Starting A Business In Designing Backyard Golf Courses

Backyard golf has caught on in a big way. Innovations in natural and artificial turf have made it possible for mini golf courses and putting greens to be installed in backyards.

As a backyard golf course designer, you can help your clients to fulfill a dream by building a backyard mini golf course.

Nothing makes golf enthusiasts happier than having their own personal golf course right outside their back door!

Before you get down to business, you may want to know how making backyard golf courses for someone can earn you a living.

Many professional backyard golf course designers branch out into other related sectors such as landscape design. If you are not very good at landscaping, you can always team up with other landscape architects to find a second source of income from your business.

Designing a backyard driving range or other sports fields (such as a mini soccer stadium or basketball court) are additional options which should be considered.

Starting A Backyard Golf Business

So where do you start when planning to run a backyard golf business? If you do not have experience in running a business or lack the funds needed to start one, team up with an established golf course developer as a franchisee. The franchisee model works well for startups and small businesses.

Locate existing golf developers in your area and get in touch with them. The chances are in your favor that some of them will only be too glad to take you on board as a franchisee.

A golf greens franchise will provide you with training in developing backyard golf courses. They will also provide technical assistance and support. You can develop backyard greens on their behalf and earn through commissions and profit-sharing arrangements.

Not only will this allow you to learn the techniques needed to create golf courses, it will also teach you how to promote, operate, and make a profit from the enterprise.

Designing Courses

You can create natural or synthetic golf courses - the decision is really up to your clients. Keep in mind that synthetic courses will cost more up-front but will require far less maintenance (watering and fertilizing, primarily) over time.

From a business perspective, natural golf courses have more add-on profit potential because you can sell recurring services such as mowing, fertilizing and other standard maintenance activities.

The design challenge for your business will be to replicate the standard contours, shrubs, rocks, and maybe even water hazards into a standard backyard so that the mini-course resembles a real golf course.

Synthetic golf courses are created using artificial turf and are easier to install than natural ones. They are easier to maintain as well, and homeowners should be informed that they will be cheaper in the long-run. They will not have to spend money on fertilizers, mowing, or sprinklers if they opt for the synthetic option.

Becoming a designer in this industry requires you to learn how to compress a regular golf course into a smaller area. This is challenging, but backyard golf course design definitely pays for those who master it well.

<< Outdoor Business Opportunities | Backyard Golf