Golf facilities in the region have reacted to the unstable industry by promoting league play on public and semi-private courses, and have slashed budgets, cut back on course maintenance, and reduced fees in an effort to attract and retain new members.

For the 2016 golf season in Rochester, N.Y., the game is showing signs of emerging from its slump and for the first time in several years, hope abounds that golf participation is stabilizing, and could begin to see growth in the years to come, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported.

Locally, three courses in January were put up for sale by Oldcastle Materials of Ireland—Shadow Lake and Shadow Pines in Penfield and Greystone Golf Club in Walworth. Two of the properties, Shadow Lake and Greystone, were purchased by a group of investors headed up by the courses’ previous owners, the Odenbach family, who have said publicly they will be making course and clubhouse improvements to Greystone, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

Shadow Pines, a longtime semi-private club, is currently closed because Oldcastle wanted to sell it to any bidder regardless of the eventual buyer’s intent for the land. That sparked controversy in Penfield, and led to a 12-month moratorium proposed by town officials and approved in March to give the town and its residents time to come up with ideas for the reuse of the property while keeping developers from building on the land during that time, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

“(Course closure) is a problem all over the country,” said John Kindred, the new head pro at Ontario (N.Y.) Country Club. “I spent 53 years as a head pro in Florida building and running golf courses and the last 15 years have been very challenging to cash flow them and not go into bankruptcy. Any golf course that has a mortgage right now is in trouble or has been put into receivership.”

Rochester and the surrounding region, long considered one of the busiest and most passionate golf areas in the country, was not immune to the malaise. It has been a tremendous struggle for clubs to remain profitable or, at the very least, not drown in red numbers. Facilities have slashed budgets and payroll, cut back on course maintenance, and they have reduced membership and greens fees in an effort to attract new players and/or members, and then retain them, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

“We’ve learned over the years you can’t charge an arm and a leg, people aren’t going to pay it anymore,” said Chris Gallea, a 1995 Pittsford Sutherland graduate who bought Mill Creek Golf Club in Churchville last year.

Golf facilities have to be multi-faceted in order to make ends meet. League play has always been a prime money-maker at public courses, and now it has become a staple at semi-private clubs, too. And while the members can occasionally be put off by outsiders crowding their course, the trade-off is that in most cases inviting the public helps keep a club viable and affordable for the membership, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

“I have 80 leagues a month, anywhere from 12 to 15 to 24 players, mostly in the evening, nine holes, and it really helps the cash flow for the food and beverage because they all come in afterward and eat and drink,” said Kindred. “You have to get creative if you’re semi-private, run all kinds of outings that don’t interfere with the membership play, and you have to advertise. When times are tough, most golf courses stop advertising, but we don’t; we advertise and we fix because that’s how you bring people back.”

At Deerfield Country Club in Brockport, owner Paul Moriarty sank $3 million into upgrading and renovating the clubhouse, and he’s getting the return on that investment. He has about 85 wedding receptions booked this year alone, a revenue stream that helps him operate the rest of the club, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

“We really think customer service is key,” Moriarty said. “When people are here, they’ve either taken a day off or it’s their leisure time, so we want to make sure they’re having a good time.”

Dan Cordaro, the head pro at Blue Heron Hills, a semi-private club in Macedon, said that property has between 23 to 25 weddings booked, and upgrades to the bar—now called the Gananda Pub—have increased patronage during the golf season, all of which helps the bottom line, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

“For us it’s a big umbrella,” he said. “You don’t build a restaurant on 219 acres, you build a golf course, hope your restaurant does really well in the season, and if you have a beautiful area like we have for the weddings, that’s a great revenue source.”