Jim U’Ren the vice-president of marketing at Willowbrook golf course, the 27-hole complex in Lockport, made us aware of the course’s new website. We took a look, came away impressed and decided to run a few questions by him. He acquiesced and gave us the following answers on why now for a new Willowbrook website.

1. How long had you had the original website?

The original website had been in use for at least 7 years, it was pretty much an afterthought from management.

2. What made you decide to renovate it?

I wanted to coordinate social media and the web presence of the golf course and better highlight the restaurant to give our customers and potential customers a better overall experience with an easy to use portal for Willowbrook. The key driver was that the site looked like it was from early days of the internet and we wanted to modernize.

3. Did you hire a company to do it or did you do it yourself?

I personally updated the website, added the new website address and have been working on optimizing it for search engine optimization (SEO) so we get better search engine placement.

4. What will customers like most about the new design of the website?

Customers will like that it is easier to navigate, provides a lot more information about the course, it’s history and information on rates, specials, junior golf and the menu for the restaurant. They will also like that they can upload photos of their events and time at the course to share with those that visit the website. Plus it has a feedback form so they can enter comments and request directly on the website. We plan on adding new items that may include scheduling Tee Times, an online store for gift certificates and merchandise and other items.

5. What do you like most, that visitor may not notice?

What I like the most is that it is a major step up from the previous design, that is very noticeable, but what they may not notice is that the website is very simple to keep up to date and get the word out about upcoming events and promotions that we offer at the course. Facebook has played a key role with the website allowing a forum for feedback that our customers may not have had before.

You may remember our Best Course Websites ranking from a few years back. Willowbrook was conferred the title of “a little engine that could,” meaning that its site then was not so great, but had potential. They paid attention and now that little engine has reached the summit.