A Family Affair

FarrantRick Farrant’s dad was a farmer so Rick grew up on a tractor.

“I just love being out on the course or the farm,” says the president of GreatLife Golf & Fitness, a Topeka, Kansas-area business that owns/operates nine courses in the Sunflower State and Kansas City area. “My basic philosophy is that a day spent out of the office on the course or in the sod field is a good day.”

Farrant’s philosophy traces its roots to his father’s farm but it was nurtured during his days in course maintenance.
His first golf job was in high school as night waterman slinging hoses at Western Hills, a course he would later own. He eventually got a job on the maintenance crew and after four months moved up to assistant superintendent. He was attending night classes at Washburn University in Topeka when his wife saw an advertisement for a golf course superintendent at Carey Park in Hutchinson. He got the job at age 19 and spent four years there while earning his finance degree from Wichita State.

While at Carey Park, he learned of a course that was charging $100 to join and $25 monthly dues. The course was well-maintained and gained 1,400 members during a three-year lease.

Farrant liked the model and its success. Though he had been offered a job at a high-end private club in Wichita and had earned his CGCS, he decided to try out the low-cost-membership idea on a course formerly called Lake Ridge Estates (now Lake Perry Country Club), which he leased in his mid-20s.

The first six properties he purchased were similar, struggling operations where he improved course conditions – particularly on the greens, tees and cart paths – then implemented his low-cost model.

“The first course we bought was one that needed a lot of work,” Farrant recalls. “It taught me not to be afraid of rebuilding. If a course is in the best possible condition then the revenues will be, too. You can give someone the best deal on golf. But if the conditioning is horrible, people still won’t play your facility. Three of the courses we purchased had the fewest rounds in the city when we bought them. Now they have the most.”

At the urging of his wife, Farrant decided to couple golf and fitness by adding health facilities at or near his courses. For an initiation fee of $100 and just $29 a month, members and their families have access to Topeka’s Berkshire, Western Hills and Prairie View, Chisholm Trail, Junction City, Lake Perry CC, Maple Creek in Kansas City North, River Oaks in Grandview, Mo., and Fitness 24/7 in Meriden.

Memberships are available at all eight GreatLife Golf & Fitness locations. Each member, spouse and child can use club facilities at any location. Other member benefits include no green fees or assessments, advance tee times, member-only golf and social events and use of the workout equipment.

With younger individuals and couples strapped for time, golf was having trouble recruiting new players in the Topeka area. But many GreatLife members ended up trying golf following their workouts and soon became hooked on the sport. Farrant has developed many new players and they are sticking with the game, he says.

Farrant’s operation is a family affair. In addition to his wife and brother, his son Jason serves as general manager. He is continually approached by course operators looking to sell their properties. He plans to one day franchise his operation.

“I would encourage any superintendent considering course ownership to pursue it,” he says. “I looked for courses I could improve and then followed the same business formula at each one.

“I was on the normal career superintendent path from low-priced muni and public courses moving toward an upscale private facility. But I wanted to be an owner. And I knew that if it did not work out, I could always get another job. I was confident in my own ability.

“We starved those first two or three winters. I had my brother working for minimum wage. Now he owns part of the company. You have to pay your dues. You have to start by putting in a lot of sweat equity.”