Course Profile Golfing Gold in the Nickel Belt The Yawneys cover all the bases by Vince Kishimoto In Sudbury you can use a five-cent coin to mark your ball. After all, what else would you use in the Nickel Capital of the world? But golf up north is no longer a nickel and dime operation. And Sudbury is no longer just a two employer mining town in the wilds of northern Ontario. It has been transformed into a bustling city that is a diverse economic regional centre. Together, the business, retail and financial sector employs over 55 per cent of the local workforce. Science North alone reports annual revenues of $140 million. And even if you stretch the market to include the regional population of 160,000, Sudbury's 18 golfing facilities, put it very high on the per capita golf participation rate. Because of the relatively short season, from late April to mid-october, the out-doorsey northern residents make great use of their opportunities to play the game. The denizens of Sudbury are avid after-work 9-holers. When asked what they normally score, they often reply, "Oh, 38 to 43". Not so unusual because most courses in the North start out as 9-hole operations. Accommodating the demand for play makes keeping the tee sheets straight a challenging task. Keeping up with the demand and a good deal of hard work explains why the Yawney family finds itself with three golf courses, 2 retail shops and a golf academy. Born and bred in Sudbury, brothers Sam and Mike Yawney cover all the bases. Their portfolio includes: Pine Grove, an 18-hole executive facility with green fees at $21 appeals to seniors, ladies, the cost conscious and newer players. Widely known as a fun golf course, the executive layout is easy to walk, in less than three hours. Promotions feature specialty nights based on fun rather than competition. Cedar Green located in the heart of Sudbury's residential area, covers the middle ground with a $30 green fee, top conditioning and challenging layout. Cedar Green is the area's most popular choice. And now a new high-end golfing entry in Ontario's north has been created with the introduction of Timberwolf. After just one season, it has established a market that did not exist before. The initial acceptance of the more upmarket facility capitalizes on the economic growth of Sudbury. The Thomas McBroom design provides a Timberwolf experience that is well above the regional norm. It also provides the amenities usually found in major metropolitan areas at twice Timberwolf's $55 green fee.
With construction and operating costs similar to major cities, it is a challenge is to maintain these services at a "bargain price" when "sticker shock" still exists among local doubters not willing to accept golf at double their regular price. Sam Yawney, a "lifer" Sam Yawney has been in the golf business virtually all his life. He has held every position imaginable in the golf industry. Starting at age 10, he walked down the street to the local private club and presented himself for caddy duties. Eventually he progressed to range ball picker, club washer, back shop attendant and at 19, became assistant professional in the shop. In 1978 he took the position of head professional at Cedar Green Golf club. At this time Cedar Green was a busy little 9-hole course with plans for expansion. Sam's "pro shop" was a small section of the snack bar. It was here that Sam learned to operate a course at maximum profitability while providing a high level of customer service. It was this approach which brought green fee players back on a regular basis, helped create the busiest pro shop in the city and provided the means for an expansion to 18 holes. Meanwhile, at the other end of town, a short, poorly maintained, 9-hole course became available. Sam, his brother Michael and two others raised the money to purchase Pine Grove Golf club. Mike left his position at INCO, one of the two major employers in town, to be the superintendent and site manager. Applying Sam's knowledge of the golf business, they quickly turned the business around and bought out their two partners within a year. Making the transition from golf professional to owner, Sam says was another case of "seizing the moment." He'd had "a life long dream of being in business for myself and controlling my own destiny." A previous investment into a Golf-o-tron facility had failed after 3 years. In a twelve month period, Sam "was $40,000 in the hole, got married and invested in a golf course. It was quite an interesting and trying time. It was a good thing I still had my job as Professional at Cedar Green." The initial investment of $135,000 was only returning a gross income of $100,000. The first year, with Mike working and sleeping on site, they grossed $250,000 and bought out their partners. The brothers, still equal partners had embarked on a life-long journey. In the spring of 1989, Sam exercised a clause in his contract, giving him the right of first refusal at Cedar Green. An exhaustive search turned up an eleventh hour deal to purchase their second facility. The first year was spent recovering from a disaster. Torrential January rains had killed eleven of their poa annua greens. The re-sodding didn't come into shape until late June. Using hard work and all the management strategies he knew, Sam quickly rebounded to make Cedar Green the busiest golf course in Northern Ontario. To take advantage of the growing golf market and stay one step ahead of increased competition, Sam and
Mike revamped Cedar Green and expanded Pine Grove. These projects were completed by 1996 and both courses were steaming along at near capacity. Meeting the Chain challenge Along the way, Sam opened up Discount Golf, an off-course retail operation in the city to meet the competitive challenge of the chain retailers ("cement shops," as Peter Yates of Wolf Run refers to them). Discount Golf was opened with no ties to any retail chain. He bought up the stock of a bankrupt Dynamic Golf Store. The local bank manager had just opened a golf store and Sam decided that "if I don't get into the retail business, somebody else will steal this market." The key to his retail operations is astute buying. With his knowledge of the golf industry and large buying power, he is able to offer selection, value and service. Discount Golf stores act as a centralized warehouse supplying each golf course with logoed soft goods and essentials as required, but no hard goods. Clubs, bags and shoes are only sold at the retail shops where the larger space and market size can support a huge selection. Discount Golf also wholesales to smaller stores. The healthy demand has lead to the opening of a second location across town. Planning for Sudbury's first public high-end facility began in 1991 when The Nickel District Conservation Authority was looking for someone to develop and operate a 350-acre property. Sam, who seems always to be in the right place at the right time, developed a proposal for a new kind of facility. A frequent visitor to upstate Michigan, he was aware of the trend in the United States and in the Toronto area towards high-end daily fee courses. Sam's plan was clear and very ambitious: Create a world class golf facility, using the best architect, provide superior conditioning and give local customers the features they would normally have to leave town to find. Financing, during a period when prominent equity clubs were failing across Ontario, was not easy to arrange. Banks had informally developed a "no golf course" attitude. Using his exceptional sales skills and leveraging, and his responsible track record, the necessary backing was secured and the Yawney's proposal won the right to develop the Conservation Authorities' property. Sam, according to those who work with him, is a stickler for detail. He will not proceed with the next step until he is completely comfortable. Work on Timberwolf did not begin until he felt all conditions were right. But once everything was in place, he jumped in with both feet. This approach ultimately led to a much better design and a vastly improved final product. Timberwolf opened in the spring of 1999. Billed as "A Golf Club without Compromise" it opened to rave reviews and immediately assumed a position as the premier public golf facility in Northern Ontario. A testament to careful planning, Timberwolf successfully hosted a Canadian Tour event only weeks later.
Maximizing Efficiency The success of the Yawneys' operation has been based on achieving maximum efficiencies. Staff work hard to match each golfer with the most appropriate facility for their level of skill and involvement in the game. The tournament coordinator routinely moves outings from one course to another to maximize total revenue. In spite of the golfing operation's larger size today, the management structure is still quite compact. There are only two paid employees over the winter months and Sam's wife Anita handles most of the office work. John Alpaugh, the General Manager, is the centre of day-to-day operations of the golf courses. Golf cars are shuttled to where they are most needed allowing maximum utilization of a smaller fleet. Staff are trained on the same systems at each location and can move seamlessly from one course to another as needed. Greens-keeping equipment increases its useful life by being transferred "down the line" to less critical use areas. The relatively "remote" market location is a real marketing strength. The Yawneys are able to place an ad on every TV station, radio and newspaper at one time. This would be very difficult and expensive in a more populated area. Joint advertising of all the facilities provides an impact which competitors cannot afford to match. While some initial spending was needed to introduce Timberwolf, the local media gave them fantastic coverage from day one and that was priceless. Most of the marketing dollars go into spring and fall specials and they have never required advertising to attract members. Tournaments in this small market are solicited on a one-on-one basis. The initial success of the Benefit Partners/NRCS Classic, a Canadian Tour event will become an important marketing tool. The rave reviews of Timberwolf by the media and competitors established the credibility and positioning of this facility. Television and radio coverage of the event raised their profile immeasurably. In smaller markets the Canadian Tour is THE big event. Just as Junior A hockey is a big draw, the tournament received substantial fan attendance and exposure. Next year, Timberwolf will be the major sponsor and the purse will be raised from $75,000 to $125,000 and a full field. In addition to himself, Sam employs three CPGA Pros. An accomplished player, he has won three Northern Ontario PGA Championships. Setting records along the way, Sam is among the top three money winners on the Northern Pro circuit every year. An impressive practice facility and Golf Academy, managed by Tom Clark, serves as the centre of instruction for all three facilities. Sam donates his time, expertise and facility to a personally selected group of elite juniors with the goal of producing scholarship level players. Sam says that the junior program "is about spending quality time with my son who is now 14." However it has echoes of his own experiences when he struggled as a young golfer from a modest
background. "I had to rely on the caddy privileges which allowed me to play on Monday mornings before 7 a.m.," he says. "I was basically self-taught. But now I'm in a position to provide the opportunity for juniors who show they have the ability and aptitude to further their game. " The huge bent grass tee deck is the size of eight football fields. Even the 10 target greens are bent grass. There is a 20,000 square foot putting green and 10,000 square foot chipping green with two sand traps and a fairway bunker. Touring pros stayed on last summer, just to use the facility and next year hotels will be booked ahead of the tournament anticipating early arrivals wanting to improve their skills. With all this tied together, the initial success of Timberwolf has raised the bar. Members at Timberwolf have been given a commitment that they can play every day. There will be no outside tournaments and corporate members can book up to 2 hours of tee times at certain restricted times. But there are no shotguns and only one corporate outing per day. Future revenues will benefit from the "best in class" reputation as each course leads its category. Sam and Mike stress value and service to give customers exactly what they are looking for and we all know the merits of repeat business. When you realize that the Yawneys are two brothers in a family of 15, you understand where they got their competitiveness. In an industry established by self-made entrepreneurs they stand out with their enviable success.