Enhance the Facility Atmosphere With Smart Upgrades | Ryan Mulvey

Ryan Mulvey is the PGA General Manager at Bay Point Golf Club in Panama City Beach, Florida.

Ryan Mulvey on the importance of enhancing the facility atmosphere with smart upgrades:

"This facility – which originally opened as a 36-hole facility in 1986 – was ravaged by Hurricane Michael in 2018. It went through multiple owners (including by a nearby Sheraton hotel) in the years since but a local resident became our new owner in early 2021, committed to enhancing club life for Bay Point, and everything around it. I joined two weeks later, my second stint here after working for four years in the late-2010s. I rejoined a club that had done a complete 180, filled with new energy and enthusiasm with a bright future ahead. It started with a shift to be more attractive to the local residents versus tourists, giving them more reasons to visit the club."

Ryan Mulvey on the business impact of enhancing the facility atmosphere with smart upgrades:

"The results have been staggering and swift: May was our highest revenue month in facility history, and a random Tuesday in June set a single-day record for revenue. What led to this surge in participation? A focus on fostering an atmosphere that’s cool and fun. The residents don’t want to fight traffic on the roads and at the restaurants. We want them to come here and hang out. We are not a private club, but we can capitalize on that feel. We took over and revamped the food & beverage operation, and built a stage so we could host live concerts. Instead of going out and simply buying four sets of cornhole boards from a usual store, a Facebook message led to not only the boards but four new sponsors for the facility and facility events. Cornhole now is available every afternoon here, and we hope to expand that to official cornhole tournaments down the line. On the golf side rounds are up 46 percent, food & beverage is up 112 percent and merchandise purchases are up 28 percent. This movement – an effort to reach out to the local community along with rebooting what Bay Point can be – is well on its way to our goal of helping local businesses and ourselves at the same time."

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