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By Steve Eubanks
The courses at Hawaii’s Four Seasons capitalize on a plethora of scenic views and amenities to remain competitive with the bevy of nearby tourist options
There are no problems in paradise. At least that’s what the brochure says. But Scott Ashworth, the director of golf operations for the Four Seasons in Hawaii, knows better.
After 15 years in the 50th state, 30 months of it on Lanai where the Four Seasons operates two 18-hole golf courses and a 9-hole course (the hoteliers also operate 36 holes at Hualalai on the Big Island), Ashworth understands better than most that even paradise has its pitfalls.
“Other golf courses, even in Hawaii, are not our competition,” Ashworth says. “Our competition is all the other activities, whether it’s helicoptering or whale watching or hiking, whatever it is that you do when you visit Hawaii, that’s what we’re competing against.”
Golf, even for golfers, rarely tops the priority list in a place like Hawaii. Hall of Fame LPGA champion Betsy King traveled to Kaanapali, site of her first LPGA Tour victory, in April and didn’t even take her golf clubs. “I’m going to do all the things you do other than golf,” she said at the time.
There are volcanoes to climb, waterfalls to explore, beaches to comb, luaus to attend, and surf to catch. The irony for golf operators is that the land, environment and scenery around their courses are too good. It would be the equivalent at a golf course near the mouth of the Grand Canyon. How do you get people to turn their focus away from the views and onto the course?
Resort managers like Ashworth understand that problem. The solution, he says, is for golf to provide more than the usual litany of features and services in order to entice guests in for four or five hours.
“Your experience has to be very, very good,” Ashworth says. “There has to be a reason for someone to spend that amount of time on the golf course with so many other things to do.
“We really focus on letting everybody know that we have ocean views on every hole,” he adds. “We emphasize that we have three or four of the most spectacular ocean-side golf holes in the world, and then we obsess on service and conditioning.”
That “obsession” includes everything from range balls being Pro V1s to the golf carts being perfectly clean with a working GPS and the ability to order food any time customers want, which the staff will deliver to them out on the course. “It has to be a great experience, otherwise people will do something else,” Ashworth says.
The son of a golf course superintendent in Spokane, Washington, Ashworth began his career as the youngest teacher ever hired at the University of Washington Golf Course. With stops at various courses in Washington and a stint on Oahu before joining the Four Seasons, his father’s obsession with conditioning never left him.
“When you look at the other activities you could do here, they are all up there in price,” Ashworth says. “But there has to be value built in for the customer to feel satisfied. We’re [priced] on the high end, probably the highest in the state at $325 [a round], but there is a tremendous value built into that.” And it starts with the golf course being in perfect shape.
“Our savvy guests play golf all over the world,” he adds. “And it’s amazing how many of them come back in and compare us favorably to Pebble Beach, where they say we have better views and a better golf course. Now, obviously, we don’t have the history. But I find it fascinating that people will turn it around and tell me that they think we have a value at $325 because Pebble is over $500.”
Great conditioning and attention to little details (players are directed to spots on the course with the best vistas for photography) have made the golf operation an invaluable part of Four Seasons’ marketing efforts.
“We’re part of the Great Golf Resorts of the World now,” Ashworth says. “So, we’re with Pebble Beach, Bandon Dunes, Whistling Straits and Erin Hills. That helps the resort sell room nights.”
How many people come to Hawaii just to play golf? That’s a question Ashworth constantly asks himself. After all, it’s not like Palm Springs or Bandon where three buddies go on a golf trip. But when you have a spectacular golf experience, it acts as a differentiator.
“People who are coming [to Hawaii] stay here now, at least in part, because the golf experience is so good,” Ashworth says. “We’re an amazing amenity to the resort that helps drive rooms. Does it do it 100 percent? No, but it’s an important piece.”
Steve Eubanks is an Atlanta-based freelance writer and New York Times bestselling author.