Vitense Golfland finds a way to stay open year-round
By Derrick Van Mell
The decision to build the 20,000-square-foot, $3.5 million dollar Vitense indoor golf facility in 2006, just off of Madison’s Beltline at Schroeder Road, was a big risk that paid off handsomely. Designed by Engberg Anderson and built by Design Structures for Joel and Sarah Weitz, the brave project was carefully planned to meet the seasonality challenges faced by many Wisconsin businesses: uneven cash flow, losing touch with customers and getting good staff to return.
Established in 1955 by Joel’s grandparents, George and Naomi, the only structure at Vitense Golfland was a modest and, when Joel and Sarah Weitz took the business over in 1992, a deteriorating golf shack that had a tiny pro shop, dispensed balls for the driving range, and had a counter for simple snacks. This was all that was needed to support the 36-hole outdoor course, driving range and miniature golf.
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Turning the tables on seasonality
To make Vitense Golfland into a year-round business, the two questions that had to be answered were, “What mix of indoor activities should we provide?” and “What kind of building can we afford?” The project today efficiently combines an expanded pro shop, the Academy Golf Studio, the Green Tree Grill and dining room, two partitioned meeting rooms with Wi-Fi and projectors, and an 18-hole miniature golf course. The top floor houses the office, and the basement is for storage and ball cleaning: Golfland owns 200,000 balls they pick up with special sweepers, even from the snow.
An investment in heavy-duty heaters allows customers to drive from the covered tees in any weather. In what would have been the winter off-season, golfers can open a large roll-up door from the studio, take full swings in their shirt sleeves, and have their strokes analyzed by the latest in high-tech gear, get instruction, or be fitted for custom clubs. “We don’t think golfers get the same experience from a simulator,” says Weitz. “There’s nothing like watching the entire flight of the ball to improve your game.”
Creating a destination The indoor miniature golf course is a natural for winter time kids’ activities; one parent can be getting a lesson or participating in a community meeting, while another can be watching the children or enjoying a meal in the café, perhaps sitting by the fireplace.
But neither Joel nor Sarah believed “if you build it, they will come.” They knew they needed a robust and continuous marketing effort to communicate their new offerings to new and old customers. They hired a full-time events coordinator, who encourages businesses and organizations to hold regular and special events and meetings. There are on-going corporate sponsors for each of the miniature golf holes, including companies like M&I Bank, which funded the project. One marketing challenge is that many native Madisonians formed an idea a long time ago that Vitense is only a fair-weather destination. “It’s a challenge to get some of our longstanding customers to rethink who we are,” Joel Weitz said.
Intersection of building and message
Since building the building, and in spite of two horrible winters, business is up 50 percent. The building won an award from the Small Business Administration in 2007 and, in 2008, the Dane County Small Business Award. Good fun is big business in Wisconsin and creative and daring projects can pay off for everyone.
