But you still need to activate your account.
Golf pros Brian Lawton and Mark Hall are slashing the fees at Island Green Golf Links in an attempt to increase play at the Holden facility.
“People will jump at something if the price is going down when everything else is going up,” said Lawton, who was the club’s pro last year when it was Felt Brook Golf Center. Hall held the job before Lawton.
“A study showed that only 35 percent of golfers in the area had played the course even once,” said Hall of the golf course which sits on Route 1A just over the town line from Brewer.
“The No. 1 complaint why people had not played here before was that it was too pricey,” said Hall.
Lawton and Hall showed new owners Clayton and Gail Wallace of Ellsworth, who had purchased Felt Brook at auction in December, the new price structure they had worked out.
“We told him what we wanted to do and he approved it,” said Lawton.
Well, not completely.
“Actually, he lowered some of the prices even more,” said Lawton.
The price of a full single membership has been cut more than 25 percent, from $600 down to $440.
Other membership prices have been cut, too, and other categories added.
“One of the most popular is the senior limited,” said Hall.
For $200, a man or woman 55 or older can play anytime between 2 p.m. Sunday and 9 p.m. Thursday.
Since league play is generally Sunday afternoons and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, all league play falls into that time slot.
Also new this year are the single limited ($280) and the college student ($300).
Time restrictions for the single limited are the same as the senior limited. If a limited member wants to play on Friday or Saturday or Sunday morning, he or she can do so for a reduced green fee.
The college rate applies to all students with a valid college student ID, no age restriction.
The age limit for senior memberships has been trimmed as well, from 60 to 55, said Lawton.
Other membership classifications include couple ($600), family ($700), full senior ($360), senior couple ($460), and junior ($180).
There is even a dual membership available for someone who is a member at one of the 18-hole golf courses in central and eastern Maine.
In their original plan, if someone signed up for a membership and put half down before April 1, another 10 percent was deducted off the fee, but that has changed.
“We’re going to extend that to the 15th [of April],” said Hall. The other half is due July 1.
It seems to be working.
“We have 60 members now,” said Lawton.
“We never had 60 in the past,” said Hall. “My goal is 120.”
Hall feels the new price structure puts the club in its proper niche.
“We’re getting our rates competitive with other nine-hole courses in the area,” said Hall. “We’re not competing with the 18-hole golf courses.”
The daily fees are also lower – $11 for nine holes, $19 for 18, plus $22 for all day. They hope to open the golf course around mid-April.
The bucket fees for the driving range, which opened Friday, have been cut as well.
The pro shop is bigger and will carry more inventory, and they’re planning course updates.
There is also a reciprocity agreement with Hermon Meadow Golf Club. If Island Green is closed for tournament play, a number of tee times can be reserved at Hermon for members.
Hall is also planning a Ryder Cup-style competition between Island Green and Hermon Meadow called the River Cup.
The club will also be a member of the Maine State Golf Association and the USGA handicapping system.
Lawton has passed his PGA playing ability test, so he and Hall will be fielding teams in the Maine chapter of the New England PGA’s weekly events.
They will both offer lessons.
“We want to get people in here,” said Hall.
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