PREDATOR RIDGE SADDLES UP TO MARK MILESTONE
Resort holding a rodeo for 25th anniversary
This is their first rodeo.
Not to worry. The folks at Predator Ridge have an impressive history of getting things right.
The inaugural Predator Ridge Rodeo will be the centrepiece of the Vernon area resort’s 25th-anniversary celebrations this summer. It figures to be quite the party.
Predator boss Brad Pelletier, who likes to think outside the box, was looking for a rather unique way to celebrate the resort’s silver anniversary. So he called the folks across the street at the Lone Pine Ranch and set up the rodeo for the July 1 long weekend.
“For so many small towns in the West that are part of our market, rodeos mark the biggest civic day in all these small communities,” Pel- letier says. “So we are going to do our own version of it. We are going to take some traditional elements and ‘Predator Ridge it’ in terms of raising the delivery and the experience.”
On the Friday night, there will be a bonfire and barbecue featuring the creations of Okanagan-area chefs.
The rodeo will go Saturday and on Saturday night the festivities will move back across the street where Tom Cochrane and Red Rider will perform on Predator’s driving range.
Predator Ridge has lots to celebrate. Despite some tough challenges for the industry, it has become one of Canada’s premier golf resorts. It has succeeded where so many other large-scale golf-residential resorts have failed.
“We have grown our business each of the last four years despite all the compounded pressures facing our industry category,” Pelletier says.
“So that is something I kind of hold up with great pride in terms of what we do.”
Pelletier says he thinks Predator has succeeded in large part because of innovation. He challenges his management team to break new ground.
“We talk a lot about what we can do differently,” he says. “I always use the phrase: we need to be respectful of tradition, but we need to embrace change. I think tradition is one of the things that has really hurt the game in some ways … we are always looking at what others haven’t done.”
Predator Ridge was originally a 27-hole facility designed by Les Furber.
In 2007 and in the midst of tough economic times, course owners Wesbild Holdings Ltd. hired highly regarded Canadian golf architect Doug Carrick to complete what is now the Ridge course and tweak the Predator layout.
“That was absolutely the worst of economic times when he was hired to do that,” Pelletier says. “That was when things were really volatile. Not many people would have made that call and what he delivered with that (Ridge) course really helped reshape Predator. For years, Predator was considered 27 holes and too difficult. Nice piece of property, but too difficult.
“A lot has been done to soften it, but the great thing is now we have two completely different golf courses. One is more open, kind of the grasslands site, and then the other one has the elevation change, the resort feel. You can stay here and play two completely different golf courses.”
Pelletier believes another key to Predator’s success is its people. Former LPGA Tour regular A.J. Eathorne teaches a highly successful Swing Like a Girl program and two-time PGA Tour winner Richard Zokol recently transitioned to the resort’s real estate side.
Predator has partnered with Hockey Canada to make the resort its summer home and has partnerships with Big White, Mission Hills winery and Sparkling Hill, the upscale spa perched on a hill above Predator.
Predator’s green fees are among the highest in the province — $149 in peak season on the Predator course and $169 on the Ridge — but that hasn’t hurt play. It remains on the must-play list for most folks planning Okanagan golf getaways.
“Everything is sort of stacked against us — we are rural, we are caught between two markets (Kelowna and Vernon) — but yet we have been successful and are kind of viewed as a leader in the country,” Pelletier says.
“People will sacrifice playing two rounds elsewhere to save up to play here once. We know that.
“When the market changed and so many people looked at costcutting and changing plans, we did not alter plans. We continued to focus on really ensuring we are delivering good value, from our service levels, to course conditioning, to retail. We want to be a leader in everything that we do. We are coming off what will be our best resort year ever in 2015. I think with that momentum, 2016 will be a great year.”
People will sacrifice playing two rounds elsewhere to save up to play here once.