BEDFORD — On April 13, 1986, Mark Tansey, like 25 million other Americans, sat in front of a TV that was tuned to CBS.
As Jack Nicklaus, at the age of 46, won his sixth Masters, Tansey became a golf lifer.
“I was one of those guys that was always hooked on golf,” said Tansey, 50, the CEO of Springfield Township-based Sunrise Golf Inc. “It was sealed in 1986 when Jack won the Masters. I watched every stroke of that event.”
The 1984 St. Francis graduate earned a degree in communications from the University of Toledo in 1988 and entered the association management and facility management industry. He was the senior event coordinator at the SeaGate Centre, working 80 to 90-hour weeks when, in 1994, American Golf Corp. sought to double the size of courses it owned and operated.
“I never thought about having a career in golf at all,” Tansey said.
That is until a hiring boom at American Golf commenced. Tansey, young and passionate about the game, felt he was a natural fit. After almost a decade at American Golf, he became an executive vice president at Walters Golf in 2002 and was based in Las Vegas as the desert hot spot struggled as tourism declined post-9/11.
Ultrahigh competitive luxury golf — rates at Bali Hai on the Strip were as much as $300 — became a fool’s errand. So in 2003, Sunrise Golf was born.
“I realized I made a lot of money for other people. Why not do it for myself?” said Tansey, who’s worked alongside Nicklaus and Pete Dye, among other titans in the golf industry. “I had already been the beneficiary of working with hundreds of courses in markets throughout the country — high end, low end, public, private, acquisitions, due diligence. You name it, I did it. So I had this incredible breadth of experience that made me uniquely qualified. But I didn’t understand what I knew for a while until I worked with a lot of other people and realized I’d done more than anyone else that I worked with. I thought, gosh, maybe I can make a living of this.”
Sunrise, a golf-management and consulting firm, counts golf courses worldwide among its portfolio, including local courses Sylvania Country Club, Brandywine Country Club, Monroe Golf and Country Club, Stone Ridge, Bedford Hills, and Forrest Creason.
As the industry tries to reinvent itself, Tansey, at Sunrise, thinks the approach to golf operations and marketing begins from within, most especially with people. Sunrise seeks to optimize a course’s position within its competitive set, establishing value for what the club offers.
Tansey, chief operating officer John Fitzpatrick, and the company’s 120 employees nationwide are optimistic about the emergence of yield-management technologies that are in their infancy, giving courses the ability to automate dynamic pricing similar to the hotel and airline industries.
Tansey is a firm believer in the company’s maxim — tighten the operation, build market share, cultivate a brand, leverage new technologies, and take customers off the market.
“It begins and ends with successfully investing in your employees,” he said. “They’re going to serve your customers in the way you want that done. You have to find ways to make people that work for you feel special and appreciated. It’s not always about money, it’s about how you’re engaged with them, training them properly, and giving them the resources to succeed. And when they do a good job, recognize them for doing it right.”
In the golf industry, living in the snow belt is not the norm. Florida and Arizona are pre-eminent destinations. But family — Tansey has two daughters — and the strong golf market in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan tugged at him.
“I’ve lived in Virginia Beach, I’ve lived in Las Vegas, I’ve lived in Palm Desert (Calif.),” Tansey said. “I’ve had those experiences. In a lot of ways, they help me appreciate how much is available to us and value in comparison that northwest Ohio has to offer. I do love the four seasons, I do love the quality of life here. I love the fact that we have so many resources that are within a two-hour drive of us. I’ve always had a desire to take what I’ve learned over 20-plus years in the golf industry and bring those experiences here and help change this market. I want to change the landscape of golf in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.”
On average, just shy of 10 percent of the population golfs in any given community. Not so in the Toledo area, according to Tansey.
“Anecdotally, I feel pretty strongly that a higher percentage of the population golfs here than other locations,” he said. “It’s a weird anomaly, kind of like Michigan having the fourth-most golf courses in the U.S. It’s crazy when you consider seasonality, but it goes back to the passion these golfers have. When they can play, they play a lot.”
In December, Sunrise agreed to a long-term complete management deal with the ownership group of Bedford Hills, headed by Bob Moore, to oversee all aspects of the course, which includes golf, agronomy, food and beverage, and sales and marketing. The 27-hole course, which straddles the state line on Jackman Road, has been one of the area’s most-played since it opened in 1993.
“This market really has been insulated,” Tansey said. “There have been a lot of people who have worked in this market for a lot of years without bringing in or instilling new ideas as it relates to loyalty, membership, rates, what golf is, and what should be the expectations when you show up to a daily fee course in this market. People should feel like they’re at a resort when they come to a golf course. That’s the minimum bar. You shouldn’t be a dollar amount. Customers are monetized too much in this industry. I don’t want to do that. We want to reward loyalty. We want to make sure that the customers who are eager to be loyal customers are treated like that.”
It’s taken all of six months — most of them out of the playing season — for Bedford Hills to see positive results in retaining current outings, growing outings and leagues, boosting pace of play, enhancing the golfer experience, and providing more services. Logo and website upgrades are also on the horizon.
“[Tansey] wants to advance things in Toledo,” Bedford Hills superintendent Ken Schumacher said. “I know he has great expectations of me and changing our course for the better. We’ve always been a well-maintained course, but now going the extra mile to get extra money for a higher end round of golf. He has a lot of things he wants to improve in a short amount of time. It’s a challenge to keep up with his pace, but it’s been fun. He’s definitely knowledgeable on what the customer wants and how to make them happy.”
Twelve weeks out of the year are spent away from home, but Tansey hardly complains. He’s in a comfort zone in the area code where he was born and raised, trying to elevate the game that’s delighted him for a lifetime.
“I love the camaraderie, the competitiveness, and that you get to be outside in nature,” Tansey said. “It’s so enjoyable.”
Contact Kyle Rowland at: krowland@theblade.com, 419-724-6110, or on Twitter @KyleRowland.
First Published May 15, 2017, 4:12 a.m.
