Brickyard Crossing is set to open St. Patrick’s Day, Tuesday, March 17 with a “pay the temperature’ fee” greens fee promotion, and it is going great.
In a nutshell, players will pay the air temperature at their arrival time as their greens fee. If the temp is 55, their greens fee is $55, including a GPS-equipped cart.
By the time Tuesday rolls around, we will have close to 150 or more players. The weather forecast calls for lows in the 40’s and highs in the mid-60’s. So there will be a substantial savings for our players here on Tuesday.
We also will run some contests with giveaways, and the clubhouse also will run some traditional Irish food and drink specials. If you want to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day, come out to the Brickyard and play our “greens.”
The PGA Tour this week is in Miami for the World Golf Championships, and the rest of the tour is in Puerto Rico. Our own Chad Collins is in New Zealand playing the Nationwide Tour. He made the cut and is 29th after two rounds.
From reading Chad’s blog, I think he is ready to come home and just might show up here at the Brickyard for St. Paddy’s Day.
Down in Puerto Rico, Jim Gallagher Jr. is making his first start of 2009 on the PGA Tour. Jim represented the Brickyard on Tour back in the late 90s and has been a good friend of ours as well as IMS and racing. Jim is nearing 50 and wants to stay competitive for the Champions Tour, as many familiar names will come out for that tour in the next few years.
Last weekend, I got my 15 seconds of fame. I did a really short piece for a segment on “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” and NBC’s “Today” show. (Click here to watch segment.) They shot a little footage of the Brickyard at daybreak as we switched over to Daylight Savings Time last Sunday. They asked about how it has affected our business and how it has affected me personally from a physical standpoint.
Daylight Savings has been good for us since more golfers are using our facility later in the day by practicing or getting in a round before dark. From a physical standpoint, I have not noticed anything different other than we go to work in the dark and go home in the dark, which is part of being a golf professional.
Last Monday and Tuesday, we had our Indiana PGA educational and special awards meeting. I’m happy to report that we were awarded the Section Merchandisers of the Year for the resort category. This is the eighth award we have received and will be the last in that category, as we are no longer a resort due to the closing of the motel this spring.
That’s it for this week. Good luck to all our Indiana pros competing in tour events. Take advantage of an early spring and hit the links Tuesday at the Brickyard.
Jeff Schroeder
PGA Head Professional
Brickyard Crossing