increased membership. We saw a huge interest in playing these tournaments.” And then there is how the
Club Focus: Empire Ranch Empire Ranch Golf Club is bursting at the seams. The Folsom NCGA regular
club has grown its membership by nearly 28% in 2012, expanding from 370 to 473. The trick? Make golf fun, affordable and try to play the best courses possible.
“One of the big things
for us is we’re able to say we have a very active club,” said Brent Cohen, the general manager at the course. “The events are very large. That’s a big sell point.” The club has a flourishing
tournament schedule, playing 23 events a year—12 at Em- pire Ranch and 11 away from home. Tournaments routinely draw more than 100 players, and courses and formats are varied to keep the events fresh and fun. “Our member-guest—we
asked everyone for ideas and tried something totally new—
and it was just a big success,” Cohen said. “Different things rather than just stroke play.” The member-guest had
three formats mashed into one: six holes of scramble, six holes of alternate shot, and six holes of better ball. “We had about 50 guests, and about 10 of them joined the club because they had so much fun in the tournament,” said Leo Goshgarian, last year’s membership and away tournament chairman. “You’ve just got to be creative and do a little marketing.” In December, the club
tried an even wilder format—
a three-club better ball tournament—that piqued the interest of 116 members. Another big draw is where
the club plays. It tries to take advantage of as many Mon- days as possible to schedule tournaments at closed private clubs such as Granite Bay, Serrano, Catta Verdera and Cameron Park. “Word started getting out
that we were playing all these great venues, and most of the guys in the greater Sacra- mento area can’t play these courses unless they play with a club,” Goshgarian said. “So that had a lot to do with our
tournaments are run. Like many clubs, the membership is a mix of young and old. So the organization set about trying to conduct the most fair, yet interesting events possible, by creating a set of tournament tees and asking the NCGA to re-rate them. The tees are a mix of nine blue and nine white markers, challenging the better players while making it fun for higher handicappers. “We try to cater to both the
high and low handicappers,” said Dan Russell, president of the club. “I think our average NCGA index is around 12.0. “And maybe the word’s got- ten out that if you want to play a fun and friendly, but com- petitive tournament, we’re the club to join in the area. I think maybe that’s a big draw.” And the club proudly backs
any members who qualify for NCGA Zone tournaments, covering their entry fees and even providing a travel stipend if they reach the championship. “I think we are one of the
premier golf clubs in Northern California, and that’s because we care about our members,” Rus- sell said. “Our club is run by our members, for our members.”
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