By Vinnie Manginelli, PGA
Mike Attara, PGA
The Philadelphia PGA Section is among the most storied in the country, with award-winning PGA Professionals and stellar public and private golf facilities throughout. One such course is Five Ponds Golf Club in Warminster, Pennsylvania. Managed by PGA Professional Mike Attara, the President and CEO of Spirit Golf Management since 2009, Five Ponds Golf Club is a three-time GRAA Top 50 Public Facility (2020-2022).
Spirit Golf Management manages eight properties in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. In addition to Attara, a two-time Section Player Development Award winner, PGA Professional Kevin Beirne, a six-time New Jersey PGA Section award winner and current Section Vice President, is the company’s Vice President of Golf Operations.
Kevin Beirne, PGA
Attara and Beirne are very hands-on in their management style and “do a little bit of everything” across their facilities. Their mission of “Growing the Game One Club at a Time” has been in place since creating the company almost 15 years ago. Having experience at other golf management companies prior to forming his own firm, Attara knew he wanted to be more involved in the facilities they manage than he had seen in the past. When the relationship with Five Ponds Golf Course was initiated, Attara took over as PGA Head Professional for a period of time while evaluating the facility’s needs and building a staff.
“We want to know all about the business we’re managing, and the best way to do that is to sit in the head professional’s seat at the outset and get a handle on it,” Attara explained. “We figure out how much staff is needed, where the positives are and what deficiencies need attention. This process has worked out very well for us.”
Attara and Beirne team up as PGA General Manager and PGA Head Professional respectively at Five Ponds. They host a lot of outings and have grown the banquet business at the 18-hole facility. They have live music every Friday night and built a great outdoor patio area called The Backyard which is a hub of activity and socialization. It’s really revitalized their food and beverage business.
Attara says they maintain very good relationships with the municipalities that own a couple of their facilities and the private ownership at the others. He remains very accessible to them, which builds trust and reliability within these vital connections.
The Five Ponds Golf Club has a “tremendous” short game area that actually preceded Attara and his team. With three tees, two greens and four bunkers, and a large driving range and putting green adjacent, Five Ponds offers a complete practice opportunity for golfers of all skill levels.
“The whole setup is really nice because everything’s right in front of you,” Attara says. “You walk out of the pro shop and you’ve got the first tee, the driving range, the short game area and the putting green all right there. It’s really accommodating to the golfer here for a round or to just hit a bucket of balls after work.”
The range has 40 stations (20 grass and 20 mats) that are rotated frequently to ensure pristine hitting conditions at all times. “It’s funny how many people prefer mats, even when grass is an option,” Attara says. “This really works and gives each customer exactly what they want.”
He says they did some renovations a few years ago, and have beautiful faux bunkers around the target greens on the range and more visible short game targets, enabling an effective practice as well as a simple pre-round warmup. “The practice facilities really grew out of our programming,” he says.
Garret Urglavitch
The Spirit Golf Academy is how they grow the game. The academy has PGA Professional instructors and programs such as Get Golf Ready for adults and Operation 36 and PGA Junior League for juniors. Garret Urglavitch is their Junior Golf Leader. Attara says that Urglavitch has done a great job with the juniors, and as a result, Five Ponds is seeing more young golfers than ever, as well as ladies and complete families. These are the demographics that will drive programming, play, equipment sales and F&B revenues well into the future. “We want this to feel like ‘their home club,’” Attara says.
