Rod Christian loves golf, and he especially loves playing golf at courses around New York state. He also wants others to enjoy the same experience and will provide the help in organizing the trip. Christian operates the New York Golf Trail, a business based at his home in Rochester, he says. “Considering the quality of […]
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Rod Christian loves golf, and he especially loves playing golf at courses around New York state.
He also wants others to enjoy the same experience and will provide the help in organizing the trip.
Christian operates the New York Golf Trail, a business based at his home in Rochester, he says.
“Considering the quality of New York golf, why not package and market and make it really easy for people to take a golf trip in New York state,” says Christian.
He founded the business in 2009 and is its lone employee, he says.
Christian spoke with the Business Journal News Network on June 24.
A native of Utica, Christian earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from St. John Fisher College, near Rochester, in 1984. Along the way, he would organize annual golf outings for himself and his college friends to enjoy.
“It was hard work, a lot of guess work in terms of choosing the courses and finding the right hotel,” as Christian recalls it.
Besides his bachelor’s degree, Christian later earned a master’s degree in public administration from the State University of New York at Brockport in 1991.
Beyond his work with the New York Golf Trail, Christian also works for the Arc of Monroe County as director of donor relations. The organization provides programs and services for people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and their families, according to its website — similar to the Arc of Onondaga and Arc, Oneida Lewis Chapter in our area.
Christian has worked in fundraising for 25 years, including the last five years at the Arc, he says.
But he’s also a golf enthusiast who remembers his golfing trips with his college friends.
“I saw this opportunity [New York Golf Trail], pursued it on the side, [and it’s] grown pretty steadily over the past five years,” says Christian.
Family and friends provided encouragement as Christian launched the venture in early 2009. His brother, Scott Christian, is a golf-course superintendent at Valley View Golf Course in Utica, and his nephew, Tim Christian, is the golf-course superintendent at Teugega Country Club in Rome, according to Rod Christian.
Even though the local golf season primarily runs from April through October, the New York Golf Trail stays “fairly busy” year round booking trips during the winter months, Christian says.
He has scaled back his hours in his fundraising work during the golf season, he says.
“I never expected to be running a travel agency,” he says. “Sometimes life takes unexpected turns.”
Process and partnerships
Golf enthusiasts can visit the website, www.nygolftrail.com, to begin the planning process, Christian says.
“It’s really the easiest place to get a sense for the scope of what we offer,” he says.
Website visitors can choose which New York region is their destination. The regions include Central New York, Finger Lakes, Cooperstown, Saratoga, Lake Placid, and Hudson Valley. He plans to add a Buffalo / Niagara region and a Southern Finger Lakes region in 2015, he says.
Website users will then complete a short email quote, which is called a “quick quote,” says Christian.
He replies within 24 hours with information including their hotel, their golf courses, the costs involved, and anything else included in the package.
“It’s one-stop shopping, whereas before … you’d have to do all the online research yourself to find the best courses, nearby accommodations,” says Christian.
Rochester–based Antithesis Advertising designed the New York Golf Trail website, he says.
The Golf Trail started with seven courses and about three regions during its first year of operation in 2009.
It now partners with 23 courses and 17 hotels in six regions covering “most of the state, ” says Christian.
“The courses understood the concept, liked it, and signed on,” he says, noting he then researched nearby hotels, which also embraced the concept.
In Central New York, the New York Golf Trail’s participating golf courses include Timber Banks Golf Course in Lysander, Beaver Meadows Golf Club in Schroeppel, Foxfire at Village Green in Van Buren, Pompey Golf Club in Pompey, Seven Oaks Golf Course at Colgate University in Hamilton, and Leatherstocking Golf Course in Cooperstown, according to the Golf Trail website.
The New York Golf Trail is also part of “I Love New York,” the state’s tourism-promotion brand, Christian says.
Christian handles all the partnership presentations himself or through email, he says. His relatives in the golf business in New York have helped him screen and identify top courses.
“Now, it’s actually easier to line them up now that we’ve got a record of success,” he says.
The golf courses and hotels provide special rates for the New York Golf Trail, and Christian generates a profit on the markup. And several of the golf courses provide complimentary rounds of golf based on the number of rounds they get from visitors using the Golf Trail, says Christian.
“That way they don’t have to write a check to us for participating,” he adds.
He believes New York golf, in general, has been “overlooked” in terms of its quality, he says.
“There’s no reason it can’t become the top golf destination in the Northeast,” he says.
Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com