On the whole the only promotion done around here is for the pay-and-play courses where they are keen to get groups of four in two buggies for an inclusive fee which includes coffee and a bacon roll on arrival and lunch afterwards.
The reason there is no concerted effort to attract visitors is that the big name courses have no difficulty in getting enough visitors to make a substantial difference to their annual income. They couldn't accommodate more. A number of high quality courses in our area charge considerable green fees to deter casual visitors, preferring instead to attract blue-chip corporate golf.
When I wrote a guide to all the UK courses for The Times some years ago only about 40% of the clubs and courses I wrote to bothered to return the form giving details. And it wasn't necessarily the Muirfields or Sandwiches which demurred - many of the more private clubs were most helpful. Even some of the resort/hotel courses couldn't be bothered.
Some people who have really put themselves out for me when I've made a visit because I was going to write about them include The Belfry, Slaley Hall, Celtic Manor, Bowood, The Wisley, Chart Hills, East Sussex National, Forest of Arden amongst the newer courses and Swinley Forest, St George's Hill, West Sussex, Royal Ashdown, The Addington, Alwoodley, Ganton, R Birkdale, R Liverpool, R Porthcawl, Little Aston, Notts and many, many others among the older ones. But the best welcome of all is from Wirral Ladies'.