Marketing fore-sight.

New golf courses are springing up all over Ontario, but the number of golfers is remaining stagnant.

That's why it's important to Timberwolf Golf Club general manager Terry Ames to keep local golfers at home.

Rather than compete against one another, Sudbury's Timberwolf and three Northern Ontario courses are partnering up to offer some variety to duffers by promoting a truly Northern golf experience.

Two years ago, Timberwolf, Sault Ste. Marie's Crimson Ridge, Island Springs on St. Joseph's Island and Blind River's Huron Pines decided to pool their resources to create a marketing tool known as the Great Lakes North Golf Trail.

Its key feature is the trail pass program launched in 2004, which was intended to drive visitor traffic along the Highway 17 corridor from the two book-end courses in the Sault and Sudbury to some of the smaller, less-frequented clubs.

Available to purchase online, a spring pass (up to June 13) for $199 includes a round at all four courses with cart, while a $229 seasonal pass buys four rounds for the remainder of the season.

As an award-winning course, Timberwolf is a big draw for the trail, bringing in 2,000 visitors from outside Greater Sudbury, says Ames. But there are other premier courses along the North Shore that don't get the exposure or as many visitors.

Organizers were disappointed with last year's marketing effort, selling only about 50 passes, since many southern Ontarians weren't willing to venture north to play golf with so many other choices within a much shorter driving distance.

Rather than compete against the bigger corporate operators, this year they've refocused their campaign toward keeping local golfers from heading to the upscale courses in Muskoka and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).

"The north is our key market," says Ames.

Timberwolf representatives made an appearance at this winter's Toronto Golf Show to highlight their course and the Golf Trail's Web site. But bigger plans are in the works. The fellowship intends to do an ad campaign in local newspapers, brochure mailouts and put promotions in place at every golf course in Northern Ontario, says Ames.

"We've got 40 courses lined up ... to put up our information and brochures." Ames says the Golf Trail convinced the smaller courses to do so by raffling off four-packs of passes to the smaller courses.

"The locals are the people who really drive our business," says Ames, noting many of Timberwolf's group sales come from Elliot Lake, Timmins and Mattawa.

The Golf Trail will expand by one course this year to include the revamped Elliot Lake Golf and Country Club, which plans to open this summer with a new back nine.

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The city's retirement living and lakeshore estates development company has pumped money into the city, spurring a $4 million expansion at the former nine-holer.

Ames says the next steps are to organize stay-and-play accommodations package and to tap into international travel with all-inclusive packages, as well as having a travel agent or dedicated person to field calls and take bookings.

The owners of Timberwolf own three other courses in the Sudbury area. They are preparing to launch a Sudbury golf Web site allowing visitors to book packages online and reserve tee times from their hotel front desk.

"We'd like to have something similar to that for the whole trail."

www.greatlakesnorth.com

By IAN ROSS 

Northern Ontario Business