Tom Morton, the 2014 Youth PGA Player Development Award winner, a two-time Northern California PGA Section Horton Smith Award winner, two-time Section Youth Player Development Award winner and two-time Section Player Development Award winner, is the PGA director of player development at Haggin Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, California.

Tom Morton on the importance of offering wedge fitting days in conjunction with instruction:
Over the last two years, we started to offer wedge fittings in conjunction with instruction. For these events, we look to bring two or three vendors together who provide the different wedge lofts, shafts and grips for the fittings.  Fifty percent of the time, golfers are going through the fitting process, and the other 50 percent of the time they are receiving instruction.  Our Instruction is centered around wedge play, as we set targets at 30, 50 and 100 yards.  We typically look to run the event on Saturday afternoons, and we have also had great success on Friday nights as well.

Tom Morton on the business impact of offering wedge fitting days in conjunction with instruction:
Since their introduction, we have successfully run the events four times.  The cost of the event is $150, and for that price a student receives one fit wedge and instruction.  We see typically 40-60 people per event, which has seen an average of 30 percent women, 60 percent male and 10 percent youth. We will staff 4-6 instructors, who share $25 per $150 paying customer.  On average, we do anywhere from $6,000-$9,000 in revenue captured during this two-hour event.  Furthermore, 15-20 percent of folks purchase more than one wedge; we’ve often sold well over 200 wedges, and 30-40 folks attending the event are beginner/intermediate, giving us the ability to add new students to our lesson book. The combination of price, fitting and instruction makes this one-day event a home run for all involved!

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