February 2015
| Business World
137
not constantly looking to upgrade and stay
on the cutting-edge than you’re just chasing
your tail.”
COHESIVE CONNECTION
Golf clubs are everywhere. The competition
is not just regional or national – it’s global.
With a myriad of leisure activities competing
for peoples’ time and money, the private and
personal club experience at TrueNorth, from
a marketing perspective, focuses on a cohe-
sive connection that creates exposure for not
just the Club, but also Harbor Springs.
“Once I get people on property to experi-
ence the Club, than it sells itself,” Payne said.
“There’s a lot of great golf clubs out there
in the world, but there is only one Harbor
Springs, so I need to leverage Harbor Springs
and what Harbor Springs brings to the area.
We’re just a part of the bigger piece with the
area.”
Continuing to build connections and ampli-
fy the beauty of both the Club and the area
are long-term goals that Payne won’t lose
sight of. Memberships matter, but the foun-
dation for the future and success is all about
making a golfers dream getaway, a reality.
“The private golf club industry is a tough
business. The world has changed since 2008.
It’s just that a lot of people don’t know about
True North Golf Club. A lot of people don’t
know about Harbor Springs and northern
Michigan when you look at a map of the
United States and how beautiful it is up here
and how the summer up here is just so per-
fect.”
