We sat down with Cathy Harbin, owner of Pine Ridge Golf Course in Paris, Texas, at the Golf Inc. Summit in September and got some insight into the mind of a golf course owner. She told us about the trends owners should be paying attention to, big operational trends, the advice she’d give first-time owners and more.
Full transcript below (lightly edited for clarity):
What trends in the golf industry do you think course owners need to pay the most attention to right now?
Right now is a very good time in the golf industry. We have a lot of abundance going on. I think the biggest trend that we need to keep an eye on is what happens if this doesn’t sustain itself. And one thing I always say to all golf course owners is, “Let’s not fall asleep at the wheel. Let’s stay focused on growing the game. Let’s stay focused on bringing new business to our facilities.” Even though some golf courses are very busy, there’s always an opportunity to keep introducing people to the game, whether it’s through golf technology, screen golf, or something. But my biggest advice right now, and the thing that I worry about the most, is that we’re getting comfortable, and I don’t want us to fall asleep while things are happening around us that may affect us in the future. So I want to be planning ahead.
What operational change has had the biggest impact on your bottom line at Pine Ridge in the past few years?
For me, I was an early adopter to golf entertainment technology. In 2020, I put in 12 covered bays with Toptracer technology, and that has been by far the single biggest impact on our golf course revenue for sure. But also, the demographic [it] has brought out with the different age groups and the families. And because of the proximity from these covered tees with technology to the first tee, which is literally five yards over here, we’ve seen a lot of transition from that golf technology, entertainment, enjoyment to taking onto the golf course. So by far, the biggest impact that we’ve made is adding technology.
How has community involvement helped enhance your facility?
At Pine Ridge Golf Course, we like to think that we are an extension of the community and we do a lot of things that are very centered around community involvement. We do Friday night concerts, so we bring families out, communities out, for things like that. We do United Way fundraising, 5K. We do a lot of things that bring the community out that show that we want to give back to the community and we want to reach out to the community and be a very strong pillar in the community. And so we do more than golf, but we do a lot of things that are golf centered too. We give free lessons at Boys and Girls Club and it’s so neat to see these kids that have never had a club in their hand all of a sudden show an aptitude for the game of golf and stay with it. So yeah, our community involvement has been substantial.
What leadership principles guide the way you run Pine Ridge?
For me, the most important thing you can do is to be an authentic leader, someone that people can count on. The one thing that when I look at leadership, all good leaders I’ve ever seen, I know a couple things are going to happen. I know that they have a clear message. I know that they are an example of that message in their actions, and I know that they are consistent in their behavior with every single person that they encounter. And that is really the kind of leader I want to be. I want to have a strong message that everyone knows what we stand for as a golf course. I want to live by that message, and I want to be consistent in the way I interact with people.
What advice would you give to first-time owners?
I actually bought my golf course about eight years ago. And so I can think back now on what I wish I had known at the time. And the one thing that I think I would give, the advice I would give to first-time owners, is to be very mindful of your equipment, your golf course maintenance equipment. I had someone, actually a professional, come in and look at all of my equipment, and they gave it the check of approval. But what I didn’t know — I knew I had enough equipment to run everything, but what I didn’t know is how long that equipment would last. And so very quickly on, I was replacing equipment that I was kind of counting on not replacing for a while. So for the first-time owners, I would just say: Be very mindful of your equipment, where it’s standing, and when you might need to replace it.
What single piece of wisdom would you share with other course owners and operators?
The best piece of wisdom I could give to golf course owners is: Make the number one thing the number one thing, and the number one thing is driving revenue. So of all the things that you’re continuing to focus on, the one thing that you have to continue to do is drive revenue to your facility. Expenses are going to continue to go up. You’re going to be fighting the battle with the golf course conditions all the time. That’s a roller coaster ride. You’re going to stay with it. The one thing you can never lose focus on is driving revenue, creating programs, creating events, getting people out to the golf course in a variety of ways, getting the community out there. Driving revenue is the most important thing you’re going to do.
