The property recently installed silver tees for the 70-and-over crowd, as well as four new water stations on the golf course, while offering special promotions such as reduced fees on holidays and a free round for those who donate during a blood drive.

The Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Municipal Golf Club has some upgrades and new offerings this golf season, the Wilkes-Barre Citizens’ Voice reported.

Topping the list is the new “silver tees” that Superintendent Greg McElhattan had installed, pro shop manager John Kebles said April 17 at a meeting of the city’s General Municipal Authority board members who oversee the club.

The 70-plus crowd loves the new tees, Kebles said, which lie closer to the holes than the regular tees, the Citizens’ Voice reported.

“I’m actually getting hugged by 70-year-old guys,” he said. “We want people to enjoy playing golf. It’s like Disney World. If they don’t have fun, they won’t come back.”

Four new water stations also have been installed along the course, Kebles said.

Clubhouse restaurant manager Alan Probst said the restaurant has a new menu with hot sandwiches, subs and wraps, hot dogs, pizza and appetizers. Probst said the restaurant will have grab-and-go sandwiches and wraps ready in the refrigerator for league players to take with them this season, the Citizens’ Voice reported.

As the season progresses and business picks up, Probst said, he’d like to bring in some live entertainment on weekends. The public address system has been repaired and computers in the clubhouse have been updated. The security system also has been upgraded, Kebles said.

“All the changes we’ve made have been subtle, inexpensive,” Kebles said. “It hasn’t cost us really a lot to get this done, but it has an impact on how people look at us as, what I call it, a blue-collar country club.”

The golf course is distributing 500 pamphlets with coupons for half-off a food order to residents living in the nearby area to entice them in to the restaurant to try the food. “Hopefully they’ll like it and keep coming back,” Probst said, noting that the restaurant was “pretty busy” Friday and Saturday when the temperatures climbed into the 70s and 80s, the Citizens’ Voice reported.

Authority Chairman Charles Majikes said there are a lot of special promotions being offered to golfers this time of year, including reduced green fees. Kebles said the club is offering golf specials for Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day and Independence Day, the Citizens’ Voice reported.

“And we’re looking for other ways to create play, like Sunday Evening Couples—play nine and have a cocktail on us,” he said.

The club also will host a Life Source Blood Drive on May 20 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and any donor will receive a free round of golf, the Citizens’ Voice reported.

“We’re offering a lot more specials, trying to cater to the public as much as possible to help people develop or maintain an interest in the game of golf,” Majikes said. “We’re trying to put the fun back into it.”