Meet your local PGA Pros: Matt Hovermale
One of the goals of this blog is to profile our local PGA Professionals and encouraging you to get to know some of the pros, you may find someone that you may connect with as a friend, a coach or instructor. Indiana has a lot of great club pros, some of the best players, merchandisers, club fitters and coaches in all of the PGA . Many have their work go unnoticed except to their daily customers and even then their dedication and skills may never be fully recognized. So I will sit down with them and let them share their stories about their jobs, clubs and courses and golf tips, starting with our own Assistant General Manager at Swan Lake Resort, Matt Hovermale.
JE: Tell everyone about yourself, where did you grow up, family, how you began playing, accomplishments you’re proud of.
MH: I am originally from Anderson, IN, but lived in Illinois, Nebraska, Indiana and Ohio while growing up. I have been married to my wife Kristen for almost 15 years now. We recently added Bueller, our new puppy, to our family. I began playing golf when I was asked by a friend to go one day. I fell in love with it and have always loved the challenge of the game. I really got serious about it when I got to my Junior year of High School after a significant knee injury and was fortunate enough to eventually be a member of the golf team at Trine University. While I do not play much competitive golf, my biggest playing accomplishment would probably be when I passed my PAT for the PGA of America. That was back in the day when you had to pass the test to be able to register for the PGM Program. That was such a grind to complete and was a huge day when I finally got it done after being so close a few times.
JE: Matt, tell us how you got involved in the business side of golf.
MH: After my senior year of high school, I started working at a 9-Hole Par 3 Golf Course in Omaha, NE where I played my first ever round of golf a few years earlier. It was nothing fancy, but we had a golf shop and snack bar. We didn’t take any tee times…all first come first serve. We used to have people waiting 45 minutes to over an hour to play golf. It was a great starting point because I was able to deal with every type of player you could think of. It was a really fun spot to start and just let me know that this was the career path I was made for.
JE: What amazes me is the quality of young golfers that come out of Indiana each year despite the limited season and how accomplished these players are in other sports. What was your other sport(s) did you play besides golf?
MH: You are right with regards to the Junior talent in the state of Indiana. We have been lucky enough to host some of the best during the Age Group Championship here at the resort. As far as other sports, I was lucky enough to be able to dabble in a few different sports growing up. I played Baseball, Basketball, Football and Soccer along with golf. But, as I started to get a little older, my focus really went to Baseball. Unfortunately, a knee injury pretty well ended my baseball career and golf became my full time passion.
JE: Managing a resort must have it’s challenges, especially one as active as ours. How did your previous jobs prepare you for this one?
MH: This is a big property which means there are numerous challenges that come along with it. No job that I would have had probably could have completely prepared me for my current role. But, you are able to use similar situations you have dealt with in the past and apply them to the daily operations of the resort. I have been lucky that I had a good mix of jobs that allowed me to be involved with many aspects of what I deal with today at Swan Lake Resort. I have worked at a University Course, a facility where we ran two different facilities 25 miles apart at once and a Semi Private facility that had an active outing/member event schedule. These positions have allowed me to be involved not just in golf operations, but F&B, Event Planning, Staff Management and Budget Planning. They have all been great catalysts to preparing me for my current position at Swan Lake Resort.
JE: Matt, in your position you have to be a student of the golf industry as a whole, as well as our region. What is your assessment of the state of the business and how does the future look for Swan Lake?
MH: We all know that the time frame from 2008-2012 was very rough for our industry. Daily fee courses were struggling day in and day out to just survive. Things for the overall industry have begun to turn a corner and we are seeing people return to the game that may have taken a break. While I have to look at the golf industry as a whole for trends that are happening, we are in a somewhat unique position here at Swan Lake Resort. Normal Golf Industry trends may not necessarily be the best route for us to take. We have to look at all aspects of the resort and find the best mix of groups (Golf, Corporate Conferences, Weddings, etc.) that allow us to maximize the useable space we have available in our Conference Center, on the golf course and with our lodging options. Not only do I find myself looking at golf industry trends, but I find myself looking at all trends within the hospitality industry as a whole. Based on current trends, the future of Swan Lake Resort look very bright. First and Foremost, we are very lucky to have an owner that believes in the team we have in place and is a tremendous support to the resort. We have a great management team that helps lead the individual departments. And, our support staff do a great job of providing our guests with a great experience while they are on property. So far, this has been a winning formula for us that we look to sustain well into the future. But, we spend every day looking at what we can do to help further set us apart as a go to place for not just the local community but regional groups as well.
JE: Swan Lake appears to have a large contingent of repeat guests and loyal local customers, what is the reason for this? Is it a priority?
MH: This, in a sense, goes back to the previous questions response. We do have a lot of repeat guests and that is absolutely a priority for us at Swan Lake Resort. These repeat guests are a testament to our team and the experience we provide to our guests during their visit. Without our team, it would not be possible to have these guests return year after year. Interestingly enough, not only have we seen group sizes grow, we have also seen off shoot groups make second trips to the resort. From a local standpoint, we have worked tirelessly over the last few years to make sure the local community feels welcome at Swan Lake Resort. Prior to our current management team, that may not have always been the case. This has become an absolute priority for us. We have added offerings including our $5 Cheeseburger Night and a Free Fourth of July Fireworks Show that were done directly with the local community in mind and letting them hopefully know they are always welcome at Swan Lake Resort. It is also a way for us to give back to this community that has supported us during the years. We know that not only do we need the groups from all over the region, but also our local community to make the resort a resounding success and something everyone can be proud of.
JE: What can we expect of Swan Lake in the next year or two years? Anything specific that you can share?
MH: Our goal is to continue to build on the momentum that we have been creating over the last 2 to 3 years. This is completely centered on the guest experience of everyone that visits Swan Lake Resort. We are always looking for ways to enhance the guest experience and that will continue to be the focus of decisions that are made going into the future. Over the last few years, we have used this as our playbook. We recently added the new golf carts with state of the art GPS units that has been well received from most, if not all, of our guests at the golf course. We have also upgraded the equipment for our golf course maintenance staff so they can provide the best playing surface available. We also remodeled Dickies in the last few years and that has been a great success. We’ve upgraded the Audio Visual system in our conference center for our corporate events, weddings, etc. We have spent some times on the rooms in the hotel upgrading amenities and remodeling a few rooms. As you can see, everything that we do has an eye toward guest experience. As far as specifics, there is nothing to share right now, but we are continuing to evaluate many items to be able to provide our guests with a great guest experience every time they visit.
Thank you Matt for sharing your story and experiences and giving us a look inside the ropes of running a busy resort property with strong local support. If you have any questions or inquiries you can address them to the blog or to Matt directly. And if you run into Matt around the property, say hi! And maybe you can talk him into sharing some of his short game secrets that make him a highly sought after partner in our club’s team events! www.swanlakeresort.com
Matt Hovermale, PGA
Assistant General Manager
mhovermale@swanlakeresort.com
Local: (574) 935-5680 x716
Toll Free: (800) 935-5616 x716
Swan Lake Resort