Florida's First Coast of Golf - Where Florida Golf Begins

If you are Professional at Anything BUT Golf, and you enjoy traveling to some of the finest destinations to play, then this episode is for you...

Dave Reese, President of Florida's First Coast of Golf, joins Wes Altice and I to discuss the booming golf tourism business in the Northeast Florida Area and have a lot of fun talking about it!  It's pretty cool when you job combines, as they put it, Globetrotting and Golf.  Dave - I want to be you when I grow up!

Golf was introduced to Northeast Florida in 1895 in St. Augustine and began to thrive in 1916 when Donald Ross constructed the Ponce de Leon Golf and Country Club. 

100+ miles of beautiful beaches make up the coast from Amelia Island, Jacksonville and The Beaches, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra & The Beaches, Clay County, and Palm Coast & The Flagler Beaches.

71 golf courses and 1,278 holes of golf can be found on Florida’s First Coast. They cover more than 488,000 yards. Area courses have been designed by the world’s best including Dye, Fazio, Nicklaus, Palmer, Player, Ross, and Weed.

#golf #travel #destinationgolf #bucketlist #makessense #makescents #jessestakes

Transcript

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Jesse Stakes: Hey, everybody! Welcome to this week's episode of making sense of it all series professional at anything but golf with Jesse Stakes and Wes altus this week. I have Dave Reese. He's the president of Northeast Florida golf. Dave, thank you so much for joining us.

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david: Hey, Jesse, an honor to be with you, and look forward to having a good conversation.

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Jesse Stakes: All right. So high level before we go anywhere, tell the audience what you guys do.

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david: Yeah, high high level. We're a golf tourism advertising agency of record for northeast Florida. And our our drive is to advertise and let everybody know globally who we are and how they can take advantage of our great golf product and and hotels and Southern hospitality.

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Jesse Stakes: And I know we're going to dive into it. But you and I were talking before we started recording, and it really is true. Northeast. Florida has probably some of the best golf in the country that's available.

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david: Yeah, we really do. Well, you know, the state of Florida always always kind of have this trivia fact in the back pocket. You know Florida, Florida has 1,250 golf courses, and you know we're rated number one in the country. But if Florida were a country we would rank 7th in the world right behind Australia.

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david: So northeast Florida has 72 of those. And yeah, right on the Atlantic coastline, from Amelia island down to Northern Daytona or Lpga, and very proud of it.

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Jesse Stakes: It's absolutely amazing, Wes. I know you've been a part of some of those courses over the years.

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Wes Altice Golf: Yeah, yeah, we had a 10 year stint down at Hammock beach, helped open up the conservatory course and kind of split my time between conservatory and the ocean course. So those are 2 2 that are near and dear to my heart, and some of my favorite, especially that conservatory course.

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Jesse Stakes: Very cool, Dave, you guys have been around since 92. Is that correct?

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david: That's correct. Yes.

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Jesse Stakes: So what was it that I mean, you know, kind of the the origin story of the genesis of North Florida Gulf? How did it start our 1st coast gulf. I apologize.

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david: Yeah, no, no, that's good. So the tourism leaders in the area visit Jacksonville, CEO, Ponte Vedra Innant Club

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david: Ponce de Leon, the old Ponce resort and and a number of tourism leaders. They took a look at what Myrtle Beach was doing with how they were filling room nights using their golf product to do it. And they said, Well, we've got the Pj Tour headquarters. We've got the players, and we have all this great golf.

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david: Let's start up a similar organization, and

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david: and it really took off from there the the forefathers of the organization. I I joined it 3 years after it was formed. And boy, they they really set up the organization for success. And it's it's just going, you know, record, year after record, year.

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Jesse Stakes: That's fantastic. And have you always been passionate about golf? What was it that got you involved.

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david: No, not always. What did you open up with the line you know. Don't have to be professional golfer to to be in the golf business that would that would equal Dave. Golf games. Not that. Not that great. But I've always been a tourism guy with Florida State University in the hospitality school

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david: always, you know, just really had a servant's heart, and traveling around with my dad at a young age, through through hotels and so forth. So that's that's what grabbed my passion. And you know. So I was a sports convention sales manager visit Jacksonville coming out, and this position opened up, and 27 years later. Here I am.

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Jesse Stakes: That's fantastic. I mean, it's a if you're going to be in the hospitality business, or if you're going to be around it, there's not a not much of a better place to be.

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david: Right right.

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david: Wes. I need to come get a lesson from you. By the way.

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Wes Altice Golf: Yes, yes.

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david: I'm a difficult, difficult student.

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Wes Altice Golf: No, no! Well, from what I've seen, there's nothing too difficult. I've seen it all.

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david: Yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: We'll make sure you guys have each other's contact information before we sign off today.

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david: Right on.

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Jesse Stakes: All right. So we we kind of talked about. You know, the kind of when the organization was formed. What was it that? Do you know? What was it that inspired them to do so like when it when it comes to like? Was it? Did they just see a hole in the offering. Did they see something that was, you know, kind of a

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Jesse Stakes: you know, something that they said they they saw a necessity for what did they, you know. Did the people who were the forefathers just have a passion for it? What was it that that really drove it.

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david: You know. Well, economics, Jesse, I mean the the I guess it was efficiency. So you know, being one of the strongest regional tourist companies, tourism companies in the State. And that's a big statement. You know. First, st you know, number one industry in Florida is tourism, right? So we're the longest standing and most successful regional

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david: tourism board of any market segment. I mean, we occupy that vertical with the Gulf.

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david: But you know a lot of duplication, you know. I mean, back in the day, you know, it was, you know, less digital, hardly any digital. But you know you flip through a golf digest, and you know each, you know, Saint Augustine would do $20,000 ad and November issue. Jacksonville do the same. So so it was a lot of

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david: overspending and not unifying the message. So you know, like the beaches and history tie our region together. Golf is another another one of those commonalities that you know, really, as a region we we excel at. And by putting those efficiencies together, you know, we make our budget go further, and we reach more people. So it was a no brainer really.

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Jesse Stakes: I think it's fantastic. I mean, when you can create an efficiency and actually improve people's spend. That's tremendous.

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david: Yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: So let's talk a little bit about that. Numbers wise as far as what

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Jesse Stakes: what you guys have meant to the area as far as when it comes to the golf courses when it comes to the hospitality market. Can you? Can you kind of quantify that for people? Just so they, you know, kind of have an idea. What does that mean to our area?

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david: Yeah. And and I won't, you know, do your traditional economic impact? By the way, it's a hundred 50 million dollars. But you know

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david: those things aside? Yeah, yeah, so so we get data from the each golf course in the region, and the majority of them on a monthly basis, and they tell us how many rounds are played. How many are tourists, and you know. So we have a pretty good feel of you know what tourism means to our golf courses, and thus the hotels and and so forth. So roughly, 25%, 2025% any given month.

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david: Our tourists on, you know, on all of our golf courses. So you know that that's a pretty strong number. I mean one in 5, 1 in 4,

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david: of of every every golfer that tees off or from out of town. So so that's a huge impact on, you know, not on our golf courses. But you know the intent of the organization, you know, to generate additional room nights for for economic development. That, of course, translates into, you know,

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david: Topgolf, getting groups at night restaurants, bars, you know other attractions, and you know, of late, and Wes can attest attest to this by all the amateur golfers he's seeing at his facility. I mean, golf is just. It's cool everybody everybody's doing it. It's the cool thing. So so as that funnel, you know, has has widened since 2020.

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david: You know. It's it's it's, you know, not only your golf Diehards coming in playing golf once or twice every day that they're here. It's. It's also the the broader tourism market to where, you know, they may pick up the club, you know, one time or 2 times during their 4 or 5 night vacation.

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Wes Altice Golf: Yeah, that's that's something that we've definitely seen much more of. And I'm starting to see more of my students come in who are beginners or just getting back into it. You know they're starting to. Do. You know, Buddy, trips and stuff like that. So it's really good good to see this whole industry, starting to pick back up again and having golf trips and buddies trips as part of it really just shows you how

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Wes Altice Golf: how serious people are getting, even though they were. May took some time off, you know, during Covid or Pre. Covid, and then Covid kind of bumped us all back into into an orbit again.

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Jesse Stakes: I'll tell you. You know it's interesting, just because I've lived in the northeast Florida area my whole life. And and for as a whole, not not just with golf, but just as a whole. We don't think about ourselves. I don't think as a as a having a huge tourist industry.

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Jesse Stakes: but golf really is one of those things in this market that is unique. And it does drive people to come here, whether it's the players or if it's just, you know, the opportunity to play so many historic or very, you know, challenging golf courses. You've got Amelia Island up north. You've got like, you know, like we talked about. You got, you know, the hammock, hammock beach courses down in Palm Coast. There's all kinds of all kinds of places that truly do attract real tourists to this area around the game of golf.

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david: Right. And and you mentioned the players I mean, you know Lee Smith, the the you know. Pg. Tour, J. You know, to have that, as it's, you know, home for 50 years getting ready to be 51. I mean, I always tell people that is the best 4 day sun soaked global commercial for our region that anybody could ask for across, you know, across any

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david: any market segment. So I mean, that is, that is a huge huge deal for the area, and and really shines a light on us for for so many, so many re reasons.

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Jesse Stakes: All right, I'm gonna put you on the spot. Do you have a favorite golf course in the area?

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david: My my man, I didn't see that

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david: I will give you my standard answer. Jesse.

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Jesse Stakes: Yes.

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david: I do, and it is the closest one to wherever I am.

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Jesse Stakes: There it is!

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david: So many options. No, I'm I'm really so. I live in Jack's Beach, and you know I I

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david: you know, when you live at the beach, you you kinda oh, we gotta go cross the inner coast with.

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Jesse Stakes: You don't want to go.

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david: Sure.

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Jesse Stakes: No.

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david: No, I mean, I love Wes's courses. You know that he came from. I mean, how are you gonna be? You know the that ocean course on the ocean, and so forth. But you know I'm just a regular guy, I mean, I'm I'm happy with a club in my hand. I'm you know, very average golfer.

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david: I love my hometown Jack's Beach Golf Club. It's it's chill. It's got a good good environment, you know a lot of a lot of clubs are kind of adapting to that, you know. Widen funnel of the the golfers, you know. I mean no longer. You know the staunch, you know, rules kind of thing. You guys have that at Topgolf yards is another another one of my favorites where it's just

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david: just a hip. Cool environment. But I mean Millie River comes to mind, too. That's that's a that is an awesome track up there. Always in good condition, and you know, really proud of, you know.

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david: Now that you bring that up, Jesse, I mean, we've got a little over 200 million dollars over the last 3 years that the golf courses have reinvested in themselves, I mean King and bear is another that just did a complete renovation. Oak marsh up on the Amelia island resort is going to open up later this month or December

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david: so whether it's a clubhouse renovation, or a complete grass overhaul, or a top tracer being installed, or what have you? You know our our courses and our product are really stepping it up so.

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david: Thanks for that question, Jesse. I hope I don't get in trouble there. I love everybody.

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Jesse Stakes: Hey? I think you named enough not to you. Spread it out. You spread the love out right there.

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david: There you go!

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Wes Altice Golf: I'm loving the new, you know, kind of the vibe that these courses like you mentioned like Jack's Beach and the yards like that's what's going to attract, you know the generations to come up and keep the game going. I think the the days of being super uptight. No music sure has to be tucked in, all that stuff is starting to to fade out, and the people that want that they can join private clubs that enforce that.

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Wes Altice Golf: So I think it's really nice to see people being able to go out shirts untucked. Just relax. Put the speaker on the car, blare their music, and just have fun, because that's what it's supposed to be about. No one's going on tour, you know. Grand population. They just want to go out, have some fun, and, you know, hit a good shot or 2 and have some adult beverages. That's that's kind of where golf is going forward. In my opinion.

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Jesse Stakes: Speak for yourself my lives and dreams.

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Wes Altice Golf: Well, okay.

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david: The tour. Right? Yeah.

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david: So so I mean, and you kind of see that with the evolution of the players championship, I mean, I mean if you look back at the playoff between Sergio and David Tom's, you know, 15 years ago, whatever it was. And you just watch the television coverage that bowl. The bowl is like intermittently spot with entertain, you know, corporate entertainment. It's wall to wall and 3 high now.

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david: and it's and it's it's because I mean, they created an event that just happened to have a golf tournament in the middle of it. You know the the fan experience and the, you know, just attracted everybody from everywhere didn't have to be a serious golfer in that.

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david: That's that's what our courses are doing. So it's that's pretty neat.

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Wes Altice Golf: Yes.

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Jesse Stakes: I think if everybody keeps their kind of the eye on the ball that you are competing for people's entertainment dollars, I mean whether it's like if they're going on a vacation. If they're playing around a golf, whatever they're doing like that's what they're paying for, they're saying, entertain me. Make me let me enjoy myself. And so I think, if we all like, no matter what part of the industry, if they stay focused on that, and that's the end goal

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Jesse Stakes: success is going to follow. But if they decide that they want to stick some arbitrary rules around it, or, you know, like you said, if if it's important for you to have your shirt tucked in to walk onto my course, and it's not really important that you have a good time. I think we got our priorities backwards, and I think we're learning that, though. Yes.

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david: I think you had. I think you had a a guest on your show from National Golf Foundation. Am I right on that.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, Ted, Elotherio, yeah, he was. And he kind of echoed that.

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david: Yeah, these guys are great. And they and they've got re, really good data coming out of their organization. And you know, it's funny, I mean, one sticks into mine particular. Then we'll get off of it. But you know, interviewing golf course owners and general managers, and you know, head golf professionals on the dress and the tire. How important it is. And you know it's 56, 60 plus percent. And but then they asked them a a separate side question of you know.

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david: What do you think? So they gave the the corporate answer first, st and then gave the the real answer last. And it was like under 30%. Yeah, we're

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david: we're we're of the belief that golf should remain, you know, buttoned up and and not more relaxed like the consumers are telling us so.

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Jesse Stakes: 100%. I agree with you. And it's I mean, I think, that that's just like anything else. You gotta you gotta pay attention to follow market trends. We don't. We don't get to tell people how they want to do things. They tell us how they want it presented to us, or how they want it presented to them.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah.

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Wes Altice Golf: I'm glad the golf industry is listening like it was for a while. There's like it's our way, and that's it. But now I think everyone's listening to. You know, the data. And the people like, Hey, T-shirts are full now, like it's tough to get tea times at places. So

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Wes Altice Golf: I think golf is in a very, very nice spot, and I hope

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Wes Altice Golf: you know it can continue to go forward. And we keep riding this big wave because it's it's incredible.

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Jesse Stakes: Let's flip. Let's flip over to the other side of that equation for you guys. So you guys are also, you know, working with hotels and working with the hospitality side of this to also bring people in. So you know, do you have? You know, I'm sure there are some very popular properties. I mean, we we mentioned Hammock beach, but are there other? And we also mentioned, you know, Tpc, but I mean other places. Are you guys like, you know, how are you guys marketing packages to go play other courses that don't necessarily have a hotel attached to it?

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david: I mean, that's to a non golfer lodging facility. You know, that's exactly the mindset that they had. Oh, we don't have a golf course attached to our resort, like sawgrass with the 2 out the back door, and you know him at beach resort or omni, and so forth. So actually, majority of the the tour tourist play, I mean, they're staying at courtyards and Fairfields and Hilton's and home 2 suites. And

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david: you know even the the Airbnb's over. Moon's a partner of us, and

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david: you know. So it's you know, statistically, in data. researched is, you know, if you put one of those protractors. I don't know, Jesse, you might not be. Y'all might not be old enough. But you know the pointy thing and the pencil, and you extend it 45 degrees off the roof of a hotel.

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david: And if you've got 5 to 7 golf courses which most hotels do have around their property you're in the golf market. So I mean, that's generally the threshold of you know someone someone coming from out of town stay in a property and and do a stay and play

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david: package. So that's the majority. The minority are those that you know will will go to the, you know, demand that right out the back door bucket list. Course, I mean, you only got so many tee times at Tpc. Stadium, and and others like that. So

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david: so I mean, it's a

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david: a wide variety of hotels

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david: or part of our group.

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Jesse Stakes: Dave. I may not look like it, but I have played with a protractor in math class many, many times. I know how to make a circle with it, and I know how to draw with it. I don't know what you're supposed to do with those things for actual, you know, legitimate purposes, but but I did make.

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david: Those things were cool, weren't they?

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Jesse Stakes: Absolutely. It's the best way to make a circle.

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david: That's right.

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Jesse Stakes: Made a lot of suns and moons with those things.

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david: Yeah.

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david: I might have got a detention or 2, but.

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Jesse Stakes: So future of future, of this area, like future of tourism in the area. I mean, obviously, like you said earlier. It's growing. It's it, you know it has, you know. Covid threw a lot of rocket fuel behind it, but we have really seen some sustained growth beyond that. Do you see it continuing to grow.

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david: Yeah, do, Jesse, I mean a couple. I've got an embarrassing story. So.

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david: veterans Day, I'm taking my wife and my son out to play king and bear, you know, to see how. See how the new greens rolling and everything, and

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david: almost had to plug in my GPS,

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david: because, you know, lots of unfamiliar development around it. I mean it. It like it seems like, wherever you go in in northeast Florida. I mean, it's the landscapes completely changed. But yeah, you know, to the tourism product and so forth. Not. Maybe maybe not. Many of your viewers know. But you know state of Florida did

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david: exceptionally well, coming in out of Covid and kind of during Covid. So that's kind of a Renaissance time for us, where our tourism figures were better than Orlando's nineties and Tampa. So so we we really, you know, people, you know, just venturing out not going. I'm going to Florida. Just gonna put my toe in Florida, and a lot of lot of people discovered us.

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david: I mean the the whole stadium deal with the jaguars and shot Khan, and you know the development that you're gonna see along that river in downtown Jacksonville. Amazing!

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david: You know everything up Nassau County continues to expand westward from the intercoastal.

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david: I think we're on the brink of a lot of good things. Palm Coast. You know. They're they're doing a an echo center where they're they'll have

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david: you know, ticket office there for eco tours and paddle boards and kayaking and trails, and so, and then the Emerald trail out of Jacksonville downtown. Jacksonville extended to the neighborhoods. And

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david: you know it's it's

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david: It's gonna be great. 10 years in front of us.

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Jesse Stakes: It's fantastic. So along with that, I guess my question would be, we haven't really seen any new golf courses built in Jacksonville. We've seen one that I can think of over off of 210 in St. Johns County. But is there anything that's planned as far as new courses or new developments around around courses. Here in the next 10 years.

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david: I'm I'm shocked that there's not an amendment to the Nocatee, you know. Development.

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Jesse Stakes: Right.

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david: Put put something in there.

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david: short answer, Jesse. I don't know. I've not heard of.

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Jesse Stakes: Damn!

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david: Anything substantial. I have heard of something in the southern part of our region

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david: that you know I haven't been given a green light to

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david: to

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david: talk about. But but yeah, I've heard of one serious one

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david: that could be on the blocks.

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Jesse Stakes: Very cool.

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david: Soon.

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Jesse Stakes: Well, you got me curious now. I can't wait to hear something more when it, when you have the ability to tell us.

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david: Sure, sure, sure.

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Jesse Stakes: So you know, all of that stuff being said. What's the what's the thing you're the most excited about at all that we just talked about? Is there anything that you that's really just kind of got you the most excited, or things that you think the thing that you think is gonna drive people to this area more than anything.

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david: Yeah. Well, you know, I'll speak in my area. You know the the growth of this company, and you know I report to a board of directors of some of the best minds in tourism in in the region. So you know all of our Cvb. Or I call them tourist boards. You know the visit? Jacksonville, Similia Cvbs, the Clay County Tourism, Palm Coast, and Saint Augustine.

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david: you know. All of them, you know, have have great people underneath them, too, that are constantly developing the products using

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david: And you know.

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david: in my office, you know, I've got a small team here. And yeah, we're just really excited about expanding our promotion. We we just from a $20,000 jaguar golf promotion to an 80,000,

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david: you know, making an impact over in London for a couple of weeks out of the year trying to get that global. I'm most excited about that. One of the things is potential for air service, you know, nonstop out of out of Jacksonville to either Germany or or the Uk.

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david: I don't think we're far off of of those

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david: couple of things air. Canada is starting nonstop Jacksonville to Toronto in May. So you know, just trying to get some of those gateways. But I mean so many things like we just got done with. You know, we get the 3rd largest military population.

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david: active and and veterans in in the country. So we we've got a military appreciation program just just expanding on things. Regionally, we excel at military regionally, we accept that excel at golf. Regionally, we excel at, you know, beaches hospitality or people.

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david: You know. So you know, super excited about expanding promotions like that. And just same with the jet. Let's get through 2027. Get that shiny new stadium that'll bring a lot of lot of press our way, and we'll have the chess pieces around that

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david: to to be loud and proud.

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Jesse Stakes: I mean, Wes. I don't know about you, but if they offered a direct flight to London from here, if we had a stay and play at the players, the home of the PGA tour, and then a stay and play at the home of golf at St. Andrews. I think that'd be a pretty amazing.

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Jesse Stakes: pretty amazing package you guys could put together there. I don't know.

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Wes Altice Golf: Yeah, you can take my money now on that one.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah.

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Wes Altice Golf: I'm in.

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david: Me, too. Put me down to.

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Jesse Stakes: There's there's some crazy, very cool possibilities with all of that stuff. And I think I mean, it's it's exciting to even think about.

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david: Well, it just I mean, just like London, Heathrow, or or Frankfurt, or what have you? I mean, that just opens up. I mean, those are gateway cities from all over the world.

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Jesse Stakes: No doubt.

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david: So, maybe absolutely, yeah.

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Jesse Stakes: Yeah, very cool. Well, if people listen to this, they're excited about it, and they'd like to learn more. What's the best way for them to get a hold of you guys, or or to just, you know, engage with you.

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david: Yeah. So the websites Florida hyphen golf.org

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david: or G, and you know that's the best place you'll find me. You'll find Jenna, you'll find Brett.

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david: You know everything about us, and look me up on Linkedin. Happy to talk with anybody, or connect with anyone.

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Jesse Stakes: Very cool.

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Jesse Stakes: Dave. I want to thank you very much for joining us, Wes, as always. Thank you for for being a part of this.

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Jesse Stakes: and we're going to wrap it up. We'll catch you guys down the road.

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david: Alright sounds good.

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david: See? You guys.