The Mulligan Club

For most people the golf course is a place of recreation and relaxation, but for Wayde Greer, owner of The Mulligan Club, it is a place of business innovation. The Mulligan Club is an exciting and creative new business that offers members a diverse set of discounts at local golf courses.

“I published a golf magazine once called On the Links,” Greer said. “Whenever I distributed the magazine people would ask if it contained any discounts or coupons.” With a formal education in advertising, and an employment history in publishing, corporate management, and marketing, Greer saw a business opportunity.

“I researched the coupon booklets that were being offered for golfing. For the most part they were pieces of print media, with discounts inside to different courses. I noticed that all of the discounts and coupons came with a huge amount of restrictions. Either you could only use the discount on weekdays or in the evenings, or on slow days...basically whenever it was convenient for the owners of the golf course,” Greer said.

Believing that he could create a more user-friendly system of golf discounts, Greer tried to imagine what a person who worked during the week, and didn’t have a large disposable income, would want from golf coupons. “I realized that people want discounts without all of the crazy conditions and rules. So, by taking my time, building up strong relationships with the local golf course owners, and conducting a lot of negotiations, I was able to create a discount golf system without any of the restrictive conditions.”

By buying a membership for twenty-five dollars a person becomes a member of Greer’s Mulligan Club. A member is given a card which resembles a credit card. The card gives members many discounts at local golf courses, including three hundred dollars of savings in two-for-one golfing. It also entitles the cardholder to unlimited balls for the season at a local driving range leased by Greer.

“In my opinion, print advertising is ineffective and expensive. I want to advertise in new ways,” Greer said.  “The thing about a golfer is he or she always knows another golfer, who knows another golfer, and so on. So what I am doing is using golfers’ word of mouth as my advertisement. One of the best ways to do that is offering the unlimited driving range use with the membership card. This gets golfers talking, and it gets them interested in what I’m offering.”

“People think I’m crazy for offering all of the ‘free’ balls at the driving range, saying its lost income, and I should be charging people for every bucket of balls. But it really is the best marketing strategy.” Greer’s current membership proves that his marketing strategy is effective.  “So far I’ve sold 2,700 Haliburton Highlands’ memberships for this season,” he said.

“There is this belief that you can’t succeed in business unless you’re ruthless,” Greer said. “That’s simply not true. Treat people well, and it will pay off.”  Aside from the ‘free’ driving range balls, Greer donates the proceeds from a mini-putt course he operates to Sick Kids Hospital. He also allows the Red Wolves special Olympic golf team to use his facilities for free, even though they’re not members of the Mulligan Club.

Greer operates the Mulligan Club model outside of the Haliburton Highlands, with coupon membership cards for the Peterborough and Lindsay regions as well. “The model is certainly working,” Greer said. “In my first season with Wolf Run Golf Course I was responsible for the second highest number of discount golfers using their course. That’s really good, since the competition has been in business for years.”

For Greer, Mulligan Club memberships are basic income units, and there is lots of potential for expansion. “There are certainly other means of securing an income that I will explore, once this model is securely established. Firstly, there are other cards I can offer. For example, last season I offered a special card for Deerhurst, which is a higher-end golf course than I usually deal with.  There is also a lot that can be offered out of the driving range, since I now lease it. This includes serving food and alcohol, and some other ideas I’m working on, but not ready to reveal.”

Greer believes that the personal nature of his business separates him from the competition. “Most golf coupon businesses are just fax machines. Golf courses receive a fax which explains the coupons and the owners fill out a form in which they specify all of their restrictions. There is no human interaction,” Greer said. “By meeting with golf course owners, and taking the time to explain what I’m doing, I’m able to get much better deals for my members.”

One might think that Greer works in the Haliburton Highlands because it is home to several beautiful golf courses. However, the Mulligan Club is a business he could operate in many different locations. “The main reason I work in the Highlands is for my eight year old daughter Trista. I want her to grow up in the environment that Haliburton offers. The quality of life is so much better than in the city. The schools here are amazing, and the teachers are great,” Greer said.

Greer also believes that Haliburton has a great business environment. “You have the opportunity to stand out here,” Greer said. “People notice what you’re doing, and word of mouth spreads quickly. People want you to succeed, and they help you out along the way. It’s also easy to work with the Haliburton County Development Corporation, which is eager to help businesses succeed.”

With a steadily increasing membership, and local golf courses eager to continue working with Greer, the Mulligan Club has proven that the links are indeed a site of innovative business practices.