Public course saviors in South Carolina
A couple who took over a debt-laden public course in South Carolina have achieved a complete turnaround on the venue’s fortunes – earning exposure in American business magazine Forbes.
Golf course turnaround: Couple transform ‘Neighborhood Dog Track’ into regional draw tells the story of The Club at Brookstone, which had been “running in the red” since 2006 until Tyler Brennan and Dr Melissa Mertely took over the reins in 2020.
“They didn’t know what Google was, they didn’t know what SEO was, they barely had a Facebook page and the computers were practically running on Windows ’97,” Brennan, an active-duty Air Force fighter pilot, told Forbes, the magazine famous for its rich lists.
The couple have also drastically reduced the club budget by using sustainable policies like keeping out-of-play areas as long grass.
“We turned those areas back into rough and by doing that we shaved $40,000 off the annual budget and it didn’t affect playability at all,” added Brennan.
The club grossed $1.1million in 2021 and 2022 projections indicate a profit of nearly $1.7m.
Tee time booker GolfNow recently gave the club the accolade of the top-rounds producer in their region for the first half of the year.
Image credit: The Club at Brookstone
