The public property in Centerville, Ohio expects to continue to gain momentum as it celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2020, with clubhouse improvements now being planned to follow 2019’s introduction of a new Golf Studio with simulators and new golf carts.
The Golf Club at Yankee Trace in Centerville, Ohio recorded its best year ever in 2019, the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News reported, while also adding an administrative position and new technology to help it reach more patrons as it gets ready to celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2020.
Yankee Trace patrons set a single-year record and played more than 58,000 rounds of golf in 2019, the Daily News reported, and brought in $1,274,855 in greens fees at the property that includes a 27-hole championship course and 32,000-sq.-ft. clubhouse.
The 58,540 rounds played at Yankee Trace in 2019 topped the previous high set of 56,761 set in 2012, the Daily News reported, and the greens fees exceeded the previous record of $1,220,558 set in 2017.
It was also a year when Head PGA Golf Professional Steve Marino was named Yankee Trace’s administrator, to manage daily activities, personnel and resources at the golf club, the Daily News reported. Marino had been in charge of the club’s golf operations since May 2005 and is continuing in his role as Head Golf Professional while taking on the additional duties as administrator.
Marino’s annual salary has been increased by 20 percent, to $97,644, for the expanded position, the Daily News reported.
“We created the new administrator position in alignment with our strategic plan, to introduce more accountability and efficiency in decision-making,” Centerville Mayor Brooks Compton told the Daily News. “Steve is off to a tremendous start in his new role. We are grateful for his vision, expertise, innovative mindset and dedication to Yankee Trace.”
Marino worked with city officials to bring modern technology out to the course to engage more patrons, by adding a SIMS Golf Studio with three state-of-the-art golf simulators that allow golfers to “play” more than 80 championship courses from around the world, the Daily News reported.
Yankee Trace also unveiled new golf carts last year, which include a media platform that delivers content to golfers through easy-to-read mounted screens, the Daily News reported.
“I am grateful to our patrons for their commitment in making The Golf Club at Yankee Trace the premier golfing and entertainment facility in southern Ohio. Twenty-five years in, the Golf Club at Yankee Trace has been an absolute success story,” Marino said.
Centerville is considering “many ideas to improve the look and feel of the clubhouse in 2020, starting with new paint and flooring, to enhance the experience for our customers,” Marino added.
The city is also planning on a much-needed repaving of the Yankee Trace parking lot, Compton told the Daily News. And an effort is also underway to improve wages and benefits for workers at the municipal property.
“In 2019, we made it a priority to create consistency among all city workers, including those at Yankee Trace,” Compton said. “The general wage adjustment will now apply to most Yankee Trace employees, and we also brought them onto the city’s health-insurance plan for the first time. Our personnel manual, as well, will now include Yankee Trace employees.”
In 2020, the Daily News reported, Yankee Trace’s 25th anniversary will be marked throughout the golf season with monthly events, promotions and giveaways.
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