The Strathclyde Park Golf Centre has been a firm fixture of the Lanarkshire golf scene for over 30 years. As a local lad, Kenny Monaghan always had an affinity with it.
“I practiced here as a kid,” he said of those formative years in his own backyard.
Since then, Monaghan has forged a highly successful career as a PGA Professional and the opportunity to return to his roots and elevate an already established business, while expanding his own enterprise, was too good to refuse.
“When we came back from Dubai 10 years ago, my wife said, ‘if that ever comes up for sale, we need to buy it’,” said Monaghan, who had a stint in the UAE before becoming the well-respected PGA Professional at Stirling Golf Club.
“I always knew this place had potential and now we’re really tapping into it.”
The overhaul during the past few months has been considerable. While still performing his duties at Stirling, Monaghan, along with his wife, Amy, has poured investment, innovation and industry into this new venture.
The first job, meanwhile, was tweaking the facility’s name to promote golf as an accommodating, accessible, come-all-ye pursuit.
“We added the word ‘Family’ into it so it’s now the Strathclyde Park Family Golf Centre,” said Monaghan. “It sends out a simple yet very effective message.”
As for the revamp itself? “We have transformed it,” added Monaghan. “We put Toptracer in, we have 24 covered bays, we refurbished the entire building. Doors, carpets, windows, the shop front, the lighting; everything.
“We made it modern, bigger and brighter. We turned an old shop and trolley repair room into a 35-seat café called Birdies Café.
“That’s been a real addition to the whole place and from a business point of view, the café was a no-brainer.
“Over the next month or so, we’re building a new seven-bay extension. That will have two fully functional fitting bays and five more public bays. The demand is off the charts.
“We estimated that the previous owners saw about 3 to 3.5 million balls hit each year. We had a goal of 5 million for this year and we broke that recently. We get something like 60,000 visitors. We get all his data on the Toptracer management system. It’s blown us away by how good it’s been.”
In an evolving golfing landscape, the addition of Toptracer technology has been something of a game changer for the Strathclyde Park centre.
“The Toptracer element brings a different type of golfer,” said Monaghan. “We get couples coming here on dates which would’ve been unheard of a few years ago. We get loads of families now and we have a junior academy too.”
“For the serious golfer, there is so much for them to keep them engaged too. It’s a competitive marketplace but with everything we have, we can certainly compete.”
Key to the success of the Strathclyde Park Family Golf Centre has been the work of The PGA Professionals themselves.
With his sizeable contacts book, Monaghan embarked on a recruitment drive that could’ve been accompanied by a Kitchener poster.
PGA stalwart Stuart Kerr, the former pro at Strathaven, was drafted in as operations manager while the experienced Kirstin Scott also joined on as one of eight new additions to the professional team.
“The work of The PGA Professional can never be underestimated,” said Monaghan, who has also employed a number of trainees. “Customer service is absolutely vital to what we do.
“I remember reading an article in The PGA magazine about Silvermere and how the pro there (Doug McClelland) once employed something like 25 pros. He would say that if you don’t look after customers then someone else will
“It’s so important to have The PGA pros here. There’s always been a serious golfer that’s used Strathclyde Park and that’s one of the reasons why we brought in so many coaches.
“If we look after people and utilise all this knowledge and expertise, then it’s a recipe for success.”
The proof is in the pudding at Strathclyde Park Family Golf Centre.
