Ashley Gersten is a LPGA teaching professional at Woodway Country Club in Darien, Connecticut.

Ashley Gersten on the importance of running a spring women’s clinic:
A couple of years ago we began a six-week spring women’s clinic in an effort to boost our early season teaching program and generate excitement for the season. We offer the one-hour session twice a week: one in the morning, the other in the afternoon. We cap the number of participants at 20 in order to provide the best possible product to our students. We hand out “cheat sheets” each session. These “cheat sheets” are 3”x5” laminated, logoed note cards with bullet points/tips about that session’s topic. Each card is hole-punched and added to a ring for the women to connect to their golf bag. The women must come to each clinic to receive their cheat sheets. We also offered repeat sessions periodically, which covered previously introduced material to provide the women a level of flexibility should they miss a session. Session topics ranged from chipping and putting to full swing and course management.

Ashley Gersten on the business impact of running a spring women’s clinic:
Over the course of the six-week program, we averaged 12-15 participants per session with two to three instructors each session. At $40 per participant over 12 available sessions, we generated about $5,000 in additional teaching revenue in what was previously considered the off-season. Running this program in the early spring has been great for business because it gets the women excited for the season a couple months earlier than normal. This results in upward of 20-30 percent more activity from beginning women golfers. Additionally, we have made a point to always have a bag of demo equipment on the practice tee during the sessions. Many times, the women try out the equipment during the sessions, end up falling in love and ultimately make a purchase!

If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email ajgersten08@gmail.com