Craig Allan, a 2013 Golf Digest Top 100 Fitter, is the Golf Performance Center manager and clubfitter at the Sea Island Golf Club in St. Simons Island, Georgia.

Craig Allan on the importance of adding a fitness element to your launch monitor testing:
Almost immediately after acquiring TrackMan, we realized that we had an opportunity to couple a fitness element to the fitting and teaching aspect. We utilize TrackMan for fitness by offering an initial speed and distance test. We then have the students take those results to our golf fitness specialists and senior swing instructors to work on flexibility and technique. We have found that the key for us is customizing the fitness program to the golfers’ needs, with important factors being goals, time, physical tools, and feedback from their full swing instructor. The program lasts 1.5 hours, with a half-hour assessment followed by four half-hour follow-up sessions. At the end of the program I fit the golfer for a driver and evaluate/quantify distance gain.

Craig Allan on the business impact of adding a fitness element to your launch monitor testing:
We have grown our business every year from an instruction, clubfitting, and fitness standpoint. We estimate that we see approximately 500 students per year for our Golf Specific Fitness program, which includes five fitness sessions at a total of $550 and a fitting session at $125. As fitness has become a bigger part of the game, we have continued to streamline our program with Randy Myers and Scott Fedisin, and our fitness revenues have doubled. Our approach means our lessons and fitness are tied together, which in turn increases revenues in both areas. Our foot traffic has more than doubled by having Golf Specific Fitness in our Golf Performance Center. This, in turn, led to more merchandise sales with our best year ever in 2014, in hard goods specifically, which saw a 10 percent increase from 2013 and 20 percent from 2012. As both a resort and a private club, having these resources has been invaluable, as our membership has access to these resources and tools year-round, which has benefited them greatly. The end result is a fit and happier golfer, which is everything a facility could hope for.

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