
After similar success stories at other clubs, GolfNow developed a dedicated Marketplace Leads & Tee Times product in early 2020 under its growing, private club-facing Clubhouse Solutions division.
“Having guided Cattail Creek and other clubs toward better financial health through tee-time partnerships with GolfNow, we knew there was an entire private club business with this model,” said Rick Coffey, national sales manager for Clubhouse Solutions.
Since transitioning to Marketplace Leads & Tee Times, Jankowski says he already has netted 25 new members in 2020 – 18 joining after May 7 – even amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We have focused on our partnership with Clubhouse Solutions as our main source of marketing and club exposure,” says Jankowski. “Clubhouse Solutions has given us the resources to modernize and increase our marketing efforts to a whole new level, which has directly related to an increase of membership inquires and more importantly membership growth.
“We are focused on maximum exposure of our club and our great partnership with Marketplace Leads & Tee Times through Clubhouse Solutions has given us that advantage.”