Bobby Kauth is the PGA general manager and head professional at Mercer Oaks in West Windsor, New Jersey.

Bobby Kauth on the importance of making capital improvements to maximize range use:
Here at Mercer Oaks we do roughly 80,000 rounds a year between March and November and our range receives a staggering number of visitors. In early 2012 we decided to convert our all-grass range into a hybrid setup that had 60-percent mats and 40-percent natural grass. Our vision was developed for several reasons, one of which is weather; the summer heat and extreme use of the range was hard on our turf and even worse on the tee’s overall look. Furthermore, when we received a considerable amount of rainfall, we would have to close the range completely due to poor drainage. Lastly, to help out with labor costs and customer convenience we installed Easy Picker’s Range Express Wireless Ball Dispenser system, which has been an outstanding system that continuously generates greater revenue for our range.

Bobby Kauth on the business impact of making capital improvements to maximize range use:
The plan to convert our range from all grass to a 60-percent mat / 40-percent turf hybrid has been an extremely profitable initiative. Due to the fact that we were able to keep our range open virtually all the time, we were able to cover our installation costs in the first year and have since seen a 20-percent increase in revenue annually. In addition, installing the Easy Picker Wireless Ball Dispenser encourages convenience and savings for our customers. Instead of the hassle involved with purchasing tokens per visit, customers now have range debit cards which saves them and our staff time and money as we offer specials including: buy 20 buckets, get five free.

If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email bkauth@mercercounty.org