Kyle Holmes, GM & Managing Partner of Quail Ridge GC

Kyle Holmes is a PGA Professional and lifelong golf industry veteran who has spent nearly two decades turning around and growing public golf operations. Originally from Michigan, Kyle began his career as an assistant professional before taking on a General Manager role in Minnesota, where he was thrown into unfamiliar territory - overseeing food and beverage, events, and a head chef - and learned to lead by asking questions rather than pretending to have all the answers. That humility and hunger to learn became the foundation of his management style: hire people who are better than you at what they do, trust them to do it, and fill in the gaps where you can add value. In 2015, Kyle returned home to Michigan to take the reins at Quail Ridge Golf Course in Ada, and fell in love with the property - a sprawling, parkland-style 18-hole public course that has become one of the busiest in the state, with 45,000 rounds played in a single seven-and-a-half-month season.

In January 2024, Kyle and his business partner Tim - Quail Ridge's original grow-in superintendent and employee number one - purchased the course they had both spent years pouring themselves into. The partnership was a natural fit: Tim brings over 30 years of turf expertise and an unmatched work ethic, while Kyle brings the business acumen and a proven ability to grow revenue within existing operations. Together, they've built on Quail Ridge's already-strong foundation by sharpening the customer experience tomake every guest feel like they're coming home, and by investing in the future of the game through sell-out women's clinics, junior programs, and a thriving league schedule that keeps the tee sheet full from dawn to dusk.

Their latest venture, The Nest, is the clearest expression of Kyle's entrepreneurial vision: an eight-bay indoor/outdoor golf facility featuring "dual-mode" bays on TrackMan 4 technology that let golfers hit down a 375-yard range with the garage doors open in summer or into an impact screen in winter, without ever moving from their spot. Believed to be the first of its kind in Michigan, The Nest was born from Kyle's refusal to accept the northern golf course cycle of four months with zero revenue, and his conviction that indoor golf represents the next great growth frontier for the sport.

With a passion for mentorship, a love of lifelong learning, and an eye toward acquiring and revitalizing more courses in the years ahead, Kyle Holmes is a boots-on-the-ground example of what happens when a golf operator stops waiting for the industry to change and starts building the change himself.