Evesham Township originally took over management of the Indian Spring Country Club to save on costs.
It was then at a recent council meeting that Sandy Student, who was appointed interim business manager of the township-owned golf course earlier this year, gave a presentation on changes to the course for the first half of 2014.
Student, a partner in the firm TechCXO, said for the first time, Indian Spring management spoke to 300 of its players and members of different leagues to determine what they would like to see improved or changed at the course.
“There were 35 different things that they listed,” Student said. “Out of the top six, the №1 and №2 improvements were sand in the bunkers, which we went and we did…and the other suggestion was improving the cart paths.”
Student also said there have been many changes to the driving range, including longer hours, new paint and the elimination of the previously abused unlimited bucket of balls.
“The people came in and essentially camped out there all day, and that was a travesty,” Student said.
Another change to the course is it now offers for sale brand name merchandise.
“We’re associating with the leading brands, and we’re at far more competitive price points,” Student said. “We found a few other things that were in the attic from 2008 and 2009 that were put out after we discovered them, and we marked things down.”
The course has also been doing well in spite of the amount of rain and snowfall from earlier this winter, according to Student.
Through June, there were 58 days where there were no rounds of golf played on the course, compared to 2013 when there were only 18 days where no rounds were played.
Student said revenue per day was also up in spite of the previously inclement weather conditions.
“In 2014, our average revenue per day is $4,800, taking the total revenue and dividing it by 182,” Student said. “We are ahead of last year over $1,000 a day. We’re also ahead for rounds. The driving range we’re ahead almost 3,000 buckets of balls.”
Student also referenced a recent report from the Professional Golfers’ Association of America that stated the first half of 2014 has had the fewest open days in revenue and rounds of golf ever reported since it has been in business.
According to the report, in the northeast, rounds are down 10–12 percent from last year, revenue is down 5–14 percent, and revenue in New Jersey specifically is down 9 percent.
Student compared those numbers to Indian Spring, where he said overall revenue and rounds weren’t down by nearly as much.
“For the first half of 2014 versus 2013, our rounds are down 4 percent and our revenue is down 4 percent, so that is incredible,” Student said. “We are ahead of the other people in New Jersey.”
When asked about the township’s management of the course, Mayor Randy Brown said he loves the progress the township has made in a short time, and he was proud of Student and the rest of the staff.
“They say people get lucky, but to me, luck is the residue of hard work and preparation, and we have spent hours and hours into the thousands of hours racking our minds on how to improve this golf course, and we’re doing that,” Brown said.
Brown said the township has no choice but to try everything it can to increase revenues to pay off the yearly $1.1 million debt service bond payment.
“When you’ve got a $1.1 million bond staring you in the face, you’ve got to be creative and think outside the box on how to bring added revenue in, and we’re doing it,” Brown said. “That’s all we can ask these guys right now.”
