Michael Springer is the PGA Head Professional at Cherry Creek Golf Links in Riverhead, NY.

Michael Springer on the importance of using a unique feature when promoting your facility:

Yes, we have a par-6 at our facility. Cherry Creek Golf Links was built in 1996 and preceded our sister course across the street, The Woods at Cherry Creek (built in 2003). The hole is a 644-yard dogleg left with deep gullies up the left hand side. As you finally near the green the approach plays a club or two longer. The hole ends up right by the clubhouse so our patio guests can watch. When laying the framework for the golf course in the early ‘90s there was a lot of land available for the final stretch of holes. One of our owners, Vincent Sasso, came up with an idea of having the 18th be a Par-6. The original par-5 layout was, we felt, a very mediocre hole that did not promise a spectacular finish for our golfers. Golf on Long Island was booming the decades prior and this new concept was thought to bring some people and attention to our new course. There were a lot of options on where to play golf on the Island and being all the way out on the East End, it was even tougher to compete with them. So “The Par 6” became our thing. Before the golf course was even finished being built golfers from all around were talking about the upcoming golf course with “The Par 6.”

Michael Springer on the business impact of using a unique feature when promoting your facility:

Throughout the years we have used “The Par 6” in our marketing of our course, using such phrases as “Home of the Par 6” on our website, apparel, headwear, scorecards, etc. As the head professional I always love interacting with our golfers after the round. Usually the first thing they talk about is how they did on “The Par 6.” The same excited feeling comes whether they made a long putt for par or birdie or how much they struggled to get to the green in regulation. Whatever result they had you can tell that they loved the challenge and will be back to test themselves again. And that to us, speaks volumes about the hole’s impact.

If you would like to email the author of this Best Practice directly, please email mikespringer1@yahoo.com.