GG#5 - Brand Masters

This is the 5th in a series of articles by The Golf Gadfly intended for anyone who is interested in the BUSINESS of golf… this article challenges course operators to consider burnishing their brand with a grand tradition borrowed from the Scots… and embraced by Augusta National.

We’re approaching Masters Week… the ‘tradition like no other’ that mesmerizes the golf world for 4+ days every year.  Is there any organization that you know of that protects and burnishes their brand with more focus and ferocity than the folks at Augusta National?  MBA professors of brand marketing would be wise to devote a class session to the practices of the brand masters at The Masters… they leave no detail unattended. 

One small but significant component of Augusta National branding is the series of names they have selected for the 18 holes on their championship course.

Naming each hole on a golf course is a tradition that originated in Scotland. 60+% of the courses in Scotland have names for each hole on the course.  

Augusta National has embraced the Scottish tradition.  With hole names like Tea Olive, White Dogwood, Golden Bell, Azalea, etc., Augusta National has chosen to emphasize the incredibly beautiful and diverse arboretum and flower garden that exists on their course.  I’ve been on the grounds a few times and the beauty is breathtaking… truly ‘unlike any other’.

As a golfer, I love it when a course I am playing has hole names… it adds some pizzazz to the round and makes the course more memorable.  

Here are three of my all-time favorites:

#8 at Arbor Pointe (Inver Grove Heights, MN) – This is an obscure 9-hole, par 31 course tucked just off a busy highway intersection that truly deserves the ‘hidden gem’ tag.  It is well-maintained and surprisingly challenging for an executive length course.  As you progress towards the end of an enjoyable round of par 3s and short par 4s, the 8th hole comes out of nowhere to knock you flat on your keister… a 400+ yard par 4 with trouble lurking everywhere that I consider one of the hardest holes I've ever played.  It’s name?  ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE… perfect.

#4 at White Eagle (Hudson, WI) – Before professional golfers were routinely hitting their drives 300+ yards, a 600+ yard hole was a rarity.  Stretching to 621 yards from the back tees, this long, perfectly straight par 5 offers a simple challenge… how far can you hit it?  It is aptly named BRUTE FORCE.  White Eagle features several other memorable holes/hole names – Serenity, Psycho Drama, Staircase are some of the best.

#4 at StoneRidge (Stillwater, MN) – StoneRidge is a very challenging course, but it lulls you to sleep with its first two holes… a bunny par 4 and a relatively easy par 5.  #3 is a somewhat more challenging par 4 and then you step on the tee for #4 and face a long, double-dogleg par 5 with an elevated green and the cavernous “bunker of death” that guards the right side of the green… where the pin always seems to be tucked just out of reach of my approach shots.  I suppose the name BENT refers to the shape of the fairway leading from tee to green but there’s a chance it could have been named by someone like me who ALWAYS finds that damn bunker on my approach and have often been sitting there trying to figure out how I’m going to escape it in less than three shots while muttering “Hey (course architect) Bobby Weed… get bent!”

If you’re one of the 97% of US golf course operators whose course does not yet have hole names and if your course layout has enough personality to support a unique name for each hole, adding names to your holes could be a relatively inexpensive way to spruce up your brand.  You could even engage your customers in a contest over a period of time to create hole names… providing fun for all and a nice new asset for your golf course

For inspiration, check out the list of courses below in Minnesota and Wisconsin that have already taken the plunge.  If you view these courses in the GroupLooper course directory, the hole names are displayed as part of the scorecard display.  My apologies to any course in MN/WI that has hole names but is missing from this list… we have scoured every course website to find any trace of this type of activity but it is certainly possible we missed some or that some courses have chosen not to publish their hole names.

MINNESOTA

• Arbor Pointe
• Black Bear (Carlton)
• Crystal Lake
• Eagle Lake Youth Golf Center (pitch and putt course)
• Ely Golf Club
• Eshquaguma
• Gopher Hills (Heath and Glen)
• Medina (Executive Course)
• Montgomery National
• Pezhekee National
• Royal Golf Club (6-hole short course)
• Ruttger’s – Jack’s 18
• StoneRidge
• The Links at Northfork
• The Meadows at Mystic Lake
• The Wilderness at Fortune Bay

 WISCONSIN

• Apostle Highlands
• Blackwolf Run – Meadows Valley
• Blackwolf Run – River Course
• Black Bear (Minong)
• Blue Mound
• Bull at Pinehurst Farms
• Fire Ridge
• Glen Erin
• Horseshoe Bay
• Kenosha Country Club
• Lakewoods Resort – Forest Ridges
• Minocqua Country Club
• Morningstar Golfer’s Club
• Muskego Lakes
• Peninsula State Park
• Prentice Pines
• Royal St. Patrick’s
• Thornberry Creek – Oneida Legends Course
• University Club of Milwaukee
• University Ridge (U. of Wisconsin)
• Whistling Straits – Irish
• Whistling Straits – Straits
• White Eagle