Buyers Rush Jans/Govern Golf Course Groupon Deal

A July 2 Groupon "daily deal" offering 4 rounds of golf at the troubled Frank Govern Memorial golf course in Evanston (formerly known as Peter Jans Golf Course) for $39 sold out by the evening of July 4. The link to the coupon indicates that 800 bargain-hunters took advantage of the deal. While many people who buy Groupon coupons never use them, the course should see some more traffic and at least some revenue from the offering.

 
The high interest in such a short period of time also suggests that better marketing could help the course, and that price point has become a big issue for many casual golfers in this economy, or both.
 
Many area golfers may be unaware of the course's existence. Known for many years as Peter N. Jans, a name that persists on local destination signage, the course's name change, following a generous donation from the Govern family, IMHO caused confusion and a branding loss. The current website is clearly not maintained -- offering season passes for 2010. Meanwhile, some fellow in the UK snapped up "peterjansgolf.org" and is using it to draw traffic -- even Googling "Frank Govern golf course" brings that site up as a top hit. The folks who run the local course here need to regain control of their brand.
 
A group of neighbors and supporters of the course have banded together and are actively exploring ideas for the facility, unique in the area for its combination of challenge and affordability.