Then came the industry downturn of 2001, made all the worse by the terror attacks that September. Bulle Rock's business fell 10% in terms of rounds played, a slump that continued well into 2003. (By that measure, the industry overall shrank by 3% in 2002 and 1.5% in 2003, the National Golf Foundation says.)
"It wasn't until the fall of 2003 that things really started to turn back around," says Mr. Rounsaville, a lanky 52-year-old who started his golf career as an assistant club manager in New Jersey in 1971 and has run Bulle Rock since its opening day.
The slump put an end to the dreams of Mr. Abel, who saw a financing deal for his coveted expansion fall apart in the summer of 2003. He sold Bulle Rock that September to a consortium of area developers and businessmen.
The new owners had a completely different concept for luring more business to Bulle Rock. With the industry hardly in a surge mode, course owners nationwide were looking to boost revenue by creating a captive audience. They ringed their courses with housing, and then persuaded hard-core golfers to move in and play round after round. Of the 150 courses expected to open this year across the U.S., according to the golf foundation, 60% will include housing.
So Mr. Abel's condo aversion went out the window, and Bulle Rock's new owners are now turning much of the remaining acreage into roads, driveways and single-family houses, all under the slogan "Life Imitates Vacation." The Residences at Bulle Rock are expected to lure more than 4,000 people to live around the course itself, and many of them, of course, will be golfers. The first homeowners are expected to move in this summer.
At the same time, Bulle Rock doesn't want to spoil the course's uncluttered aesthetics by ringing the fairways with lots of buildings. So the owners plan to put only a small percentage of the houses along the course itself; most will go out of sight on acreage behind the back nine, with views of Chesapeake Bay in the distance.
Homeowners will be eligible for special off-peak rates that aren't available to visitors, plus a set quantity of cut-rate rounds when they buy a house. The current package allows buyers to purchase eight rounds at $95 each. "Our homeowners will certainly add a lot of golf rounds to our business, and increase our restaurant sales," Mr. Rounsaville says.
The rumor is that once the housing side fills out over the next several years, Bulle Rock may go private, as has happened with many other public courses that became part of a gated community.
Meantime, the course is hoping to bulk up its rounds in other ways. Because of its steep price, Bulle Rock doesn't have a big cast of regulars. Most people who come do so only once a season, "as a special treat," Mr. Rounsaville says.
In an effort to change that, Bulle Rock now sells a three-round "frequent player" package that reduces the per-round price to $96, though you can buy only one of those a year. Larger corporate packages, which carry no restrictions, include 14 rounds for the price of 12, and 24 for the price of 20. "Our aim is to increase the number of repeat players," Mr. Rounsaville says.
Last year, the course also tossed out some last-minute bonuses, such as four players for the price of two in April, and four for the price of three in November. Bulle Rock doesn't stoop to common perks like twilight rates for the late-afternoon set, but it does slash the price to $95 (space permitting) for a second round of 18 for anyone intrepid enough to play two rounds in one day.
Mr. Rounsaville, putting a fine point on the offered perks, says the course is willing to cut prices early or late in the season, when the course may not be in perfect shape. And it's also willing to reward golfers who paid full price in the morning with a cheaper second round. "But our general principle is that the experience here is worth full fare, and we're not a cut-rate course," he says.
The course got a marketing boon last summer, when Bulle Rock was picked to host the next five McDonald's Championships of the Ladies Professional Golf Association. While the tournament itself won't generate much revenue, Bulle Rock is counting on the long-term effects of greater publicity.
The first championship, this June, will give the course international exposure, which should in turn attract a new batch of golfers. To prepare, Bulle Rock's owners are investing heavily in new phone lines and an expanded clubhouse, along with a new putting green and short-game practice area.
The course is also banking on increased revenue on the food and beverage side, which Mr. Rounsaville says has never brought in more than 10% of the course's overall revenue. The bigger clubhouse will allow for almost twice the dining space, with large private rooms that can be cordoned off for special events like weddings. "That part of our business stands to grow quite a lot," he says.
A clubhouse can be a huge source of revenue. Bulle Rock's closest competitor, Mountain Branch, which opened in 2000 about 20 miles to the south, racked up 33,000 rounds of golf last year, and expects to exceed 35,000 rounds this year. But Mountain Branch's persistently packed restaurant accounted for 60% of the course's overall revenue last year, pulling in $3 million on its own.
"Our motto is, if you don't maximize your facility, if you don't come at this with more than a golf background,