GBR Friday | How Golf Clubs Are Driving Revenue Growth Through Service Excellence and Training
Connecting the dots across golf’s business, media, and professional landscape
Hello GBR community,
We have a slightly different newsletter for you today.
We start with a case study kindly provided to us by 59club USA.
59club USA is part of the wider 59club worldwide network that has set the industry standard for revenue growth and elevates the customer experience for golf, leisure, hospitality, and club-based businesses through data-driven performance management solutions. 59club has set the standard for mystery shopping audits that benchmark the full customer journey against elite service standards, robust satisfaction surveys that capture actionable feedback from members, visitors, and staff, and tailored training & education programmes designed to upskill teams and address gaps revealed by real-world data, 59club delivers deep insight, measurable improvement, and strategic direction for organisations committed to service excellence. By combining objective performance metrics with expert education, 59club empowers venues to refine their sales and service effectiveness, enhance loyalty, and outperform competitors.
59club not only provides tailored solutions and support to help any golf club, but it also recognizes the improvements made each year through its Service Excellence Awards, which cover each region of the world. Each recipient of an award is then put forward for 59club’s Global Service Excellence Awards ceremony, where the best from each region compete for the honor of global recognition.
Learn how data-led insight and targeted training can transform your service performance by contacting 59club USA here, or if you are outside the US, you can select your region on the 59club website here to discover local 59club support, who are ready to help tailor solutions to move your golf club forward.
The case study showcases all elements of the 59club USA proposition in action and how partnering with them made a significant impact on Fairwinds Golf Club.
Enjoy today’s edition of GBR.
Inside Fairwinds Golf Club’s Transformation With 59club
Nestled in the coastal beauty of Nanoose Bay, British Columbia, Fairwinds Golf Club has always impressed with its world-class design, stunning ocean views, and lush forests. Designed by renowned architect Les Furber and part of a broader luxury lifestyle community, Fairwinds had the potential to be a premier golf destination. But by early 2024, leadership realized that something was holding them back: inconsistent service.
Though the course was immaculate, and the facilities enviable, membership growth had stalled, and guest engagement wasn’t translating into loyalty or revenue. That’s when Fairwinds turned to 59club, the global leader in performance management for the golf, leisure, and hospitality industries.
The Hidden Challenge: Inconsistency Undermines Excellence
According to Travis Busch, Head Golf Professional, the club wasn’t failing; it just wasn’t consistently excelling.
“We weren’t necessarily doing things wrong. But we weren’t consistently doing them right either. That inconsistency was invisible until the mystery audits.” - Travis Busch.
Initial 59club mystery shopper audits revealed that while the physical product (course conditions, amenities) exceeded expectations, personal interactions lagged behind. Staff missed opportunities to connect, impress, and create memorable moments. Mystery scores landed at just 53% and 54%, an eye-opener for a club with such a strong foundation.
Fairwinds’ leadership made a bold move: they fully enrolled in the 59club Mentorship Platform for the 2025 season. What followed was a complete cultural transformation, grounded in hospitality-first principles and powered by expert performance insights.
Seeing the Full Picture
59club’s audit process didn’t just critique; it illuminated. Managers were given clear, data-backed feedback that pinpointed exactly where guest experiences were falling short and, more importantly, how to fix them.
Building a Communication Culture
Training placed heavy emphasis on verbal engagement, tone, body language, and empathy – the building blocks of a great guest experience. Small changes delivered big emotional returns.
Training That Empowers
Through structured, scenario-based training modules, staff were empowered with the tools, language, and confidence to deliver consistent, warm, and proactive service. What had once been left to chance was now driven by clear expectations and best-in-class standards.
“The lightbulb moment came when our team realized they weren’t underperforming due to a lack of care, it was a lack of training, standards, and clear expectations,” - Travis Busch.
A Shared Purpose Across Departments
As training progressed, a once-fragmented team became a united force. Whether in the pro shop, on the course, or at the practice range, everyone began working toward one shared goal: guest excellence.
The numbers speak for themselves. By September 2025, less than a year into the 59club program, Fairwinds had recorded historic improvements:
2024 - New member sales 10, Retail Revenue $291,948
2025 - New member sales January-November 51, Retail Revenue Jan-Sept. $379,616
The difference is significant. A 410% improvement in new member sales and a 30% improvement in retail revenue. And these gains came without adding staff, proving that smarter training and an aligned culture can unlock incredible performance without increasing overhead.
A Team Transformed The Blueprint for Clubs
The numbers speak for themselves. By September 2025, less than a year into the 59club program, Fairwinds had recorded historic improvements: “The in-depth testing process clearly identified areas for improvement, and the 59club training platform quickly educated our staff,” said Busch. “Fairwinds was fun to work at before, but now the team is seeing the reward of passing that fun, welcoming atmosphere on to our guests.”
Fairwinds Golf Club has the impetus to carry on its path to improvement and has specific targets set for 2026 to build on what has been learned and drive the club on to further success.
But even now, one truth is already clear: When service becomes everyone’s responsibility, and when a team is empowered with the right tools, insights, and mentorship, excellence isn’t the exception; it becomes the standard. Fairwinds’ story is more than a turnaround; it’s a model for every golf club or leisure venue looking to elevate performance, boost revenues, and inspire their teams. If your club is ready to make service excellence a competitive advantage, don’t settle for guesswork. Partner with the best. Partner with 59club.
RAPSODO ADDS TEAM PLAY AND EXPANDED TARGET RANGE TO MLM2PRO
Rapsodo has rolled out new enhancements to its MLM2PRO mobile launch monitor, introducing Scramble Mode and Best Ball Mode alongside major upgrades to its Target Range, all aimed at boosting training and competition for Premium Members.
The new team-based modes allow golfers to simulate popular formats at home. Scramble Mode has players hit from the team’s best shot, while Best Ball counts the lowest individual score. A new Screen Offset feature improves alignment for more accurate shot tracking. Target Range updates include a second-tier tee box with three added tee options, an expansion from four to eight fairways, and 14 new green targets, lifting total Target Range options to 228 and delivering a more immersive, real-world practice environment. “These latest features reinforce our commitment to constantly innovating to provide the best training and play options for our golfers,” said Pete Gibbons, adding that the updates bring “the competitive nature of the sport even to practice and indoor environments.”
GOLF PRO PAYMENTS LAUNCHES AZALEA GOLF PLATFORM WITH EARLY ADOPTER INCENTIVES
Golf Pro Payments has officially launched Azalea Golf, a new payments and operations system built exclusively for golf facilities, alongside a limited early adopter promotion for courses, clubs, and operators that onboard during the initial release period.
Azalea Golf is designed to offer secure payment processing with golf-specific operational tools, reporting, and workflows within a clean, intuitive interface designed to modernise day-to-day facility management and scale across daily-fee courses, private clubs, and multi-course operators. Announcing the launch, Andrew Reeves, PGA, said: “PGA Professionals are the heartbeat of every successful golf facility, yet too often the technology they’re given doesn’t reflect their value… At its core, Azalea is built on a simple idea: members helping members.” The early adopter programme offers qualifying facilities incentives such as preferred pricing, reduced onboarding costs, and priority access to new features, with availability limited during Azalea’s initial rollout as part of Golf Pro Payments’ broader push to deliver transparent, golf-first financial technology to the industry.
BOCA WEST NAMED CLUB OF THE YEAR BY GOLF BUSINESS NETWORK
Golf Business Network has named Boca West Country Club as its Club of the Year, recognising the Boca Raton-based operation for leadership, innovation, and member service within the private club sector. The award was presented at Golf Business Network’s annual awards event in Orlando, held alongside the PGA Show, with Boca West selected from more than 200 peer nominations nationwide. In announcing the honour, Golf Business Network cited Boca West’s ability to lead a large-scale operation while delivering “exceptional member satisfaction and sustained growth,” as well as its cohesive management team and active engagement with the network’s mission.
Reacting to the award, Matthew Linderman, Boca West’s President, COO, and General Manager, said: “We are so honored to be named Club of the Year, and nominated by our peers from around the nation. This recognition is a true testament to the dedicated team at Boca West, as well as our members.” Boca West operates as a private, resident-only community across 1,400 acres, offering four championship golf courses, a USTA tennis facility, spa, six restaurants, and year-round social programming.
8AM GOLF TAKES EQUITY STAKE IN PAYNTR GOLF TO ENTER FOOTWEAR CATEGORY
8AM Golf has taken a significant equity stake in premium performance footwear brand PAYNTR Golf, marking the holding company’s first investment in golf apparel and footwear and a major milestone in PAYNTR’s growth since launching in 2021. PAYNTR Golf has established itself as one of the fastest-growing footwear brands in the game, driven by a biomechanics-led design philosophy, proprietary propulsion technology, and expanding distribution across green-grass, direct-to-consumer, and major US retailers, including PGA TOUR Superstore, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and Golf Galaxy. 8AM Golf, founded by Howard Milstein and joined by Justin Timberlake as a partner in 2020, said PAYNTR’s innovation and leadership made it a natural portfolio fit. “PAYNTR Golf represents everything we look for in a modern golf brand,” said Hoyt McGarity, CEO and President of 8AM Golf, adding that the brand’s focus on swing biomechanics and growing traction at retail and on TOUR support its long-term global ambitions. PAYNTR’s PGA TOUR presence includes ambassadors Jason Day, who also holds an equity stake, alongside Min Woo Lee, Sam Burns, and Isaiah Salinda, with players such as Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson also wearing the brand in competition.
PGA OF AMERICA APPOINTS HEALTH CARE EXECUTIVE TERRY CLARK AS CEO
PGA of America has appointed Terry Clark as its new Chief Executive Officer, selecting a seasoned health care executive to lead one of golf’s largest membership organisations. Clark brings extensive experience in large-scale operations, governance, and member-focused organisations, with the PGA of America citing his background in managing complex, mission-driven enterprises as a strong fit for the association’s long-term strategy. Announcing the appointment, the PGA of America said Clark’s leadership will support its focus on serving PGA Professionals, growing participation, and strengthening the game’s economic and community impact. Clark said he was “honored to join an organization with such a powerful legacy in golf,” adding that he looks forward to working with PGA Professionals and staff to advance the association’s role in the sport’s continued growth.
BETTINARDI CONSOLIDATES PUTTER LINES WITH 2026 BB SERIES LAUNCH
Bettinardi Golf has introduced its 2026 BB Series, a strategic realignment that merges the brand’s former Studio Stock and INOVAI ranges into a single production line combining classic one-piece milling with modern performance technology. The new series features Bettinardi’s Variable Depth Flymill (VDF) face, using nine distinct milling zones to enhance energy transfer and deliver more consistent distance control across the face; internal testing using Quintic showed 30% less variation in effective distance and over 40% less variation in topspin compared with the previous Flymill design. Finished in a distinctive Savannah Blue PVD, the BB Series comprises seven models, four blades, a mid-mallet, and two mallets, each priced at $495, with founder Bob Bettinardi stating the goal was to “preserve classic shapes and feedback while advancing the technology that influences performance.”
2026 Bettinardi BB Series models:
BB1 – Rounded Anser-style blade with a plumber’s neck
BB-8W – Wide-body blade with squarer corners and a plumber’s neck
BB28 – Wide-body blade/square mid-mallet with a single-bend shaft, also offered in a 40–42 inch armlock configuration
BB49 – Compact half-moon mid-mallet with a slant neck
BB 6.0 – Fang-style mallet with a single-bend shaft and alignment rails
BB 7.0 – High-MOI mallet featuring extreme perimeter weighting via an underside cavity and a single-bend shaft
