_September/onaroll.jpg "On A Roll")
By Steve Donahue
Bruce Lange and Nancy Dickens strive to make golf at Westin Kierland Resort memorable in countless ways
A few weeks back, golfers at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona, got their first chance to “surf” the golf course as they played. Managing director Bruce Lange had learned about Golfboards at the 2014 PGA Merchandise Show and decided to give the 50-inch-by-22-inch, remote-controlled rolling platforms a try. It was an unusual scene, but it fit right in with the culture of innovation—and, ultimately, sustainability—that Lange and his staff are trying to foster at Kierland.
Traditionalists might scoff at the notion of seeing golfers zooming across fairways on something other than a golf cart, but Kierland’s Golfboards are just the latest offering that’s helping to shape the longtime customer-facing narrative at the 27-hole facility. The collective effort has been dubbed “Kierland Uncommon,” and its mission is to make Kierland the most unique golf experience in its market.
Especially when it comes to the on-course experience, Lange and club manager Nancy Dickens have made a few leaps of faith—and monetary investment—over the past decade to stand out in a crowded market. “If you aren’t trying new and different things to enhance the golf experience for both serious and casual players,” says Lange, “then your business plan is to simply hope that the golf market will come back to where it was. And that’s not a plan at all.”
The timeline for on-course innovation at Kierland actually started as far back as 2001, when the facility became the first in the area to offer air-conditioned golf carts. That didn’t last long, though, as the units’ manufacturer went out of business. Rather than give up on the idea of climate control to help make summer golf in Arizona more bearable, Lange installed water-misting systems in each cart of a newly-leased fleet. The feedback from customers—and the additional playing revenue generated in the hottest months—proved favorable.
Then in 2005, Lange was speaking with the manufacturers of Segway personal transport units about how to speed up customer service across the 250-acre resort. Eventually, the conversation turned to the possibility of also using a few Segways on the golf course to entice curious players and increase pace of play. Within a year, Lange had introduced four golf-customized Segways, and the resulting accolades from users combined with the resort’s media-outreach strategy helped spread the Kierland name through golf and leisure-travel circles around the country.
In 2013, Dickens, who was then serving as the course superintendent, sought to further differentiate the Kierland experience by proposing a turf-removal program that would eliminate 14 acres of grass. Lange approved, and now the facility saves 20 million gallons of water annually plus maintenance costs. Perhaps more importantly, the effort has helped to create a playing experience that Dickens refers to as “Scottish golf in the desert.”
Earlier this year, Lange and Dickens introduced Golf Bikes, specially-designed bicycles that feature wide, soft wheels plus small golf bags that golfers can use to ride the course as they play. “The time factor is such a huge drag on the golf business, especially for resorts, where so many activities compete for guests’ time,” Lange says. “I looked at the bike and thought, ‘If I could get in my workout as I was playing golf, then I’d be able to do two things I enjoy.’” Lange plans to offer eight bikes by year’s end, giving players an unprecedented five ways to traverse Kierland’s undulating layout.
Even away from the course, Lange and Dickens have created an atmosphere that’s broader in its appeal than at most facilities. For instance, all hitting bays at the practice range are covered, with large fans blowing mist across each bay. The bays also feature piped-in music. To attract guests who might not necessarily be on property for golf—namely corporate and meeting groups—and to enhance the practice experience for all, Dickens created a tee box that faces a drainage lake, anchoring a boat in the middle so range-goers can take shots while mingling during lunch or an evening reception. “Overall, we’re creating a wider experience that is not centered around beating the little white ball,” she notes.
These types of innovations require investment, of course, but Dickens insists that “different ways of doing things don’t have to cost much money. It’s more about creating a culture to get people to think differently about what the experience can be.” This means not only guests, but also the golf shop’s younger staffers, who understand the thinking and the preferences of the next generation of potential golfers.
As for calculating the ROI for each element of the “Kierland Uncommon” initiative, Lange is admittedly noncommittal—but that’s kind of the point. “I don’t think you can create a direct connection between these things and an increase in market share,” he says. “But if each element is working along with whatever else we’re doing to sustain market share, then that’s fine.”
Be that as it may, there is a sensible financial argument to be made for some offerings. “A Golf Bike is about $700, while a leased cart is $3,000,” Lange explains. “So more operators might now say, ‘I’m going to give back 50 of my carts and buy a bunch of bikes.’ And if they promote it well, they’ll be rewarded on the cost side, the revenue side and the reputation side, just for doing something out of the ordinary.”
Even for those initiatives that do carry sizable costs, Lange measures success in big-picture terms. “We’ll look at all of this over several years and see whether people are coming back to our facility when they travel to our marketplace,” he says. “If someone’s first thought when they think of golf in Scottsdale is Kierland due to what they’ve seen or heard or experienced, we think that’s a sustainable business advantage.”
Rob Carey is a freelance writer and principal of Meetings & Hospitality Insight.