Haggin Oaks and other progressive-minded facilities are finding that golfers are loving this new way to get around the course BY TOM MACKIN
W
hile walking around the 2015 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Florida, Mike Woods sent a video of a new product called the GolfBoard to
his teenage son Sean. It showed a
demonstration of the battery-pow- ered, skateboard-slash-surfboard built to transport golfers around a course. “That’s cool, I like that,” was his
son’s reaction according to Woods. “And his buddies that didn’t play golf thought it was cool too. Then he went on YouTube and found more videos of it out on courses. He said, ‘Dad, you’re way behind on this. It’s really cool.’” Now, 18 months later, Woods is using the product to generate both revenue and excitement at Haggin Oaks in Sacramento, where he is PGA Director of Golf. The GolfBoard is a high-profile example of how both public courses and private clubs across Northern California and the country are trying to connect with new audiences and retain existing golfers. Currently available at more than 200 courses in 43 states, as well as in five foreign countries, the GolfBoard was created by Don Wildman, one of the founders of Bally’s Fitness, and world-renowned surfer Laird Hamilton. A prototype came out in 2013 before a wider rollout kicked off at the PGA Merchandise Show a year later, when it won Best New Product of the Year honors. “When you get on the board and
ride it, it’s just really fun, “ says James Rummonds, Northern California Territory Manager for the company. “From a golfer’s perspective it’s a new way to navigate these beautiful landscapes. Pace of play has been an Achilles heel for golf for years and years, and the reality is the GolfBoard helps in that department.” Other Northern California courses using GolfBoards include Lincoln Hills, Stanford, Chuck Corica Golf Complex in Alameda, Del Rio Golf and Country Club in Modesto, Old Greenwood in Truckee, Coyote Creek in Morgan Hill and Bay Club Stone- Tree in Novato. “This adds a fresh element to the
sport,” says Stanford Golf Coach Conrad Ray. “With Stanford Golf Course situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, it makes sense that such an innovation can be experienced on The Farm. It may even be able to help grow the game to a broader audience.” But golf has long been more about maintaining traditions than outside of the box thinking. Even company executives acknowledge that a Golf- Board is the last thing many people want to see on a course. “Our answer to them is ‘You don’t
have to ride it,’” says company sales representative Jordan Greenbaum. “Because there is a very strong con- stituency who want a new experience and want to be associated with a course that is thinking more pro- gressively, a little more innovatively, about the amenities they deliver to their players. A lot of courses recog- nize that in order to keep pace with the current trends in the game, it now has much more to do with making it a special occasion. It has to do with allowing people, in some cases but not all, to play music or to dress a little differently. The GolfBoard complements what they are trying to do to activate new customers or inspire regular players to come out and play more.” The GolfBoards first appeared in
California two years ago at Bay Club StoneTree in Novato. “Our company (Bay Club) is big on being different and adding value to our membership,”
SUMMER 2016 /
NCGA.ORG / 43
AARON OLSON
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