Upgrades for PN golf club
The Palmerston North Golf Club is ringing the changes as it takes ownership of a golf shop, hires a new club professional and is set to reopen its driving range to the public.
General manager Norm Rapson said with a long-term lease secured with the Palmerston North City Council, they were charging ahead with plans to add value to the club.
‘‘The biggest problem that a lot of golf clubs have around the country have at the moment is that it is a bit of race to the bottom. Every one is cutting their fees. We were probably guilty of that at some stages over the past few years as well, but that has now finished. Essentially what we are trying to do is add some value and make it attractive for people to come and pay what we think it is worth,’’ Rapson said.
He said the club was in good stead.
‘‘The course has always been in reasonably good condition,’’ he said. ’’The membership has remained relatively stable over the last couple of years. It has actually grown three percent which is different to a lot of clubs around the country.’’
The first major change is the club taking over management of the on-site golf shop which had been owned and operated by Dan Learmonth.
‘‘Dan Learmonth, who had the shop, had indicated the desire to move on,’’ Rapson said. ’’The club looked at what was happening throughout the country with other clubs and through it was probably an opportunity to buy the shop. Essentially we have not bought the shop, we have just bought his rights to operate the shop.’’
Pga-qualified professional Hamish Campbell has been hired to run the pro shop.
Campbell trained under Glyn Delany at Total Golf in Nelson.
And he is also a qualified greenkeeper having served his apprenticeship at the Greenacres Golf Club.
Campbell spent nine years playing for Tasman in the Toro Interprovincial tournament before turning professional.
One of his playing highlights came last year when he won the Kaikoura Pro-am.
Rapson said having Campbell on deck meant better opportunities for their members.
‘‘For us it is an opportunity to start offering professional lessons to our members on a regular basis,’’ he said.
The club is also continuing to improve their amenities inside the clubhouse as they look to maximise its usage.
And they have order four new golf carts and is building storage facilities for personal carts, while there are plans to repair the road to the clubrooms.
Rapson said restoring the seldom-used driving range was also a key part of their plans.
‘‘The driving range is something that will be back in action towards the end of October. It is our intention to have that open to the public as well,’’ he said.