After successfully running golf simulators at a local restaurant during the off-season, golf pro Jason Lehtola convinced the management of the Stevensville, Mont. course to install two simulators and is seeing a positive response. “I knew we’d have income in the winter and I’d have a year-round job,” Lehtola said. “Hopefully we can take some of the profits from here and put them back into the golf course and other projects we’re hoping to do.”
In the past, golf clubs in the state of Montana have struggled to make a solid profit during the long winter months, when snow is on the ground and players can’t get out on the course, station KXLH of Helena, Mont. reported.
But properties like the Whitetail Golf Course in Stevensville, Mont. are now joining the trend to invest in state-of-the-art golf simulators that make it possible for people to play throughout the year, KXLH reported.
After running golf simulators at Fireside Pizza and Sandwich, a Stevensville restaurant, Whitetail GC’s golf professional, Jason Lehtola, saw how profitable they could be and decided to take the idea to Whitetail’s ownership and management, KXLH reported.
“I pitched the idea to the Board and stayed on them for a couple of years, and here we are,” Lehtola told KXLY. “We have them now and it’s been great so far.”
The two new simulators, acquired from TruGolf in Salt Lake City, Utah, are top of the line, and cost an average of more than $15,000 each, KXLH reported. But Lehtola and Whitetail’s management hope they will create a steady flow of new income in the winter months that will be put back into improving the club’s nine-hole golf course, which also hosts several tournaments and golf as part of weddings and other events, for the rest of the year.
And so far, KXLH reported, the signs are good that the simulators will attract new business at Whitetail.
John Velk, a Missoula, Mont. resident who now goes to Whitetail to use the simulators regularly, told KXLH that he’s enjoying the opportunity and experience.
“It’s a great atmosphere. [You can] get a drink, watch TV, watch football games [and] play,” Velk said. “[Lehtola’s] got leagues down here. It’s open to everybody and Jason is a great teacher, so if you need lessons I can’t imagine picking anybody better than that.
“Simulators started coming out a few years ago—it was probably about a decade ago that they were even halfway usable, but they were so bad, they weren’t accurate [and] close to the real thing,” Velk added. “[The simulators at Whitetail] are close; they measure your spin rate, launch angle, everything. Everything you are seeing actually came off your club, whether you want to believe it or not.”
Whitetail is making sure it’s known that the simulators are not just open and available to experienced players, but also to beginners, too.
“I was really excited, to tell you the truth,” Lehtola told KXLH about making the simulators available to area golfers. “I knew we’d have income in the winter and I’d have a year-round job. Hopefully we can take some of the profits from here and put them back into the golf course and other projects that we’re hoping to do.
“It gives [people] something to do in the evenings in Stevensville, Montana,” Lehtola added. “Instead of sitting on the couch, they can come out here and hit golf balls.”
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