Billy Holtz is a PGA member and the first assistant professional at Lakeside Country Club in Houston, Texas.

Billy Holtz on the importance of holding a junior golf expo:
We host two junior golf expos annually, each featuring a demo day that targets junior golfers and includes sales on apparel and equipment, games, contests and food. The event kicks off the summer golf season, right before summer camps, and we hold another event in November for Christmas purchases. There is no cost for the event, and we allow guests to be invited. We also offer buyers club pricing for all purchases made on that day. Due to the numbers we have in our junior programs, we do not allow guests to participate in our regular junior clinics, so we typically run a clinic preceding our demo day in which we allow guests to participate. The events also serve as a great marketing vehicle for our Junior Club Exchange, which offers consignment or donations of used junior sets from members that we can then sell to customers at discounted prices.

Billy Holtz on the business impact of holding a junior golf expo:
During my time at Lakeside, we have run two of these events, and they averaged 80 junior participants and more than 100 total attendees, including parents. I would recommend this event to any club that has an active membership. It has given us the opportunity to promote our range and practice facility to our membership and has helped increase the usage of these facilities. Also, this program helps boost our junior instruction participation each year.

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