The impressive Hounslow Golf Park has reimagined itself four years after opening.
The centre, which opened four years ago, has 55 bays and is definitely a modern take on a golf range. The area immediately around Hounslow from where the centre draws its trade is ethnically diverse and, despite a large population, there are fewer traditional golfers in this part of West London than in many other areas around the M25.
The outfield is completely covered in Astroturf, with multicoloured targets designating the greens and other targets. This also makes the business of ball collection much more straightforward, with no issues with heavy rain and poor ground conditions. Ball collection is robotically managed with AMS providing three robotic ball collectors to cope with a large number of balls hit every day.
Inside each bay there is seating including soft sofas and the ability to order food and drink directly from the bar whilst enjoying your golf. Topgolf were the first people to do this successfully in the UK and it is definitely working at Hounslow.
Multiple players in each bay is a cornerstone of the way that the range is operated. Customers are charged for the time that they spend and also the number of players in each bay. This is quite different from a traditional type of golf range when people purchase a bucket of balls and are able to share the experience with a friend at no extra cost. Also, club hire is provided free of charge and customers can hit as many balls as they wish during their allotted time.
The site is owned by Richard and Sally Haygarth via Maple Leaf Golf. The first part of both Richard & Sally’s careers were as corporate accountants with PWC. They were both Chartered Accountants who devoted themselves to helping large corporations run smooth efficient operations. In 1999 Richard and Sally relocated from Canada to the UK and set about transforming the family-owned golf centre at Chichester. Pretty soon afterwards Richard and Sally acquired, through their vehicle Maple Leaf Golf, Horton Golf Park in Epsom, Surrey. They quickly developed this into a thriving golf range, course and food and beverage outlet. It was extremely successful – and even more so when they added adventure golf to create a marvellous family-friendly golf centre. They also acquired Hill Barn Golf Course near Worthing and Sally took on running operations on the south Coast, leaving Richard to manage Horton Park and pursue other opportunities.
It was ten years ago that Richard started the bidding process to acquire the old Hounslow Heath Golf Course and after a detailed planning process he managed to secure a long-term lease and the opportunity to build a 55-bay 2-tier golf range, pitch and putt course, large adventure golf opportunity over 36 holes and a café bar.
During this period, Richard also became a director and subsequently chairman of the UK Golf Federation.
There is a certain irony that despite being a member of one of the most prestigious golf clubs in the Southeast, he has renamed his operation at Hounslow as Good Time Golfin. The elegant surrounds of the Royal Automobile Club are quite removed from the modern golf range, adventure golf courses and pitch and putt course at Hounslow. Of course, this is quite deliberate as Haygarth wanted to break from tradition to encourage more non-golfers to visit his centre.
Richard Haygarth spoke to Golf Features:
“With most leisure facilities, people are used to spending a certain amount of time at a certain price and we just wanted to bring the range experience onto the same level. The marginal cost of collecting balls is quite low for us, so I don’t mind if a bay uses 90 balls in an hour, or even 120. What is paramount is that the customers have the best possible experience and I think this is the modern way to run a golf range.”
Free club hire is also provided, so golfers don’t need to travel with their golf equipment and also non-golfers have no barrier to having a go at golf for the first time.
Behind the scenes, European Golf Machinery installed the ball dispensing equipment and elevators to ensure that balls are delivered to the upper tier as well as the ground floor. With Haygarth deciding to give golfers unlimited balls, the dispensers are accessed by staff only who spend a reasonable amount of time each daytopping up the individual bays so that golfers have plenty of balls to hit during their allocated time. This may be time-consuming, but it does appear to be paying dividends.
The centre originally opened with a fairly traditional café bar, but earlier this year this was changed so that the space is now operated as a pub. People use the centre socially and, unusually, the busiest nights of the week are Friday and Saturday when customers continue to hit golf balls well into the evening and combine their golfing activities with social fun, with food and drink included. Good Time Golfin accurately describes this new focus. The new bar has pool tables and interactive dartboards which automatically calculate a player’s score as the dart lands in the board: not surprisingly, darts is extremely popular. It has become a thriving activity centre for those wishing to do more with their leisure time than simply go out for a meal.
With multiple occupancy in each range bay, a substantial amount of food and drink is consumed before people even reach the bar. Each bay is 8 metres deep and this extra space allows golfers to socialise safely whilst watching their friends perform on the mat.
In addition to the golf range and bar, there is a 36-hole adventure putting course which is very busy in the holiday period and is an ideal way for younger customers and non-golfers to have their first experience of golf. Many of these customers, then also start to play on the golf range and, whilst some may shudder at the new centre’s name, breaking down barriers is clearly good for business and the centre is growing in popularity each week.
There is a basic nine-hole pitch and putt golf course, which can also be played as Footgolf. Astroturf greens keep maintenance to a minimum and, whilst this is not the most popular of the attractions at Hounslow, it is a useful way of keeping more people on site for longer. Often families come together and enjoy different sporting disciplines before meeting up for food and drink afterwards.
With so many new players enjoying the centre, it is not surprising that teaching is a growing opportunity. Currently there are three coaches at the centre and an introductory £50 course for new players has proved very popular in cementing customers for the future and developing the game in the area. It is likely that Richard will add to the number of professional coaches in the future.
Perhaps the one thing that one might expect to see at such a centre is a large retail shop. Not at Hounslow. It was considered, but the prime concern is to ensure customers have a good time and are looked after. Golf retail is well catered for at other sites and it was not considered a sufficiently important addition to the mix at Hounslow.
All businesses are subject to competition and none more than the centre at Hounslow. The competition however is not from other golf ranges, but from cinemas, picnics on a fine day and other leisure activities which may tempt Haygarth‘s customers elsewhere.
There are lots of good ideas on show at Hounslow and it is a great idea to keep abreast of new trends in the industry.
For more details visit the website: goodtimegolfin.com