1/6/2021 - By William Buehn

Have you ever found yourself warming up with a bucket of balls on the range and thought, boy this pitch of turf sure would make for some great snow tubing during the winter? Odds are you haven’t, but for Alex Odenbach, General Manager at The Links at Greystone in Walworth, New York, it was always a curiosity he considered pursuing. With a background as a Certified Financial Planner, the converted GM and third generation Greystone-man was always looking for a way to maintain income at the course during the winter months, when golf was closed for business.

Ultimately, he realized the things that prevented year-round golf—snow, cold…more snow—actually made Greystone the perfect arena for snow tubing, and with a 300-yard driving range featuring 60 feet of elevation change just steps from the parking lot, it was a natural fit. Now, after a roller-coaster build last winter followed by an inaugural jam-packed 28 days of downhill inflatable fun, they’re kicking off their first full winter of tubing this year.

Although Odenbach always joked about sledding on the range hill, snow tubing wasn’t actually his first pursuit of off-season revenue. He initially explored other avenues, like catering and even utilizing the clubhouse as a venue for funeral receptions. Fortunately, neither of those panned out, so he began researching more lively forms of entertainment, like tubing.

He and his team were sold after they went on a research trip to Iron Valley Golf Club in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where they offer snow tubing in the winter. He says, “The whole way back, we were just saying, “we have to do something like this!” So, we bought a snowmobile, a sample tube, and a little 48-inch groomer, just to test our own hill—it worked, but not the best, so we just kept pushing along.”

That mentality to just keep “pushing along” quickly proved to be vital in seeing the project through, as what began as a fun idea, turned into one unforeseen consideration after another. Odenbach says, “It was just so many things to think about to make it happen—things that I've never initially thought about.”

Everything seemingly simple came with a catch, from the 2,700 feet of waterline PVC required to service the three snow machines, to the booster pump and extra amperage needed to get the water uphill, to the build design required to run the rope lift without dragging.

Early on, Odenbach and Tim Hahn (Greystone Golf Course Superintendent since 1993) spent a lot of time exploring how to incorporate their existing irrigation system into servicing the snow machines they would need. Odenbach laughs, “I couldn't tell you how many conversations Tim and I had about the pumps.” Those conversations started in February of 2019, but the actual build didn’t kick off until August of 2019 and didn’t wrap up until early February of 2020.

The final product was ten 300-yard-long lanes, power lifts to drag tubers back to the top, two “bunny” lanes, lights, music, and more. Last year, they were only open for one month in February due to the construction, but the reviews from patrons were overwhelmingly positive.

Odenbach recalls, “In the 28 days from opening and closing—and probably 16 or 17 of those days actually being open—we did over 6000 tubers. Over 6,000 tubers getting 10 to 20 runs apiece is a lot of people having good times, and the social media just took off. People were taking friends, complementing it—it just kind of blew up. So, it was a very good month for a bunch of beginners.”

To keep things moving and to make sure people get their money’s-worth, Greystone uses a reservation system and limits capacity to about 125. By doing this, folks are able to get 10, 12, 16 even 20 runs during their two-hour sessions, and they rarely have to wait very long in line—if at all.

Aside from the initial setup, another aspect of the endeavor that wound up involving a little more than initially expected was the overall maintenance of the operation. You might think that all you need is a hill, some snow, and a tube—how complicated can it be?—but there’s a lot more that goes into it.

Everything from the type of snow—manmade or natural—to the way that it’s groomed affects the performance of the tubing. So, to run the hill, the team has three snow makers and a 2001 ski resort snow groomer. To make their own snow, they really need the temperatures to be in the low-20’s or high-teens, with low humidity for a few days. Super cold, dry nights are the best for cranking out the slippery stuff, so they’re a little bit at the mercy of mother nature, kind of like with turf.

Dustin Odenbach, Greystone Director of Golf and Tony Whiteford, Greystone Assistant Golf Course Superintendent stay busy grooming the lanes as well, but the team has found that midway through a busy day, after things start to ice over a bit, tubers seem to slide further and further down the runs. Hahn says, “We found that speed isn’t just an issue on putting greens. Speed is an issue on this hill.”

To keep things safe, they tried a variety of slow-down methods last year, from rubber floor mats (like the ones you’d see in a restaurant) to hay strewn about. However, this year, they’ve decided to pump more snow to extend the runoff area by about 200 feet, carrying the bermed lanes that same distance.

It’s these types of considerations that Odenbach and Hahn probably never thought they’d have to deal with, but which have led to a learning experience all around. Hahn says. “We've got a good network of people, and we're all learning at the same time in this tubing and snow making business. So, I'm relying heavily on everybody else in that arena as well. You know, my specialty is growing grass—we're all learning snow.”

With plans to incorporate other winter-time activities at Greystone, like cross-country skiing and snowmobiling, they’ll definitely have to keep learning snow. Odenbach would like to host cross-country skiing (both recreational and competitive), explaining it would be a perfect facility for the local high school team. He thinks they could set up a prefect loop around the perimeter of the tubing area for the athletes to practice, and the actual golf course could host a couple competitions each year when they get a good natural snow.

The local snowmobile club is another group that Odenbach foresees enjoying the snow-covered course. The course sits right in the middle of a 40-mile trail and would be the perfect place for snowmobilers to meet up, do some laps, or even conduct training on the hill.

There’s also a potential secondary benefit to making the most out of the off-season—appealing to a wider workforce by offering full-time, year-round positions rather than just seasonal ones. That thought was always in the big picture for Odenbach, who envisioned Hahn would be in a better position to hire and retain more of a full-time crew with the winter work opportunities that the snow sports would generate. So, far, Hahn has already taken on two more year-round employees as a result.

It can be pretty tough for a lot of cold-climate courses in the off-season, but there really are a number of options that can help keep the lights on during the winter. It may take some creativity and some upfront legwork, but the long-term benefits are real.