June 2020
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Cares This hospitality industry that we serve together is in the midst of an unprecedented time. None of us have experienced these difficulties before. While the COVID-19 virus will undoubtedly present more unpredictable challenges, we can rest assured in these two facts‌ First, our industry is blessed with those gifted with resiliency and servant leadership. Recently we have spoken with scores of you whom have not only found ways to overcome these challenges faced but have also provided assistance for your patrons and even your surrounding communities. Second fact is ClubProcure is here to help you. While we are assuring our team does our civic duties by working remotely, we are still ready to work for you. If your team is faced with any procurement or supply chain needs, please contact us. Our first order of business is to provide you with the ClubProcure member experience you have come to expect. It’s now more important than ever. Stay safe, be well, and keep your optimism. We will weather this and be stronger on the other side of the experience.
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EDITORIAL
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VICE PRESIDENT - GROUP PUBLISHER
VP, DIGITAL MARKETING
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vgoulding@wtwhmedia.com
josborne@wtwhmedia.com
Joe Barks
Tom McIntyre
jbarks@wtwhmedia.com 610-688-5666 office 610-416-3550 cell 175 Strafford Ave., Suite 1 Wayne, PA 19087
tmcintyre@wtwhmedia.com 216-533-9186
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JUNE CLUB INDEX Club and resort properties featured in this issue
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SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES To enter, change or cancel a subscription: Web (fastest service):www.ezsub.com/crb Phone: 844-862-9286 (U.S. only, toll-free) Mail: Club & Resort Business, P.O. Box 986, Levittown, PA 19058 Copyright 2020, WTWH Media, LLC Club + Resort Business ISSN 1556-13X is published monthly by WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Avenue, 26th Floor, Cleveland, OH 44114. Copyright ©2020. Periodicals postage paid at Cleveland, Ohio, and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: Qualified U.S. subscribers receive Club + Resort Business at no charge. For all others the cost is $75 U.S. and possessions, $90 Canada, and $145 all other countries. Per copy price is $3. Postmaster: Send change of address notices to Club + Resort Business, P.O. Box 986, Levittown, PA 19058. Club + Resort Business does not endorse any products, programs or services of advertisers or editorial contributors. Copyright© 2020 by WTWH Media, LLC. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, or by recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher.
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Virginia Goulding
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June 2020
Bay Head Yacht Club, Bay Head, N.J. ........................................22 Bella Vista Country Club, Bella Vista, Ark. ...............................49 Bishops Bay Country Club, Middleton, Wis. ...........................20 California Yacht Club, Marina Del Rey, Calif. ..........................44 Champions Run, Omaha, Neb. ........................25, 29, 34, 39, 42 Colleton River Club, Bluffton, S.C. ..................................................26 Congressional Country Club, Bethesda, Md. ......................................................................................23, 38, 42, 48 The Country Club of Virginia, Richmond, Va. ..............................................................................17, 25, 35, 43, 49 Farmington Country Club, Charlottesville, Va. ....17, 29, 34, 38 Green Valley Golf Club, Sioux City, Iowa .........................30, 40 Houston Racquet Club, Houston, Texas ..................................16 Maidstone Club, East Hampton, N.Y. .............................................28 Manasquan River Golf Club, Brielle, N.J. .................................19 Myers Park Country Club, Charlotte, N.C. ...........24, 35, 48 Paradise Valley Country Club, Paradise Valley, Ariz. .......21, 46 Seattle Yacht Club, Seattle, Wash. ................................................18 Spring Brook Country Club, Morristown, N.J. .......................32 Valley Lo Club, Glenview, Ill. ................................................................36 www.clubandresortbusiness.com
EDITOR’S MEMO
More Valid Than Ever There was some initial hesitation as we set out to put together our annual Ideas Issue this year. While you’ve always told us that this ranks as one of our most popular and useful issues each year, there was certainly a question about how appropriate or relevant its content might be for the 14th annual version, given how different this year has already turned out to be from the 13 that preceded it. And we weren’t even sure many club managers would want, or be able, to talk to us about ideas we’d seen or heard about at the Club Management Association of America (CMAA) Idea Fair or through other sources, because most of them involved concepts and events that predated the coronavirus outbreak. We vowed to go ahead and contact those clubs to see if they felt their ideas still had validity, and we were fully prepared to scrap doing an Ideas Issue this year if it became clear that they didn’t. But as you’ll see from the writeups that are presented throughout the following pages, clubs were not only still eager to tell us about their successful ideas, but when we asked if they could still be applied during their post-pandemic recovery efforts, all said yes, even if some concessions might now need to be made for social distancing and other safety concerns. Many said, in fact, that being able to offer these kind of special concepts and features would only add to the appeal they expected to be able to offer later this year, as members looked to return to their clubs as trusted, safe-haven environments.
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Many managers feel that being able to offer special concepts and features will only add to the appeal they expect to offer this year, as members look to return to their clubs as trusted, safe-haven environments.
When you get to the final section of this issue (pg. 46), you’ll notice that we’re also featuring an “idea” this year that doesn’t involve a special theme or a new twist on an activity. This story jumped out at us at the CMAA Idea Fair, because the poster describing it (above right) stood out like one of those gethelp signs you see on train platforms. Highlighting personnel and management issues, such as Lindsay Pizarro has done with her effort to help other managers, women and men, take the right steps in maternity- and medicalleave situations, is also an “idea” that’s taking on more validity and importance these days—especially as new light is being shined on diversity and equality
questions that the club industry, like all sectors, will now need to be prepared to take a renewed look at going forward. So for all of these reasons, we’re glad we forged ahead with Ideas Issue #14, and we hope you find it to be just as useful, if not more so, as the first 13, as you and your staff start to pick up the pandemic pieces and regenerate your operations. In fact, we hope it helps to spawn a flurry of great new ideas you can implement in the second half of this year—and when you do, please let us know about them for our 2nd Annual Top Innovators Awards in December (see pg. 45).
Joe Barks • Editor jbarks@wtwhmedia.com
June 202O
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INSIDE
June 2020 • Vol. 16 • No. 6
THIS
ISSUE
16
Special Events
Houston Racquet Club’s “Touch-a-Truck” event provides a first-hand look at first responders. Plus Seattle Yacht Club’s land-based attraction, and “Canvas and Cookies” as an age-appropriate alternative to “Wine and Design.”
ALSO IN THIS ISSUE
Design + Facilities 19 BEAUTIFYING THE BARN
Food + Beverage 22 GLOBAL TASTES
Colleton River Club takes members on a round-the-world culinary cruise. Plus Bay Head YC’s “scientific approach” to a sundae bar, and more.
Manasquan River GC dresses up its maintenance facility for a special dinner. Plus Bishops Bay CC’s sanitation solution, and more.
5
Editor’s Memo
8
The Rob Report
10
MORE VALID THAN EVER A WELCOME RETURN TO SPORTS
C+RB News Roundup
CORONAVIRUS UPDATE
Plus other industry, supplier and people news
36
Family + Kids
ACTIVE ADOLESCENTS
Valley Lo Club’s time-tested Junior Sports Camp, and more
40
Recreation + Fitness
REELING THEM IN
Green Valley GC finds a new revenue stream (literally), and more
44
28 PLANTING A SEED Course + Grounds
Maidstone Club’s fully functional farm, blowing away Green Valley GC geese, and more.
4 Club Index 6 l Club + Resort Business
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Golf Operations
FUN ON THE RUN
Champions Run’s speed-golf tournament, Spring Brook CC’s “Meatball” event, and more.
50 Product Showcase
Management + Membership
BACKWARDS AND IN HIGH HEELS
New ideas for making maternity and medical leaves less agonizing, and more
54 Ad Index
Professional problem-solvers no matter how big or small
When you work with Strategic Club Solutions, you get an experienced team of award-winning club consultants to help you plan to stay relevant, develop a strong brand, create more happy members and form ideas that stick. Call for refreshing solutions at 262.661.CLUB. Strategic Plans | Surveys | Member Engagement | Operations | Branding | SearchÂ
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THE ROB REPORT
A Welcome Return to Sports I’ve been a sports fanatic for as long as I can remember. From intently watching the first Skins Game with Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson as a kid, to staying up late as recently as last fall for the finish of a random West Coast college football game between two teams I have no particular rooting interest for…if it’s a sport and it’s on TV, I’ll watch it. As you can imagine, these last few months have been pretty lean. There are just so many times I can watch the Cleveland Cavaliers complete their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit and take down the juggernaut Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. And I feel like the 2018 Valero Texas Open was on for two weeks straight. Or was that just my imagination? I was abundantly pleased when the Korean Baseball Organization started to play meaningful games in May, though the early-morning start times ran counter to my East Coast sleep schedule. Bundesliga soccer was great, too, and the German clock makes watching those games a lot easier for me and my 9-year-old son. Thankfully, the PGA Tour is returning to action this month with the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas and the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head, S.C. While I continue to wear a mask when I run to the store and scrub my hands like I’m a doctor prepping for surgery, at least my TV will allow me a bit of normalcy.
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Seeing the familiar fairways of Colonial CC and iconic lighthouse at Harbour Town will be welcome sites, but it was uncommon viewing that gently ushered us back into watching golf on TV. Seeing the familiar fairways of Colonial and the iconic lighthouse at Harbour Town will be welcome sites, but it was uncommon viewing that gently ushered us back into watching golf on TV. Thanks to charitable efforts, the world was treated to rare glimpses of Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla. and Medalist Golf Club in Hobe Sound, Fla. I had long heard stories about both clubs and had seen pictures of their courses, but it was such a treat to actually watch action take place at such beautiful properties. Even Mother Nature couldn’t dampen my spirits as I watched a soggy Tiger Woods team with Peyton Manning to top Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady.
If you’re keeping score at home, Tiger and Phil have now split their two head-to-head, made-for-TV battles. There has been rampant speculation on “The Match 3” and who would pair with the golf legends—Steph Curry, Michael Jordan, Tony Romo, etc. But I’m more interested in the venue, as in what course would host the event. If Jordan is included, perhaps his ultra-exclusive The Grove XXIII would welcome the spotlight? Another trip to the Sunshine State for must-see TV would be nice, but, depending on the time of the year, I’m hoping the camera crews head to Camden County, N.J. and open the doors on Pine Valley Golf Club. I can’t imagine how awesome it would be to see two of the greatest to ever play the game compete on one of the most storied layouts in the world. Either way, I’ll be watching.
Rob Thomas • Senior Editor
rthomas@wtwhmedia.com
www.clubandresortbusiness.com
in partnership with Myers Park CC
JULY 13, 2020
MYERS PARK CC CHARLOTTE, NC
THIS ONE-DAY VIRTUAL AND IN-PERSON EVENT WILL EXPLORE THE MANY CHANGES CLUB CHEFS MUST CONSIDER AS THEY REOPEN FOOD AND BEVERAGE PROGRAMS. Join us at Myers Park Country Club, where Scott Craig, CEC, CCA, WCMC, Director of Culinary Operations, and Mark Bado, MCM, CCE, General Manager, will share the latest iteration of the club’s COVID-19 Playbook along with other industry leaders, who are overcoming the many obstacles with to-go programs, new food safety protocols, banquet plans and more.
Presenters Include:
Sessions Include:
• • • • • •
• • • • • •
Mike Matarazzo, CEC, Executive Chef, Farmington CC (Charlottesville, Va.) Richard Jallet, Executive Chef, Baltimore (Md.) Country Club Gerald Ford, CMC, Founder, Legit Culinary Concepts (Savannah, Ga.) Kevin Walker, CMC, Executive Chef, Ansley Golf Club (Atlanta, Ga.) Adam Dietrich, ServSafe Certified Instructor James Patterson, Executive Chef, Sedgefield CC (Greensboro, N.C.)
COVID-19 Playbook Explained How Takeout and To-Go Are Here to Stay New Skills Club Chefs Must Cultivate Buffet Presentations Post-COVID-19 How Strong is the Supply Chain? AND MORE!
Register at clubandresortchef.com/moving-club-fb-forward/
INDUSTRY ROUNDUP CORONAVIRUS CLUB UPDATE Editor’s Note: Club + Resort Business and Club + Resort Chef have been covering the club industry’s response to the coronavirus pandemic through C+RB’s Daily E-News and C+RC’s weekly e-newsletter. All of our reports have been archived at clubandresortbusiness.com/category/covid-19/ and clubandresortchef.com/covid-19/ For free subscriptions to both newsletters, go to www.clubandresortbusiness.com and click on Subscribe at the upper right of the home page. Here are some highlights of what C+RB and C+RC have reported about individual clubs’ responses to the outbreak, and some notable ideas that have been implemented:
CARE TO SCAN OUR MENU? A MANDATE BY VIRGINIA Gov. Ralph Northam for single-use menus, as part of allowing venues in the state to reopen but only operate at 50 percent capacity for outside service, sparked some ingenuity and the use of quick-recognition (QR) technology at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va. “Ultimately the Governor’s mandate of singleuse menus made the team get creative, so we wouldn’t waste a lot of paper,” said Joe Krenn, CCM, CCE, Farmington’s CEO/General Manager. The Farmington staff decided to instead look into turning its menus into QR codes that could be included on signage for members to scan. While it was limited to only providing beverage service on its terrace, Farmington created a QR code for the beverage menu offered in its
Blue Ridge Room and included it on laminated signs (shown at right) that were put near tables and chairs, to encourage members to scan the code to access the menu. Servers also carried the code on paper for members to scan, and it could also be downloaded from the club’s website or through e-mails and social-media posts sent to the membership. “Our first night, we had over 100 patrons spread out practicing social distancing, and we did not have to hand out any of the backup paper menus,” Krenn said. “Our members were very impressed and didn’t mind at all. We had to walk a few members through how to use [the code], but most got it right away. “Once we start offering food, this will be a tool we will use for all of our menus,” Krenn added.
THE CC AT DC RANCH AVOIDS PANDEMIC “MULLIGANS” The Country Club at DC Ranch in Scottsdale, Ariz. created a full calendar of socialdistancing events to keep members engaged and active. “We don’t get mulligans in life, so no rules can be broken, no matter who it might be,” said Dick Hyland, the club’s Director of Golf. While DC Ranch’s golf course continued to stay busy, the kitchen and food-and-beverage department organized to-go parties, online cooking classes, coffee pick-up in the valet area, grocery service, homemade hand sanitizer, and holiday take-home parties. The popular “Quaratin-O” curbside drive-through pick-up parade party involved several stations where members stayed in their cars and picked up drinks, desserts, and food, all while live music played in the background. Youth programming was essential as well. The youth department created cooking contests, Zoom craft parties, virtual workouts and pick-up art projects to keep kids busy. The Fitness and Wellness department started zoom classes, online seminars, and do-it-yourself home spa tutorials, while social activities continued with online Happy Hours, book clubs, flower-arranging classes, and online art lessons. 10
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CLOSING OF HANOVER (N.H.) CC IS SURROUNDING CLUBS’ GAIN WHILE HANOVER (N.H.) COUNTRY Club, owned by Dartmouth College, announced on April 20 that it would close for the 2020 season, members of the 120-year-old club haven’t had trouble filling the void, the Valley News of West Lebanon, N.H. reported, because of what other clubs in New Hampshire’s “Upper Valley” and neighboring Vermont have offered. “[Hanover CC’s closing] just provided more of an audience,” said Morgan Durfee, a marketing consultant to The Quechee Club in Quechee, Vt. While Quechee Club membership has traditionally been available only to owners of Quechee Lakes Landowners Association (QLLA) property, the Valley News reported, in recent years the club has offered a nonresident associate membership with a two-year expiration date, according to Gina Beaty, the club’s Marketing Director. After the two years are up, the would-be member must purchase QLLA property to retain membership. The special offer has attracted the attention of Hanover members, Beaty said. Hanover CC’s closing also came at a good time for Montcalm Golf Club in Enfield, N.H., the Valley News reported. The one-time ultra-private operation has made itself more available to the general public since founder Andy Sigler’s sale of the course in 2018, and has begun to publicize various upgrades, highlighted by a new golf training facility with a stunning view of the neighboring Whaleback Mountain and its ski area. “The phone rings every day from a Hanover member,” said Steve Rogers, Montcalm’s Director of Golf, who added that he has reached out to hire displaced Hanover workers as well. Lake Sunapee Country Club in New London, N.H. is also using its Upper Valley connection through owner Doug Homan’s other course, Carter Country Club in Lebanon, N.H., to appeal to Hanover CC members, the Valley News reported. The two courses began offering a joint membership shortly after Hanover was closed.
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INDUSTRY ROUNDUP NEW ROLES FOR CADDIES THE 35 HIGH SCHOOLERS caddying this summer at CommonGround Golf Course in Aurora, Colo. will have an easier go of it than their alumni brethren: They won’t have to lug the bag around the course for four hours, BusinessDen reported. Ed Mate, CEO of the Colorado Golf Association (CGA), said the CommonGround crew won’t be carrying bags because the program needed to eliminate contact during the pandemic. And they’ll have a new title: “Forward caddie.” The forward caddies should help speed up rounds at the course, Mate told BusinessDen. Each foursome of golfers that wants them will have two forward caddies, he said. Each caddie will carry fanny packs with towels, a yardage laser, a collapsible rake for the bunkers and hand sanitizer, BusinessDen reported. They’ll help maintain the course with a ball-mark repair tool and sand-seed bottle. The high schoolers are paid $1,200 for the summer, and must caddie three days per week and attend leadership training, BusinessDen reported. Graduates of the CGA program often go on to be caddies at prestigious golf clubs such as Denver Country Club and Cherry Hills Country Club, BusinessDen reported. And they can compete for an Evans Scholarship, which provides a full ride to the University of Colorado. About 15 percent of kids who start the caddie program earn the scholarship, BusinessDen reported.
GOLF AS RELIGION: MEGACHURCH BUYS THE GOLF CLUB OF DALLAS THE OAK CLIFF BIBLE Fellowship, built by Senior Pastor Dr. Tony Evans into an organization that has roughly 10,000 active members and a worldwide radio and television following, is buying the historic Golf Club of Dallas, station NBC DFW 5 of Fort Worth, Texas, reported. The semi-private club in the Oak Cliff neighborhood of Dallas, formerly known as Oak Cliff Country Club, was opened in 1953 and hosted the Byron Nelson golf tournament for eight years. It features the last golf course designed by Perry Maxwell; Maxwell’s son and collaborator Press Maxwell then finished the course for its opening. The course was “renewed and slightly renovated with the assistance of Charles Coody in 2002,” according to the club’s website. In 2017, it was reported that the club would be sold to a developer and 500 homes would be built on the property. But in an e-mail announcing the sale to the Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship, Philip Bleakney, The Golf Club of Dallas’ Director of Golf, told members that the new owners have made it clear they want to keep the golf course intact and make it the focal point of the community, as it was in the past, NBC DFW 5 reported. After meeting with Evans, Bleakney added in that message, he felt the Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship was “a perfect group to own the golf club.” 12
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MEMBERS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF Beacon Hill Country Club in Atlantic Highlands, N.J. visited the Atlantic Highlands First Aid Squad and presented volunteers there with masks, gloves and food items, The Monmouth (N.J.) Journal reported. Pictured from left: Alexander Mueller, General Manager of Beacon Hill CC; Bill Mount, Atlantic Highlands First Aid Squad VP; Richard White, Beacon Hill CC Board Member; and Rich Glietz, Squad Chief.
CLUB DECLINES PPP LOAN AFTER MEMBERS VOTE TO ACCEPT IT THE FISHER ISLAND (FLA.) Club announced the results of its straw poll of members on whether to accept a federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan: 67 percent voted for the club to take the loan, while 33 percent voted for the club to assess each member $5,000 to cover any operating deficits, the Miami Herald reported. And yet after seeking their input, the club won’t follow the will of its members, the Herald reported. Instead, the club’s Board of Directors said in an e-mail, it will reject the loan, citing recently issued guidance by the federal government about the requirement for businesses to certify that they need the money.
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OAKWOOD CC SOLD TO GROUP THAT INCLUDES CURRENT AND FORMER MEMBERS THE NEARLY 140-YEAR-OLD OAKWOOD Country Club in Kansas City, Mo. is under new ownership, the Kansas City Business Journal reported. OCC Investors LLC, led by developer Ken Block and including longtime current and former club members, acquired the 210-acre club on May 1 for an undisclosed price, the Business Journal reported. The property had a total market value of $2.3 million in tax year 2019, according to Jackson County property records, the Business Journal reported. Block told the Business Journal that the hope is to reposition the club as a world-class golfing destination, where players of all skill levels, from young beginners to local pros, can have a good time. A coming $5 million modernization effort will include developing a new driving range, a short-game practice facility and a Center for Excellence featuring golf simulators and heated golf bays, the Business Journal reported. The course is also set to see new cart paths on the back nine; work on sand bunkers; and new championship tees at around 7,000 yards.
Excellence in
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Management
®
Awards
Entries are now being accepted for the 2020
SUPPLIER NEWS KEN MELROSE, 1940-2020; FORMER TORO COMPANY CHAIRMAN AND CEO KENDRICK “KEN” B. MELROSE, the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Toro Company, died on May, 3, 2020, at the age of 79. Melrose took control of Toro in the early 1980s and over a quarter-century turned it into a market leader in outdoor equipment, embracing a new style of leadership along the way, the Minneapolis (Minn.) Star Tribune reported. Described as a smart, self-effacing CEO, Melrose led the Bloomington, Minn.-based company out of near-bankruptcy, through boom-and-bust cycles influenced by weather and onto a diversification path that brought sustained growth and prosperity, the Star Tribune reported. Melrose oversaw Toro’s acquisition of the Wheel Horse products division from American Motors Corp. in 1986 and the Lawn-Boy unit of Outboard Marine Corp. in 1989. In the 1990s, he drove Toro into the professional outdoor-maintenance market with the purchase of several firms in irrigation and related products. Melrose was a strong advocate for Toro’s philanthropic and industry support, and played an instrumental role in forming the company’s partnership with The First Tee in 1998, the Star Tribune reported. During his tenure as Chairman/CEO, Toro Company sales grew from $247 million to $1.7 billion. Melrose joined Toro’s marketing department in 1970, was named President in 1981 and made CEO in 1983. He promoted a concept called “servant leadership” that shared credit and profits with employees, the Star Tribune reported. www.clubandresortbusiness.com
Excellence in Club Management® & Rising Star Awards, co-sponsored by the McMahon Group, Club + Resort Business and the National Club Association. The awards program honors private club general managers, managers and chief operating officers who have exhibited outstanding skills in their clubs. THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING ENTRIES IS NOVEMBER 6, 2020 For more information and to submit nominations, go to www.clubmanageraward.com
June 2020
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SUPPLIER NEWS 2HEMISPHERES OFFERS RE-ENTRY GUIDE, SAFETY SIGNAGE 2HEMISPHERES, THE OREGON CITY, Ore.-based firm specializing in strategy, design, execution, project management and training for retail environments, has created a guide for club staffs to use as they prepare their pro shops and other spaces for “Re-Entry” to full operations. The guide, which can be downloaded at www.2hemi.com/ reentry-future-proofing, includes tips for managing occupancy levels and traffic patterns; safely protecting staff, members and guests; providing contactless service; and being “runway ready” to maximize sales through the various phases of reopening. As another part of 2Hemispheres’ “Future Proofing” concepts and services, the company has worked with clubs and other clients to create a new line of signage kits (shown below) to help communicate social distancing and safety guidelines, and has also recently launched a line of face coverings. All of the products can be customized to align with a club’s branding.
MCMAHON GROUP ALIGNS WITH KK&W, CLUB BENCHMARKING MCMAHON GROUP, THE ST. Louis, Mo.-based consulting firm, has announced that it has developed the Club Leaders Alliance™ (CLA) with Kopplin Kuebler & Wallace, the executive search firm, and Club Benchmarking, which provides business intelligence, financial modeling and key performance indicators for the private-club industry. The mission and vision of the Club Leaders Alliance, according to McMahon Group Chairman William P. McMahon, Sr., is “to rally club leaders to adopt proven best practices” and “to provide the knowledge processes and talent to create relevant clubs for today and the future.” An announcement about the formation of the Alliance explained that “After more than ten years of working together independently, the [three] firms felt it was essential to work more closely, in order to more effectively serve clubs in all of their operational, financial, staffing strategic and facility aspects. “This is an especially important time to bring together our expertise, to help in the post-COVID period,” the announcement added. For more information about the new alliance, visit www.clubleadersalliance.com
PEOPLE NEWS CLUB PEOPLE
Ned Graff
The TPC Network has appointed Ned Graff as General Manager of TPC Potomac (Md.). Graff was most recently Managing Director of Hershey (Pa.) Country Club.
Savannah Lakes Village in McCormick, S.C. named Matt Wooldridge as Director of Food and Beverage.
Frenchman’s Reserve Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. has named Joe Longo as Executive Chef. Most recently, Longo was Executive Chef at Broken Sound Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla. 14
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The Club at New Seabury in Mashpee, Mass. named Adam Green as Director of Adam Green Operations—Food & Beverage. Green most recently served as Director of Food and Beverage Operations for Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club in Brewster, Mass.
Chef Joe Longo
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Gulf Stream Bath and Tennis Club in Delray Beach, Fla. named Denzil Pieters as Director of Tennis. Pieters was most recently Head Professional at Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, Fla.
Desert Highlands in Scottsdale, Ariz. named Tatum Prudhomme as Head Tennis Professional and Brandon Hearn as Racquet Sports Professional. Prudhomme joins Desert Highlands from the Village at Camelback, where she served as tennis concierge and teaching professional. Hearn joins Desert Highlands from Moon Valley Country Club in Phoenix, where he was an Assistant to the Tennis Director and a pickleball professional. Golden Eagle Golf Club in Fifty Lakes, Minn. named Aaron Porter as Superintendent. Porter was previously Director of Agronomy at Giants Ridge in Biwabik, Minn.
Aaron Porter
www.clubandresortbusiness.com
Eu us sa sale
The Ford Plantation in Richmond Hill, Ga. hired Danielle Hopper as Director of Sales and Marketing. Most recently, Hopper was the Danielle Hopper National Sales and Marketing Director for the Private Club Division of Billy Casper Golf. Colleton River Club in Hilton Head, S.C. hired Kerri Neiderer as Marketing and Membership Manager. Neiderer was most recently with J. Banks Design in Hilton Head.
Kerri Neiderer
Bobby Jones Links appointed Nicole Brook to the role of Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining Bobby Jones Links, Brook
spent 17 years as a member of the senior management team at Textron Financial Corporation. Amy Willy, who previously served in this position, has transitioned to her new role as Bobby Jones Links’ Senior Vice President of Accounting and Systems. BOYNE Golf Academy, based at the northern Michigan resorts of Boyne Highlands and Boyne Mountain, named Joe Charles as Director of Instruction. Charles has most recently held Director of Instruction roles at GolfTEC in Atlanta and the Treetops Resort in Gaylord, Mich. The Zoar Memorial played at Zoar Golf Club in Dover, Ohio was won by Golf Course Superintendent Eric Crone. The tournament is played each year in memory of a golfer from the region who recently has passed. This year’s honoree was Harold Shade, former golf coach at nearby Scio High School.
SUPPLIER PEOPLE GSI Executive Search appointed Terry Anglin, CCM, CCE, ECM as Principal. Anglin, a 2016 Excellence in Club Management Award winner, was most recently GM/COO of San Diego (Calif.) Yacht Club.
Terry Anglin
Club Advisors named Scott Bennett as Interim Executive Chef. Bennett’s private club assignments have included The Greenbriar in W. Va., Wedgewood G&CC in Ohio, and The Winsor Club, The Lodge at Ponte Verde, and the San Jose Country Club in Florida.
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SPECIAL EVENTS
Idea Machine
The
Our 14th Annual Ideas Issue highlights winning concepts to help clubs jumpstart member engagement again as they return to full operations.
HANDS-ON
FUN
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By Pamela Brill, Contributing Editor
June 2020
CALL IT A LABOR OF love. The annual Labor Day BBQ event at Houston Racquet Club (HRC) got a special boost in September 2019, when management enlisted the help of its community to create an entertaining program for members of all ages. “We wanted our event to be memorable, educational and fun for the whole family,” says Rechelle Leal, Director of Youth Activities. Prompted by Chief Operating Officer Thomas Preuml, the HRC staff began brainstorming and came up with its first annual Touch-a-Truck event. Calling upon local fire and police departments, K-9 units and construction companies, the club recruited personnel and a fleet of their vehicles to set up on the premises, so members and their families could check them out up close. A separate flyer outlining the day’s offerings, including face painting, balloon artistry and rock-wall climbing at no extra cost, was distributed via e-blast and on HRC’s Facebook and Instagram pages. “We wanted to make sure the members understood that even though it was a holiday, it was an event they would not want to miss,” says Leal. To ensure the festivities would go off without a hitch, Leal, along with Director of Security Dickie Schelnick and other team members, carefully laid out a floor plan for each designated group. “It was spread out to accommodate our members and to make sure there was an abundance of entertainment to pique their interest,” notes Leal. www.clubandresortbusiness.com
The Touch-a-Truck event at Houston Racquet Club not only featured vehicles as star attractions, but also gave children and their parents a chance to interact with police, fire and other community-service personnel in a relaxed setting.
Vehicles were situated in the parking lot, with portions roped off for security purposes. Just off this area were the rockclimbing wall, a tent area housing D.A.R.E. representatives, a children’s balloon artist, and the face-painting stations. Families were transported to the surrounding amenities courtesy of a small train, which picked up passengers from the courtside café area, drove past the pro shop, and deposited them into the back lot. The event’s star attraction, the vehicles themselves, were manned by select police officers, fire truck operators and other personnel who also offered a glimpse into their everyday lives. According to Leal, they helped “answer questions about day-to-day operations, and let the children sit inside the vehicles to see what it felt like to be a hero for a day. This event provided a hands-on experience with educational fun to create
THE GOAL:
Expand upon a traditional Labor Day event at Houston Racquet Club by adding an entertaining, educational component for all ages.
THE PLAN:
Enlist the participation of local community members and businesses for a Touch-a-Truck feature set up in an easy-to-navigate layout that also invites families to get to know their everyday heroes.
THE PAYOFF:
A profitable event that can enhance future holiday celebrations.
www.clubandresortbusiness.com
memories that children and even adults can’t resist.” Given the expected hot and sunny forecast, each activity and vehicle was set up under tents, and hydration stations containing water and Gatorade were peppered throughout the property. “At each of these checkpoints under tents, we included various ice chests with ice-cold towels for members,” says Leal, adding that her crew was on rotation for the duration of the event to assist families. When they were checking out the vehicles, families were able to feast on a chef-prepared BBQ spread and take in live music. Thanks to the Touch-a-Truck add-on, HRC’s Labor Day event increased usual revenues by 33 percent, making it the club’s best year to date. Leal was enthused by member feedback and the strong response to the day’s festivities. “Members had fun speaking to the firefighters and seeing the various instruments used to save lives every day,” she says. “The children could not wait to take pictures in the police car and push the sirens that they usually can only hear from a distance, or see how a lift is used in everyday construction jobs to help build our beautiful cities and clubs.” Not only did this program add merriment to the traditional Labor Day celebration, it paid special tribute to the community’s police officers, firemen and local businesses. And even with the new emphasis on safety, Leal believes the event’s format can easily transition into a social distancing-friendly affair. “We can decide to turn this into a parade of never-ending fun for our members to enjoy from afar,” she says.
IN VIRGINIA, TWO CLUBS have had success converting the popular “wine and design” trend among adults to an equally appealing kids’ version, “Cookies and Canvas.” Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va. positioned its event as an opportunity to provide an exciting activity for kids (and new revenue for its Children’s Place) while also drawing their parents to the club’s restaurants. With a maximum headcount of 20, children ate dinner after arriving and then painted on a canvas. After painting, they got to decorate cookies for dessert. The Country Club of Virginia (CCV) in Richmond, Va. offered its version of Cookies and Canvas as an “unplugged event” that could encourage creativity and time away from cell phones, video games and other technology. An instructor led the painting class as children painted their own unique canvases, and then enjoyed designing, decorating and eating their own cookie masterpieces with their friends. “This event works in all seasons, for all ages, genders and levels of artistic talent,” says Megan Jinks, CCV’s Youth Manager.
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SPECIAL EVENTS
DRIVING
MEMBER INTEREST By Pamela Brill, Contributing Editor
BOATING ISN’T THE ONLY MODE of transportation favored by membership at the Seattle (Wash.) Yacht Club (SYC). In September 2019, the club hosted an exotic car and motorcycle BBQ, as part of its effort to appeal to a broader interest. “I have noticed a number of classic vehicles in our parking lot over the years, so [I] knew that many members were enthusiastic collectors,” says General Manager Amy Shaftel. Inspired by the success of a previous Seattle Yacht Club Foundation classic car and boat show fundraiser, Shafter recruited a club member to serve as master of ceremonies and began calling members to take part by showcasing their vehicles. No fee was required to enter a vehicle or simply to attend; lunch was provided at a separate cost ($10 for adults, $5 for children, and no fee for drivers of the vehicles). With the event promoted through various channels, including monthly and weekly newsletters, e-blasts and signs posted around the club, word quickly spread among the SYC membership and staff, who were also encouraged to participate. For help with executing the land-based event, SYC tapped the Drivers Club of Redmond, Wash., for tips on how to set up the parking lot. “They made great suggestions and we invited their members, as well as members from the local Jaguar and Corvette clubs to join in,” says Shaftel. The club’s lower lot was cordoned off the night before the event, and two tents 18
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(one for registration and one for food) were assembled. Drivers were asked to arrive in advance of the start time, with each driver receiving a number to place on the dashboard and a map detailing how to park their vehicles. They were also tasked with filling in the make, model and year of their entry; in exchange, they received a voucher for lunch. Once the grounds opened for the event, attendees were directed to park in the upper lot and given ballots to cast their votes for a total of 39 cars represented in a variety of categories, including: Concours d’Elegance (best vehicle); People’s Choice (personal favorite); Best Zombie or Jalopy Car (least likely to get you home); Smiles Per Mile (most fun); Kid’s Choice (for voters under 15 years of age), and Best Restoration. Winners were awarded a 5-in-1 barbecue tool affixed with the SYC logo. When members weren’t checking out the coolest things on wheels, they dined on classic BBQ fare—hot dogs, hamburgers, corn on the cob, baked beans, coleslaw, watermelon, cookies and brownies—against the backdrop of the “American Graffiti” soundtrack and classic rock. “Not much entertainment was needed; people love to talk about cars,” notes Shaftel. “Even members who no longer own boats still enjoy driving their classic cars.” With 100 lunch tickets purchased, an event that had been budgeted to break even met management’s expectations.
THE GOAL:
Create a sense of community by hosting a family-friendly event that goes beyond Seattle Yacht Club’s usual focus.
THE PLAN:
Prep the property for a car and motorcycle showcase that includes participant voting for a variety of categories.
THE PAYOFF:
A festive outing that is already on the books for a repeat performance.
“Members were so excited that two agreed to be the event chairs for 2020 and make this an annual event,” Shaftel says. And even with heightened safety concerns, she does not anticipate having to adapt the format tremendously, because the event already takes place outdoors. “It is easy to keep social distancing in mind by spacing out cars,” she notes, adding that more tables could also be added to help diners spread out. And while its first venture into featuring wheeled transportation was not responsible for bringing in any new memberships, existing members were able to make new connections. “Neighbors brought their kids, so it was great for our little community,” notes Shaftel. “One family saw the cars from the freeway and came by. It was nice to welcome everyone when we are usually closed to non-members.” www.clubandresortbusiness.com
DESIGN + FACILITIES
BEAUTIFYING
THE BARN
By Joanna DeChellis, Contributing Editor
SINCE IT WAS BUILT ALMOST three years ago, the greens barn at Manasquan River Golf Club (MRGC), in Brielle, N.J., has been home to tractors, mowers and other maintenance equipment. But for one magical night in 2019, it became so much more. Manasquan River hosts at least ten wine events annually. More than half are dinners that are usually held in the club’s upscale dining room. Occasionally, when weather permits, the club will host one under the stars, which always wows the members. “We were trying to think of a setting that would be just as exciting, but also new and different,” says Ryan Brennan, CCM, General Manager of Clubhouse Operations. “Someone suggested renting a barn off-property, but then Michael Zusack, our
[GM/COO], suggested our greens barn.” Brennan and the club’s Executive Chef, Maurice Maglione, CEC, CCA, immediately began planning just how they might pull off the idea. The barn, which measures 32 feet by 120 feet, isn’t located too far from the clubhouse, but it would need to be deepcleaned. A finishing kitchen and sanitation space would also need to be built. A few days ahead of the event, the entire barn was emptied of equipment and the work began. “Team members from every department helped us,” says Brennan. “We power-washed the floors, built out the kitchen, strung up lights, set up tables and completely transformed the space.” After a florist added some finishing touches, no one would have known that just days prior, the space was filled with groundskeeping equipment. Upon arriving at the dinner, members were greeted with a glass of Crémant de Bourgogne sparkling wine and encouraged to mingle. Winery co-owner Kinou Cazes-Hachemian was on site to speak about each of the wines that were perfectly paired with dishes prepared by Maglione and his crew. The menu included Normally home to mowers and other equipment, a homemade gnocchi and a Manasquan River GC’s greens barn was transformed tomahawk steak. (see photo above) for a rustic-themed wine dinner. www.clubandresortbusiness.com
THE GOAL:
Manasquan River Golf Club wanted a new atmosphere for its Chateau Lynch-Bages wine dinner.
THE PLAN:
GM/COO Michael Zusack suggested turning the club’s course maintenance equipment barn into an event space, complete with a satellite kitchen and farmhouse tables.
THE PAYOFF:
Members were blown away by the event and the staff learned that, with enough teamwork, an upscale event can be executed anywhere.
“The execution was flawless,” says Maglione, whose background is in off-site catering. “We did a lot of sous vide cooking to make sure food temperatures were consistent. What’s even more impressive is that while we were doing this dinner, we were also doing 125 in a la carte service [in the club’s dining rooms] and another party for 40 [elsewhere on the property].” Using the barn instead of the clubhouse also reinforced how the MRGC staff could pull together for special efforts—which proved especially useful during the club’s closure at the start of 2020 during the coronavirus outbreak, when it was still able to host three virtual wine dinners and a virtual wine tasting for its members. June 2020
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DESIGN + FACILITIES
PUTTING SAFETY FIRST By Pamela Brill, Contributing Editor
WHEN THE COVID-19 OUTBREAK TOOK hold of the private club industry as 2020 began and prompted the shuttering of clubs across the country, managers were forced to rethink how they could clean and sanitize their facilities. Concerned with how they could conduct business in the midst of a pandemic, many also realized how essential it would be to make members feel secure and to find ways to quell their fears about their personal safety at the club. Feeling that daily cleaning and sanitizing measures were not enough, Bishops Bay Country Club in Middleton, Wis., decided to take matters into its own hands (quite literally). After being approached by a club member—who happened to be one of the owners of Biodome, which makes BioProtect surface cleaner for walls, ceilings, floors and furnished areas—General Manager/COO Jeffrey Murray decided to look into that sanitizing solution. “I felt that with the media coverage that is out there, everyone is petriTHE GOAL: fied,” Murray says. “We have to gain Create a safe environment for the members and staff of Bishops the confidence and trust of our club Bay Country Club following a members and the public that we are global health crisis. going above and beyond.” After reviewing the company’s THE PLAN: scienti fic studies and detailed product Partner with a sanitation providinformation, Murray agreed to have er and treat all areas of the club with a long-term solution. the club’s kitchen treated with BioProtect. “He [the owner] treated the area THE PAYOFF: and then tested again later that week Ensuring the protection and to convince me this product was real,” well-being of members and he says. staff has given peace of mind to returning and prospective During the third week of March, members. BioProtect was professionally applied 20
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by the Biodome team (via spray guns and foggers) throughout the property, including the golf carts (see photo at left) and turn houses. “We first did a deep cleaning of everything and then a disinfecting,” Murray explains. Staff was not required to vacate the premises, and the entire process took approximately three hours. To educate members about the cleaning procedure and its intended benefits, the club created a short YouTube commercial, containing photos and footage of BioProtect’s disinfecting process. (According to product specs, the treatment is designed to be effective for a 90-day period.) The video is also personalized with a message from Murray himself. “This is our year of leading the way by redefining excellence, and we’re doing just that,” he says in the video. “Thank you very much for your continued support and your trust, and we will see you soon.” After the YouTube video was posted, the club reopened its golf course and resumed limited food-andbeverage operations. “We don’t get questioned about sanitation, and members are very excited about being back,” Murray reports. “Our curbside carryout is very busy, and a la carte food sales are better than last year.” While Bishops Bay’s building remained closed due to the Wisconsin governor’s orders, a Biodome technicians made periodic visits to check treated areas. Murray expected to make additional treatments once the 90-day period passed and signed up for an annual contract at a discounted rate. “We anticipate this issue will be around at least that long, if not longer,” he notes. At a time when clubs need a helping hand, Murray is pleased that he made the right connection at the right time. “Partnering with Biodome was an excellent decision and took the worry out of a lot of areas,” he says. Going forward, he feels certain that his members can trust they are returning to a safe place. www.clubandresortbusiness.com
THE GOAL:
Expand fitness center space at Paradise Valley Country Club.
THE PLAN:
FITTING IN
Utilize an unused space on the grounds to create an outdoor fitness studio for members.
THE PAYOFF:
The new studio provides more room for members to work out while taking advantage of the Arizona weather.
By Lauren Sasala, Contributing Editor
WITH WARM WEATHER THE MAJORITY of the year and a need for a larger exercise area for members, Paradise Valley (Ariz.) Country Club (PVCC) created a 1,500-sq. ft. outdoor fitness studio in an empty courtyard to give members an additional space for their workouts. Alex Bearden, PVCC’s General Manager, says the club orginally looked for a way to update its indoor fitness center, but an expansion was proving to be too expensive.
www.clubandresortbusiness.com
Then while attending a fitness conference, Christine Curtis, PVCC’s Director of Fitness, saw the idea of installing a modular outdoor fitness studio. “It was a perfect fit,” says Bearden, especially because the club had an outdoor area behind the fitness center that had never been fully utilized. Originally used as a parking area, it then became the spot for tire-flipping exercises. The club’s fitness committee designed a plan to turn the space into an Aire Fitness®
Outdoor Studio, which opened on September 1, 2019. The area features a 10 ft.-by-20 ft. box to store equipment like medicine balls, battle ropes and TRX straps, along with an outdoor turf section. Different programs, like boot-camp workouts and circuit classes, are held in the space and personal training is also available. The area is open until 10 p.m., year-round. “You can’t beat working out with the beautiful mountain views and fresh air,” says Bearden.
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FOOD + BEVERAGE
A SWEET STATION By Joanna DeChellis, Contributing Editor
Richard Bilotti (above) from Bay Head YC’s culinary team took the lead in developing the “Periodic Table of Ice Cream, Toppings and Sauces” that was then brought to life through a special science-themed action station.
WHEN RICH HEIMBUCH, EXECUTIVE CHEF of Bay Head (N.J.) Yacht Club, was dreaming up a new action-station concept, he knew just what would make members “scream”—ice cream with dozens of toppings, sauces and personalized choices. But he wanted to give the sundae bar a science-y twist that went beyond the typical liquid nitrogen, churn-to-order stations others have used. He decided to riff on the Periodic Table of Elements and create Bay Head’s very own “Periodic Table of Ice Cream, Toppings and Sauces.” Heimbuch enlisted one of his team members, Richard Bilotti, to help fill out the table, which was broken into nine categories, including volume, flavor, candy, alcohol, fruit, powder, nuts, sauces and other. It Bay Head YC’s Periodic Table broke the includes everything fixings on its sundae bar into nine categories that covered everything from Cracker Jack and from Cracker Jack and coconut to coconut to gummy gummy bears and Kool-Aid. bears and Kool-Aid. To bring the station to life, the club replicated the look and feel of a real science laboratory, using beakers and test tubes of all shapes and sizes to display the many “elements” on the table. Liquid nitrogen was used for effect and to actually churn the vanilla and chocolate ice cream to order. The culinary staff also dressed the part in long white lab coats, bowties and employee ID badges that read “C.I.C.” (Chemistry of Ice Cream). 22
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As members moved through the station—also dubbed “The Chemistry of Ice Cream”—they could pick and choose what they wanted on their sundae. “Most members were overwhelmed by the choices and kept it simple,” says Heimbuch. “The kids were a different story. They didn’t want the ice cream, just the candy.” In the end, everyone had an absolute blast and was overwhelmed by the vast number of colorful choices available for creating their own perfect sundae. The club now plans to use the same action station for an upcoming kids’ science class, and also make it part of its action-station banquet options.
THE GOAL:
Bay Head (N.J.) Yacht Club wanted to create a specialty action station that would entice members while showcasing the ingenuity of the team.
THE PLAN:
Executive Chef Rich Heimbuch and one of his cooks, Richard Bilotti, created a periodic table featuring ice cream, toppings and sauces. The action station was set up so members could work their way through the table, choosing one of the two homemade bases and then customizing their sundae with dozens of toppings and sauces.
THE PAYOFF:
Members reported feeling “like kids in a candy store”; the club now plans to use the station for a kid’s science class, as well as an option for weddings and events.
www.clubandresortbusiness.com
RECOGNIZING THAT PREPARING THANKSGIVING DINNER may not always be the most fun thing to do on your own, Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. offered an alternative approach to its members: Learn how to do it from our Executive Chef and his culinary team, with a glass of wine in your hand. The club hosted its “Thanksgiving Tips and Tricks” classes in mid-November, and saw the full range of its membership demographic—couples, singles, friends and family—sign up for this new event. The aspiring chefs packed Congressional’s transformed Capitol Dining Room and Main Kitchen to learn from the pros, and the club’s culinary leaders and Wine Director created an experience to remember, with interactive cooking and cocktailing techniques highlighted at different stations. While the students sipped libations and moved from station to station, they took notes, asked questions, and picked up a program with recipe cards and cooking instructions (for cocktails as well as dishes) that they could take home to be reminded of all they’d seen and heard. Members enjoyed the concept so much, they’ve requested that the club host more events with the format throughout 2020.
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FOOD + BEVERAGE
TAKING LOCAL
TO A NEW LEVEL By Joanna DeChellis, Contributing Editor
THE GOAL:
Myers Park Country Club was looking for a local partner to source fresh, leafy greens.
THE PLAN:
Form a partnership with Myers Park High School to get products produced through the school’s hydroponic program. The school tailors its output and product mix to the needs of the club.
THE PAYOFF:
The club now sources all of its leafy greens from the high school, getting products that are exceptionally fresh and grown just a mile from the club. The cost is lower than imported product, and the proceeds are funneled directly back into the community.
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MYERS PARK COUNTRY CLUB (MPCC) in Charlotte, N.C., is always on the lookout for new partnerships, especially ones that support the local community. A little more than a year ago, Myers Park learned that the local high school’s culinary program was in the nascent stages of creating a hydroponic program. The club’s leadership team, led by Director of Culinary Operations Scott Craig, CEC, CCA, WCMC, reached out to Myers Park High School (MPHS) to see if the club might be able to source its lettuce from the students. “We performed an analysis of the quantity of leafy greens our club consumed, as well as the cost, and worked with MPHS over the summer to tailor their output to our needs,” says Craig. MPCC began using the school’s product in full at the beginning of the 2019/2020 school year, and the results have been outstanding, Craig reports—to the point where the high school has now become the club’s primary source for bibb lettuce, green leaf, red leaf and frisee. “We are receiving a product that is exceptionally fresh and grown only a mile from the club,” says Craig. “The cost is lower than the imported product it replaced, and the proceeds from the salads our members are purchasing are being funneled directly into our neighborhood school, which many of our members’ children attend.” As Myers Park moved through the quarantine phase of the COVID-19 crisis, the club continued its partnership with the school, to send healthy product into food-insecure neighborhoods. “Our membership has been extremely excited about the partnership we have created with MPHS,” says Craig. “They have enjoyed the beautiful, fresh lettuce, and are very proud of the ‘closed loop’ we have created.” www.clubandresortbusiness.com
THE COUNTRY CLUB OF VIRGINIA (CCV) “infused” its upscale dining room with a simple and exciting way to entice members to try new cocktails, after it purchased a large tower infuser and invited its lead bartender to create custom recipes for drinks the new equipment would be used to prepare. The infuser was placed in a prominent location that was impossible for members to miss when entering the restaurant, and the raw ingredients used with each infusion were also prominently visible, to help display the quality and authenticity of each infused cocktail. The infuser combines one bottle of a spirit and fresh ingredients, and the small-batch production allows for many rotating flavors, promotes seasonality, and has prompted members to ask what recipe is being made each night.
IS SELLING SPECIAL CLUBLOGOED CUPS at a price of $125 for kids and $85 for adults a sustainable proposition? It certainly proved to be one at Champions Run in Omaha, Neb., where the club promoted the purchase of the insulated cups, which came with a straw, to reduce plastic use at its pool. Those who bought the cup were entitled to free refills for soda, iced tea and other non-alcoholic beverages all summer long (and discounted specialty drinks on the weekend for those with adult cups). “The cups were very popular among members—we sold out of the original order of 100 and had to make multiple reorders during the summer due to high demand,” reports the club’s Allison Boyd. “We strive to be very conscientious with our waste, and these cups have helped immensely with that.”
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FOOD + BEVERAGE
GLOBAL TASTES By Joanna DeChellis, Contributing Editor
ONCE A MONTH, THE COLLETON River Club in Bluffton, S.C., immerses its members in a unique dining experience through its “Passport Nights” program, where a la carte dining is paused and its place is taken by a deeply themed event centered around a destination or event. “We pick themes that suit locations our members have thoroughly enjoyed visiting in the past,” says Executive Chef Robert Wysong. “Last year we did locations like the Caribbean and Southeast Asia. Other themes are fit into current events, such as Oktoberfest and Mardi Gras.” Every event has an array of special touches to make each “trip” feel unique and special, says Wysong. “We look at all details, including music, entertainment, staff uniforms, and food,” he says. “The dinners are presented in an interactive setting, with chef-attended action stations, too.” Passport Nights, typically held on Saturdays, are by reservation only, as their popularity has caused consistent sellouts over the past year. 26
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And the “passport” aspect is not just an overriding theme—members are given an actual booklet that gets stamped each time they attend a Passport Night. After accruing eight stamps, members are entered into a drawing for two complimentary tickets to the club’s annual New Year’s Eve bash. “Members here thrive on the variety created by our inventive food-and-beverage team,” says Wysong. “As it evolves, I think we can go deeper into regional cooking. There are a lot of possibilities, the deeper you venture into Asian and European cuisines.” Going forward, Passport Nights will be the centerpiece of Colleton River’s weekend dining plan, as the club ramps back up from the coronavirus disruption. “As we restart our process and develop new ones, we will look at weekend dining options for members differently across the board,” Wysong says. “This is our chance to continue breaking the routine and generate more excitement.”
THE GOAL:
Colleton River Club wanted to engage members in the a la carte dining experience and drive participation.
THE PLAN:
The “Passport Nights” program, held once a month typically on Saturdays, transforms a la carte dining into a themed destination with décor and specialty menus. Members are issued special booklets that are stamped when they arrive for each new event; accruing eight stamps qualifies them for a drawing for tickets to the club’s annual New Year’s Eve bash.
THE PAYOFF:
Colleton River members are so thrilled by the event that participation increased on Passport Nights by 58% and they are consistently sold out.
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COURSE + GROUNDS
PLANTING A SEED By Betsy Gilliland, Contributing Editor
THE BENEFITS OF AN IRRIGATION pond at the Maidstone Club, a 27-hole property in East Hampton, N.Y., have reached well beyond the golf courses. After the pond was installed in a four-acre span of trees in the middle of the property’s nine-hole golf course six years ago, Kenneth Koch, CCM, Maidstone’s General Manager/Chief Operating Officer, recognized that the plot of land had even more potential. The spot was the perfect place for a garden, so Koch put Head of Maintenance Jim Abran to work. Abran built an all-organic garden, which produces dozens of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers per year on the site that now covers 2.5 acres. The garden, called Maidstone Farm, also includes an apiary with 11 beehives and its newest addition, a chicken coop that is home to 30 chickens. “I am the lucky benefactor of all of Ken’s and Jim’s hard work,” says Executive Chef Ian Scollay. “I pick what’s good and ripe, and bring it back to the kitchen.” While Scollay relies on the farm to provide a supplemental source of fresh ingredients, he isn’t the only one to reap the rewards of the garden. Five years ago, it became part of the Maidstone Club’s Junior Activities program as well. In fact, Koch says, “The farm was started for 28
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the kids. We show them how things are grown. They gain new skills and knowledge they never would have come in contact with.” The summer camps focus on golf and tennis, but the children, who range from kindergartners to sixth graders, work with Maidstone staff members in the garden one day a week. “Depending on the age group, we’ll assign the tasks,” says Koch. The campers learn to plant herbs, vegetables, and flowers; harvest honey and eggs; feed and care for the chickens; conduct bee inspections; propagate plants; weed the garden; and cultivate compost. Maidstone’s in-house florists also teach the children how to make floral arrangements with flowers from the garden. Using honey from the bee colonies, the children make lip balms, soaps, and candles. They also came up with creative designs in a honey-jar label contest. Koch and Abran are beekeepers, and the property, which harvests 700 pounds of honey annually, sells honey products to members as well. Scollay makes honey ice cream, and a homemade honey-herb vinaigrette is bottled and used in a club restaurant as a salad-dressing option. In addition to Koch, Abran, and Scollay, the campers tend to the garden alongside golf
THE GOAL:
Expose children at the Maidstone Club to gardening and farming skills, with hands-on learning opportunities in an experience they might not otherwise have an opportunity to gain.
THE PLAN:
Build an organic farm and incorporate gardening skills into the Junior Activities program.
THE PAYOFF:
The farm has become an integral part of the Junior Activities program, and a supplemental source of fresh ingredients for the club’s Executive Chef to use in the kitchen. This year it is being used to provide fresh produce for members through curbside pickup.
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course maintenance crew member and former Vietnamese monk, Long Ngyuen, aka “Brother Long” or “Happy” to the kids. The farm, which initially had 12 beds for vegetables and herbs, has grown to 30 beds for a full variety of fruits, vegetables and herbs (for the full list, see the online version of this article at www.clubandresortbusiness.com). “It doesn’t get any better than being able to go out and pick fresh herbs,” says Scollay, who harvests for half an hour every day and has input into what is planted. “At the end of each season, I go through seed catalogs. I’m trying cape gooseberries and orange tomatillos this year.” Abran built the 10-foot-by-30-foot chicken coop in 2018 and cut cedar trees and built perches for the chickens. Each of the 30 chickens lays one egg a day, and the three varieties of chickens produce brown, salmon-colored and green eggs. Once a week, the campers make a salad for their lunch with vegetables from the garden. At the end of the summer, a farmto-table luncheon is held for the older campers. With the help of Scollay, the children harvest all of the ingredients for the meal. “The Harvest Lunch is our gift back to them,” says Koch. Because of pandemic restrictions, the club hasn’t yet finalized its plans for this year’s summer camps. But Maidstone has already adapted to the times by offering curbside pickup for produce orders from the garden. “I can see the marketplace being continued,” says Scollay. “I think it’s a nice feature for the members.”
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THE GOLF COURSE AND GROUNDS MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENTS at Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va. use a wide variety of mowers to keep the club’s 36 greens, tees and fairways in meticulous condition. With a staff of approximately 28 dedicated workers who are tasked with maintaining over 125 acres of turf, the need to get the right equipment to the right location is paramount. To help identify the task and location for each machine in Farmington’s fleet, weather-resistant, easy-to-read vinyl stickers were placed on each mower. Operators now never end up using the wrong mower for their scheduled job, reports Robert Podleski, Assistant Golf Course Superintendent. In addition to reducing operator error and improving operational efficiency, the labeling system has also helped the club track each piece of equipment for engine and performance maintenance.
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COURSE + GROUNDS
PROBLEM
BLOWN AWAY By Rob Thomas, Senior Editor
GREEN VALLEY GOLF CLUB IN Sioux City, Iowa had a Canada goose problem, reports Director of Golf Scott Harmelink, PGA. “Geese love closely mown areas with water and no predators, which makes [our property] very popular for these birds,” Harmelink said. “They peck at the greens non-stop and leave droppings everywhere. The geese have become very comfortable with people and are hard to harass.” But after paying attention to the geese’s flight patterns, Harmelink deduced that a lot of them seemed to be flying pretty close to Sioux City’s airport. “I figured this might give me some ‘ammunition’ when I called the Iowa Department of Natural Resources [DNR} to see if anything could be done,” he says. “We are technically in the city limits but there are no buildings, other than the clubhouse, within
a half-mile of the water on the course.” Harmelink met with the DNR, and Conservation Officer Steve Grehbel provided an idea. After getting City Council approval, Green Valley hosted the first gun hunt in Sioux City history. Grehbel contacted several U.S. veterans and invited them on the hunt as well. He and four other DNR officers arrived at Green Valley at 5:30 a.m.
THE GOAL:
Remove problem geese from the golf course at Green Valley Golf Club.
THE PLAN:
Enlist the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to organize a gun hunt.
THE PAYOFF:
“Eight geese were harvested—but a lot more than eight shells were fired,” says Director of Golf Scott Harmelink, PGA. “There hasn’t been a goose on the property since.”
CHAMPIONS RUN in Omaha, Neb. hosted the first-ever First Green Event in the state of Nebraska. The club’s Agronomy Department invited over 50 local 7th graders to come out and learn about all that’s involved with operating a golf course. First Green, a program of the Environmental Institute of Golf, the philanthropic organization of the Golf Course Superintendents of America, is an innovative environmental and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education outreach program that uses golf courses as environmental learning labs.
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on a late October morning and set up five temporary goose blinds, all with decoys, and were ready to hunt at sunrise. “Eight geese were harvested—but a lot more than eight shells were fired,” Harmelink says. “There hasn’t been a goose on the property since. And the DNR promised they’d be back to harass them if they return.”
Golf course superintendents and/or local golf course representatives host students on field trips where they test water quality, collect soil samples, identify plants, design plantings, assist in stream-bed restoration and learn about the ecology and environmental aspects of the course. The students are also introduced to many other aspects of the golf business, and learn how courses offer economic benefits, recreational opportunities and green spaces to the communities they serve. Students gain an understanding of golf courses as large parcels of land with healthy turf, trees and other vegetation that provide habitat for wildlife, produce oxygen and filter surface water. “The kids loved it and we also had members run the event,” reports Dustin Furhman, Champions Run’s Service Manager. “Kids learned about green speeds, drone flight, and other grounds and greens initiatives throughout the day. Fun was had by all, and it was a very special event to give back to the community and to get involved in the education system.” www.clubandresortbusiness.com
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GOLF OPERATIONS
MIXING IT UP By Rob Thomas, Senior Editor
A LOT MORE THAN MEAT goes into making a tasty meatball. And the same can be said for the annual Men’s “Meatball Tournament” at Spring Brook Country Club in Morristown, N.J. Contested for generations, the tournament is played every fall as the concluding tournament of the club’s golf season. In the 1950s and ‘60s, the “Dover Gutter Band” played along the course, with a trumpet and bass drum announcing the shots. Clowns and pony rides entertained the children during the day, and the entire family enjoyed a cookout when the tournament was over. Traditionally, tournament “losers” would serve the “winners” in Spring Brook’s Grille Room. The Meatball Tournament continues today, minus the band and all-day family activities. But the golf holes for the “cross-country scramble” are re-arranged so they are not played in the usual order or direction—for example, playing from the sixth fairway to
THE GOAL:
Close out the golf season with a unique and fun event at Spring Brook CC while maintaining a longstanding club tradition.
THE PLAN:
Mix up the course routing for a “cross-country scramble” and add unique rules for each hole, such as hitting from a chair, and provide plenty of Italian-themed food and refreshments.
THE PAYOFF:
The Men’s “Meatball Tournament,” held since the 1950s, is always sold out and is the second-largest tournament at the club, behind only the three-day member-guest.
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the second green, or from the black tee on the seventh hole to the 10th green. The format goes beyond just mixing up the routing, howThe Men’s “Meatball Tournament” ever. To add to the fun, at Spring Brook CC has been held a unique rule must be since the 1950s and once featured a followed on each hole. On band playing along the course. one, a player must hit his tee shot while seated in a chair (see photo above). On another, players must drive and putt from his opposite natural side. Golfers are provided with plenty of fuel, starting with a full breakfast buffet. Food stations are also set up on the sixth hole, 16th tee and at the halfway house, featuring meatballs (of course), sausage and peppers, antipasto salad, Italian subs, Italian beer, wine and Sambuca, and more. After the tournament, all can partake of an elaborate Italian luncheon that includes chicken parmesan, stuffed shells, pasta Faggioli and stuffed peppers. “The tournament is always sold out, with approximately 120 players,” says Chris Lukov, Spring Brook’s Assistant General Manager. “The members absolutely love it and take huge pride in it.” Plans for 2020’s “Meatball” depends on what New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will allow at the time of the tournament. “So far it is still on the calendar, and we hope to be able to execute it,” Lukov says. “We may have tweak the format a little bit, but the curve of the disease has been flattening here in New Jersey. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.” www.clubandresortbusiness.com
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GOLF OPERATIONS
FUN ON THE RUN
By Rob Thomas, Senior Editor
LIKE MOST CLUBS, CHAMPIONS RUN in Omaha, Neb. hosts a lot of golf tournaments. Most clubs, however, don’t bring in a DJ and Jumbotron and encourage golfers to sprint while playing. But Champions Run did, as part of trying to break a world’s record in speed golf for the fastest playing of a par-5 hole (in its case, its #10, which measures 445 to 563 yards from its five tees). “We saw some fun videos on golf world records on YouTube and thought it would
be cool to implement at our [Club Management Association of America chapter] golf tournament,” says Ben Lorenzen, Creative Director and Director of Aquatics & Fitness at Champions Run. “We wanted to make it different than any tournament we’ve ever hosted, while promoting camaraderie and competition for all participants. And [the speed-golf element] encouraged many nongolfers to have fun with it as well.” Outlining the rules and making a funny promotional video of how it would look—
and run—was the first step of introducing the idea to participants. “We made it an all-day event at our tournament, with over 36 foursomes participating,” Lorenzen says. “We also added a huge Jumbotron, which live-streamed the record attempts. People on the tee box couldn’t see how the teams were finishing on the green, because it was so far away, so the Jumbotron showed all the attempts.” Other unique ideas implemented at the tournament included a “chauffeur” who
FOR A 27-HOLE PUTTING CHAMPIONSHIP event that was open to everyone, regardless of age or skill level, the golf staff at Farmington Country Club, Charlottesville, Va., created a 9-hole miniature golf course on three different practice putting greens, each with a different theme (“America,” “Toy Story,” and “A Day at the Beach”). Members completed one 9-hole course and then drove golf carts to the next location, and after all 27 holes were completed, a playoff was held to decide an overall champion. Beverages were driven around for members to grab on the go. Three teams of two people each from the golf staff were assigned to create the courses, using props and pictures to add extra creativity to their themes. Those who participated in the event were impressed with the level of detail put into creating each of the courses, the club reports. (See www.clubandresortbusiness.com for a report on the “Golf and Pony Show” that Farmington held, where participants played 10 holes of golf and then were then taken by bus to a nearby track for an evening of horse racing.) 34
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THE GOAL:
Introduce new, entertaining aspects to a traditional club event at Champions Run while trying to set a Guinness World Record for fastest playing of a par-5 hole.
THE PLAN:
Include a “chauffeur,” DJ and MC to add new levels of excitement to the event, and show all the action on a Jumbotron screen.
THE PAYOFF:
Those who participated, along with the club staff, “had a blast” and said it was the most unique aspect of a golf tournament they’d ever been involved with. And the concept can be made “corona-proof” simply by requiring single carts, which would only serve to add a new “NASCAR” element to the fun.
took the person who hit the tee shot all the way down to the green, a DJ playing music, and a Master of Ceremonies. The tournament also had the traditional hole-in-one contests for cars and chipping contests for other prizes. The official Guinness World Record for the fastest hole in golf by a team of four is 27.875 seconds and was achieved by Tom Lovelady, Lanto Griffin, Stephan Jaeger, and Andrew Yun (all Tour professionals) at the Palm Desert (Calif.) Resort Country Club. “We had a foursome do it in a minute and ten seconds,” Lorenzen says. “However, we consider that a world record for non-Tour players and it is certainly a CMAA world record as well, because no other CMAA chapters have done it. So for all of those chapters out there who do golf tournaments as fundraisers—it’s a challenge for all of you!” The event was a huge success and will be done again going forward at Champions Run. “The [CMAA] members and staff that participated had a blast,” Lorenzen says. “They said it was the most unique thing they’ve ever participated in at a golf tournament. Based on everyone’s participation and reaction, we’d even like to try to implement it in other tournaments as well.” And it’s a format that can even work in the post-coronavirus world, Lorenzen feels, because it was “a pretty spread-out event.” The only change that might have to be made would be to have each player drive his or her own cart—but that would only serve to add a new “NASCAR” element to the fun.
TO CREATE EXCITEMENT FOR THE ANNUAL one-day holiday sale in its Golf Shop, Myers Park Country Club in Charlotte, N.C. mailed each of its members a custom scratch-off lottery ticket with a personally signed note from its Head Golf Professional. The scratch-off provided details of the sale’s date and time and how the scratch-off could be used. The values of the scratch-offs were randomly generated, with discounts varying from 30% to 50%, in 5% increments. The discounts could only be applied to the total purchase made, and only eligible for use on the designated day. The promotion allowed the club to reach members across all membership categories and produced an enthusiastic response resulting in sales of over $50,000—an almost 300% increase from previous holiday sales. Not surprisingly, Myers Park plans to repeat the promotion for future holiday seasons.
THE COUNTRY CLUB OF VIRGINIA (CCV), in Richmond, Va., decided to move away from its basic reward system for junior golfers (handing out candy) and instead offer the opportunity to earn “CCV Bucks” for jobs well done. The currency (pictured above) can be collected for achievements that include being a contest winner, participating in group discussions, assisting with clinic preparation, or just exhibiting a positive attitude. At the end of the season, a wrap-up celebration is held that includes a display of items that can be bought with the Bucks, ranging from golf balls and head covers to golf bags and clubs. The new incentive has also helped junior members learn how to manage their “money” and understand how their behavior, effort and performance can help them earn more; as a result, they’ve became more engaged in weekly clinics and in finding out what new opportunities are available to accumulate more “purchasing power.” To make golf less intimidating for its new adult golfers, CCV’s golf department adapted the same instructional formats and games used to teach junior golfers. Combining brightly colored cones, stakes, noodles and more with the challenging games used to teach each skill (see photo above), and also changing the terms used as part of the instruction (“drills” to “games,” “matches” to “challenges”), has all helped to make the novice adult golfers “feel more like competitive kids again,” says Head Golf Professional Summer C. Lee, PGA. Since starting the new format, CCV has added five beginner clinics to its normal schedule and has had to cap the number of participants each week; saw an increase in first-time players in its couples’ events, with three of four sold out; and doubled the number of players in its weekly 9-hole ladies’ group. “Once we remove the ‘scary’ formal aspects, first-time adult golfers are much more excited about learning and playing the game,” says Lee.
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FAMILY + KIDS
ACTIVE
ADOLESCENTS By Rob Thomas, Senior Editor
THE ANNUAL YOUTH CAMP AT Valley Lo Club (VLC) in Glenview, Ill., which is known as the Junior Sports Club, was started in the mid-1970s by a group of Moms at the club. To honor the tradition, group photos of each year’s campers (such as shown below) are displayed at the club, dating back to the camp’s beginning. As the camp grew in size over the years, Valley Lo transitioned its Director position from seasonal to year-round, says General Manager Judy Higgins. Once a camp ends in August, the club begins planning for the following year. Each season, Valley Lo hires four leadership staff members—Assistant Director, Program Director, Counselor-in-Training Director and Head Counselor—and between 70 and 80 general counselors (36 to 40) and sport instructors (30 to 34), Higgins says. In addition, 12 lifeguards are scheduled for camp operations. “Enrollment for camp is 300 to 400 children each year,” Higgins says. “Parents are able to choose which weeks their children attend.”
Started originally in the mid-1970s by a group of club Moms, participation in the seven-week Junior Sports Club at Valley Lo Club has swelled to now see 300 to 400 children enrolled each year, requiring between 70 and 80 general counselors and sports instructors. Group photos of each year’s campers and staff are displayed at the club. 36
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Camp groups are divided by grade and gender—second grade through eighth grade—and Valley Lo offers two, twoweek counselor-in-training programs for ninth- and 10th-grade children. Programming includes: golf, platform tennis and pickleball, fishing, archery, sailing, boating, pool, lawn games, field sports, arts and crafts, standup paddleboard, and beach fun. The camp, which costs $244/week for second to fifth grade and $284/week for sixth to eighth grade, runs for seven weeks. “Each Wednesday, we send the middleschool kids on a field trip and offer three optional trips as well,” Higgins says. “We also bring in special events, such as the Jesse White Tumblers, Wheel of Wisdom Game Show, Mad Scientist, Magician, etc. “Week 6 is our annual Olympics week,” she adds. “Kids are assigned to a country, and compete in a number of activities. We have a flag ceremony, Olympic torch and medals.” www.clubandresortbusiness.com
MAKING NEEDED ADJUSTMENTS Because of the coronavirus pandemic, Valley Lo has decided to cancel field trips and not hold camp on rainy days for the 2020 season. Options are being reviewed with the Junior Sports Club Committee, including block schedules, staggered times and alternating days; cohorts and group capacities; facility zoning; boxed picnic lunches; screening; and personal protection equipment requirements. “It’s been tough for the parents and kids, as they have been e-learning since the end of March,” Higgins says. “They have missed their year-end school activities and their friends. It’s time to get outside and play. “Summer camps provide that and more— skill and social development, self-confidence, independence and making new friends,” she adds. “Our camp is no different—except at Valley Lo, our parents know the club, the staff and the other VLC families that participate. “We have new safety measures that include smaller groups, screening, shortened days and zoned programming,” Higgins continues.
“Portable hand-washing stations are being placed throughout the property. They are eager to participate in any type of camp we can provide, given state and local health-department guidelines.” Members have shared with Higgins that some overnight and specialty sport camps have cancelled their 2020 seasons, leading more Valley Lo members to look at the Junior Sports Club, and also asking the club to increase the number of weeks their children can participate in the camp. “Prospective members see these measures, too,” she says. “Public amusement parks and pools may not be as attractive— if they even open this summer.”
Valley Lo Club only expects the demand for its Junior Sports Club programming to increase this summer, as other outside camp alternatives are curtailed.
THE GOAL:
Provide fun physical activities for between 300 and 400 youth members of Valley Lo Club during the summer months while carrying on the decades-long tradition of the Junior Sports Camp.
THE PLAN:
Offer a wide range of sports and activities, including golf, platform tennis, pickleball, fishing, archery, sailing and more, for kids divided by grade and gender.
THE PAYOFF:
An increasing number of members have joined the Junior Sports Club, especially during the coronavirus pandemic, and prospective members are drawn to the program as well.
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FAMILY + KIDS
WANT A GREAT IDEA for making a lot of the Moms among your membership be forever indebted to your club? Follow the lead of Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., and provide a Father-Son Football Frenzy event that can help to clear the house of testosterone on Sundays. Congressional’s event lets 25 father-son duos come to the club to watch live-streamed National Football League games while also burning up their own energy through activities that include ping pong, pop-ashot basketball, darts, inflatable football toss, a team cheer competition and an individual “touchdown dance” competition. And they won’t come home demanding dinner, either, after partaking of a spread that includes three types of wings, slider and nacho bars, a chili station, curly fries, hot dogs, four options for chips and dip, and a trail-mix bar, all topped off by s’mores around the fire pit.
WITH A SPRAWLING, 280-ACRE PROPERTY nestled near the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains, Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va. is well-positioned to provide its members with special environmental experiences—and the club staff takes full advantage of that opportunity through family-oriented events such as Wildlife Discovery Day and Family Birdhouse Building. For the wildlife discovery event, the club enlists the help of the local Holiday Lake 4-H Club to provide children and their parents with a safe, hands-on, up close-and-personal introduction to a variety of reptiles and some of nature’s other “coolest creatures.” The children are given a craft to do while waiting for the event to start, and are then able to touch and hold the animals during and after the educational session. Farmington’s Youth Activities Department developed the birdhouse building event to encourage families to construct and decorate shelters they could put in their own homes’ yards, to provide a safe space for building nests and staying protected from predators and harsh weather. Farmington’s Maintenance Department cut all of the lumber for the birdhouses in advance and pre-drilled holes to make it easier for younger members to construct the houses. The club’s Youth Program Managers then helped the families put the houses together, and children finished painting and decorating them before taking them home.
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HOW DO YOU INJECT A LITTLE EXTRA JUICE into a typical Saturday afternoon at the pool? Easy—turn it into a duck-racing meet and let the action begin. Champions Run in Omaha, Neb. sold the rubber ducks at three for a buck and numbered them so their “owners” could be tracked. At every scheduled safety rest break for the pool, kids were lined up and told to generate a wake by kicking vigorously. The ducks then got tossed in the water and enthusiastically urged on to the finish line at the other side of the pool by their backers, because prizes including shirts, tumblers and cash were at stake for winning entries.
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RECREATION + FITNESS
REELING THEM IN By Rob Thomas, Senior Editor
THE GOAL:
Add some activity to Green Valley GC’s golf course in the slow morning hours of October.
THE PLAN:
Host a bass-fishing tournament on the property’s well-stocked ponds.
THE PAYOFF:
The club kept 50 percent of the money raised and the remaining funds from entry fees were paid out to the top three fishermen. The success led to fishing now being included in the club’s corporate event offerings.
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GREEN VALLEY GOLF CLUB IN Sioux City, Iowa has five large ponds, approximately 40 acres total, that are stocked with largemouth bass and panfish. But Scott Harmelink, PGA, Green Valley’s Director of Golf, said the 57-year-old public property had never allowed fishing, because of worries about the liability. After seeing how golf rounds were falling off significantly in mid-October, however, especially in the morning hours, Harmelink decided to try holding a Bass Fishing Tournament on the last Saturday of October 2019. “I kept the golf course closed until 11:15 a.m.,” he says. “Generally, the morning temperatures that time of year are near freezing, so there was no loss of revenue.” Harmelink charged $50 per fisherman, with the course keeping 50 percent of the money and the remaining money being paid out to the top three fishermen with the highest weight total for their catches—50 percent for first, 30 percent for second and 20 percent for third. “We had a ‘shotgun’ start at 9 a.m.,” Harmelink says. “Each fisherman was given a golf cart and could fish anywhere on the golf course from 9 to 11 a.m., using their own gear with artificial lures only.” The fishermen kept the fish caught on a stringer or a fish basket and at 11 a.m., Harmelink blew the horn and the contestants waited for www.clubandresortbusiness.com
Each contestant in Green Valley GC’s inaugural Bass Fishing Tournament was given a golf cart and access to any of the five well-stocked ponds on the 40-acre property. The club kept half of each $50 entry fee, with the other half put into the prize fund for highest weight total caught.
him to come to them and weigh the catch. All fish were then released. The winner of the event had 20.1 pounds of largemouth bass, the only qualifying species. “A great time was had by all, and it got me thinking,” Harmelink says. “I’ve decided to include fishing with any Corporate Night Range Event in the future.” In 2019, Harmelink turned a basic driving range into the place to be in Sioux City. With some imagination and in-house labor, Green Valley’s lighted range now hosts entertaining evenings with music, prizes and a boost in F&B. The changes have attracted both Millennials and corporate events, and added an additional revenue stream to the club. “I believe [including fishing] will result in even more interest in this program,” he says. “I have something that no one else in the area has, and I truly believe Night Range events in 2020 and beyond will be a major new source of revenue.”
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RECREATION + FITNESS
BECOMING QUITE A BIG ‘DILL’ By Joe Barks, Editor
THE GOAL:
Find new ways to meet the swelling demand for times and places to play pickleball, America’s fastest-growing racquet sport.
THE PLAN:
Congressional Country Club created a “World Team Pickleball” league for scheduled nights when its indoor tennis facility was going unused. Champions Run held a special “Pickle in the Pavilion” round-robin tournament.
THE PAYOFF:
Congressional CC drew 90 players each week over seven weeks, for a total of 630 participants in the league’s first season. Champions Run’s tournament drew over 75 players.
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PICKLEBALL HAS BECOME SUCH A force on the club recreation scene that it’s now being featured in special and ongoing events that help to accommodate the demand for it, as America’s fastest-growing racquet sport. Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md. created “World Team Pickleball” to utilize court time in its indoor tennis facility on evenings where it had previously gone unused. And that utilization went through the roof. Ten pickleball courts were set up over the club’s three indoor hard courts (see photo above), leaving one half-court set up with tables and chairs for participants to use when mingling between scheduled matches. Seven play dates were scheduled from October through February for Wednesdays from 6:30-9:00 p.m. Congressional paired the pickleball event (for those 18 or older at all levels of playing ability, but with no guests allowed)
with seven other “Paddle Wars” dates that were scheduled for its paddle courts on other Wednesday evenings during the late fall and early winter. Members were given the option to pay $225 to participate in both events, or $125 for either one. Both events included food and a member-sign bar. Setting up the “mingling” area proved to be a smart move—the seven play dates for World Team Pickleball drew 90 players each week, and a total of 630 participants for the league’s first season. Demand for pickleball also doesn’t stop when cold weather hits at Champions Run in Omaha, Neb. It became so great in the fall of 2019, in fact, that by member request, courts were moved into the club’s pavilion facility, and a special “Pickle in the Pavilion” roundrobin tournament, which included snacks and cocktails, drew over 75 players. www.clubandresortbusiness.com
PROUD NEW PARENTS ALWAYS GO A LITTLE OVERBOARD for a one-year-old’s birthday party, even if the day is pretty much lost on the one who’s the center of the attention. But when The Country Club of Virginia (CCV) in Richmond, Va. celebrated the one-year anniversary of its new Fitness/Racquet Sports Complex, pride in the new facility was so great, just one day wouldn’t do. CCV decided to host a three-day celebration weekend, rather than a traditional party, and pulled out all the stops to showcase all of its new baby’s best features in fitness, racquet sports and the Sports Complex’s fast-casual café. The wide array of planned events included complimentary chair massages, a staff-and-member dodgeball game (see photo above), a kickoff for the fall racquet sports season, and, to make sure no one went hungry or thirsty, a pizza-building station and a “Cool Fuel” menu reveal and tasting. The event also featured a Pilates open house, repeating a separate successful twohour event that had been held in the new Sports Complex, during which members were invited to try Reformers, Cadillacs, the Spring Board and the MOTR machine. The open house attracted 30 visits over the two hours, with eight members subscribing to the club’s Pilates newsletter, seven registering for classes on the spot, and two coming back the next day to begin regular classes. The open-house concept has helped CCV’s fitness department dispel several common myths about Pilates, such as “it’s just for seniors,” “it’s a women’s workout,” and the biggest one of all, that its machines are “torture” devices.
verdin clocks
The Country Club of Naples Naples. FL
GRACING THE FINEST CLUBS & RESORTS ACROSS THE WORLD
Essex Golf & Country Club LaSalle, ON
THE VERDIN COMPANY CINCINNATI, OHIO 800-543-0488
MANAGEMENT + MEMBERSHIP
BACKWARDS AND IN
HIGH HEELS By Betsy Gilliland, Contributing Editor
SINCE JOINING THE CLUB LAST fall, Lindsay Pizarro, CCM, has career, she says, she’s come to know one GM who had a settled nicely into her position as General Manager of the California Yacht baby while she was a catering manager. But otherwise, Club (CYC) in Marina del Rey, Calif. However, after giving birth to two chilall of the other female GMs she knows did not attain dren during her career, the dance that got her to CYC wasn’t always flawtheir positions until after they had children. lessly choreographed—serving, in fact, as a club industry version of the old Pizarro, who became pregnant with her second child saw that while Fred Astaire was certainly a great dancer, his partner Ginger when she was only five months into the job at Rancho Rogers might have deserved even more credit for being just as good while Bernardo, says it was hard for her to tell the Board Presihaving to do her part of their routine “backwards and in high heels.” dent about her condition. Pizarro has worked in the club business for 20 years and as a general “The timing of our second baby wasn’t planned, and manager for six. She had her first child in 2016, when she worked at NewI felt a mix of emotions—blessed, yet nervous, and for port Harbor Yacht Club in Newport Beach, Calif., in her first GM position. some reason, embarrassed to tell club leadership since She became pregnant with her second daughter in 2018, while GenI was so new,” she says. “It’s sad to say, but for career eral Manager of the Country Club of Rancho Bernardo in San Diego, Calif. women who plan to go back to work, it’s hard to time Because she had a difficult transition back to work after her first child was having a baby.” born, her second pregnancy prompted her to write a detailed maternityPizarro and her husband had many discussions about leave transition plan memorandum for the Rancho Bernardo Board of the best time to start a family, an issue that she wonders Directors and management team. With the help of her mentor, Crystal if male general managers need to consider. Thomas, MCM, the Managing Director of the Club Management Association of America’s Golden State Chapter, Pizarro THE GOAL: Find ways to ease the transition back to work for general managers who miss time outlined her anticipated maternity-leave because of maternity leave or other extended medical absences. dates and provided details on how she would (or wouldn’t) be accessible, the THE PLAN: status of current work in progress, and Prepare a detailed written memo for the Board of Directors and department heads, planned coverage for daily work responsito outline information such as leave dates and accessibility, progress on current bilities in her absence. She gave the memo work projects, and daily work responsibilities and coverage. to the Board two months before she went on maternity leave. THE PAYOFF: A thorough plan can help a top manager anticipate and organize procedures and “I was trying to improve my experience help other staff managers prepare to have operations run more smoothly during and the club’s experience from the first the General Manager’s absence and after his or her return to work. time I had a child,” says Pizarro. During her 44
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Lindsay Pizarro with her husband, Rony, and their daughters Sophia (left) and Penelope.
“
It’s important to assure everybody that your plan is to come back committed to the club. It’s also important to find a club that’s aligned with your value. The club has to be supportive, and the leadership has to be supportive.
”
— Lindsay Pizarro, CCM, General Manager, California Yacht Club
However, she says, Rancho Bernardo’s Board President, who had a young family himself, was overjoyed for her and extremely supportive. The fact that she was already a mother put the rest of the Board at ease as well, she felt. “The only thing that made them nervous was that I lived so far away,” says Pizarro, who had a 65-mile commute for her job at Ranch Bernardo. Before she wrote the memo, she met with the club’s Board of Directors and her management team, to get an idea of their concerns. She had numerous conversations with the membership as well. During her leave, Pizarro first checked in with the staff four weeks after her daughter was born. She wished the managers had contacted her with questions during her absence, but felt they were hesitant to do so because they wanted her to enjoy her time with her new baby. “The department heads went to the Board with questions, so the Board got really involved in operations,” she says, and that involvement continued after her return. Her long commute, lack of sleep, and foggy “baby brain” also made her return to work difficult after her daughter was born. “It was hard to transition back into the team,” Pizarro says. “It was like being new all over again when I came back. The Board
had changed while I was gone, and I didn’t gel with [its new members].” Pizarro believes her return would have been more successful if she had worked at Rancho Bernardo longer before her maternity leave. “Relationships would be stronger, team cohesion would be stronger, and Board confidence would be stronger,” she says. In hindsight, she says she would have pushed for an outside interim general manager to fill in during her leave. Six months after her return to Rancho Bernardo, she began her new position at CYC, which is less than three miles from her home. She believes the detailed memo she wrote can serve as a template for anyone who will miss work for an extended medical leave. “It’s important to assure everybody that your plan is to come back committed to the club,” Pizarro says. However, she adds, the arrangement needs to work both ways, so all of the responsibility doesn’t fall on the GM who must take time off. “It’s important to find a club that’s aligned with your values,” says Pizarro. “The club has to be supportive, and the leadership has to be supportive.”
LINDSAY PIZARRO OFFERS these pre- and post-leave tips to GMs who will miss work for an extended period of time due to maternity leave or other medical issues. Pre-Leave: • Bring in an interim GM. • Meet frequently with staff and Board members to discuss any concerns prior to the leave. • Have a plan for easing back into work and reintegrating with the team and board. • If the Board will turn over during your absence, try to create a relationship with the new members of the Board, if you know ahead of time who they will be. Talk about goals, anticipated opportunities, and areas of concern for the next year. Post-Leave: • Meet one-on-one with the President, Board members, and department heads in the first couple of days back. • Ask for a recap of “hits and misses” while you were away. • Show gratitude for all the support in keeping operations going.
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MANAGEMENT + MEMBERSHIP
ALL IN By Lauren Sasala, Contributing Editor
WHILE PARADISE VALLEY (ARIZ.) COUNTRY Club (PVCC) typically kicks off its season with an employee luncheon to discuss the club’s mission, this past fall PVCC leadership took employee appreciation to the next level. The club hosted an employee pep rally, featuring a food truck, putting competition, danceoffs and trivia to help launch the new season. “We were trying to figure out what we can do to engage different team members in different departments, and we really wanted to focus on coming together and
being one big club,” says Alex Bearden, General Manager. With about 250 employees at the club, around 150 attended the pep rally. The executive committee wrote a parody to the song “YMCA,” changing the lyrics to “it’s fun to work at the P-V-C-C.” “[The employees] were laughing the entire time,” says Bearden. “It made the executive committee more approachable, and it brought us together in a fun, lighthearted way.” Employees also received a swag bag (see photo at left) that included sunglasses, stress balls, lip balm and more. To extend the spirit throughout the season, managers continue to randomly ask employees to recite the club mission statement. Those reciting it correctly earn “PVCC bucks,” which can be exchanged for $20 in cash. The club also hosts a holiday party in December for employees to enjoy a buffet, prizes and bonus checks.
THE GOAL:
Paradise Valley (Ariz.) Country Club wanted to begin the golf season on a positive note and show appreciation for club employees.
THE PLAN:
The leadership team hosted a pep rally with food, activities and games for employees.
THE PAYOFF:
The event energized the staff for the season and encouraged them to live out the club’s mission.
WANT A SURE-FIRE WAY to help members make new connections? Let their dogs make the introductions. After The Country Club of Virginia (CCV) in Richmond, Va. noticed how many dog walkers were using the club’s paths and walkways in the morning, the staff launched “Pups on the Patio” as a new community-building initiative. On the first Saturday of each month during the summer, club rules that do not permit dogs on dining terraces are suspended, and members (including the family’s canine representatives) are encouraged to relax and enjoy food (including house-made dog treats made from kitchen scrap cuts) and bond over their common interest in four-legged best friends.
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Is Your Club
A Top
Innovator?
More than ever, great ideas are needed on an everyday basis for club and resort properties, to stay relevant in today’s vastly changed operating environment and to provide new levels of value and satisfaction for members and guests.
In its December 2020 issue, Club + Resort Business will once again honor Top Innovators through its 2nd Annual Awards that will recognize leading-edge performance in club and resort operations and management, including:
• Board of Directors Relations
• Youth Programs
• Clubhouse Design
• Other Recreation Programs (Archery, Equestrian, Outdoor Activities, Shooting, etc.)
• Course and Grounds Maintenance • Food-and-Beverage Programs, including Development of Signature Beverages, Dishes and Venues
• Outdoor Dining and Patio Design • Pool Operations and Aquatic Programs
• Fitness Operations and Programs
• Pro Shop Retailing
• Golf Operations and Programs
• Social Media
• Kitchen Design and Operations
• Special Events
• Locker Room Operations
• Staff Motivation and Training
• Maintenance Facilities
• Technology
• Member Marketing and Communications
• Tennis Operations and Programs • Websites
To have us see why your club and management team should be viewed as a Top Innovator, go to www.clubandresortbusiness.com and complete the online form. Or send an e-mail to editor@clubandresortbusiness.com to have us contact you for details.
Then watch to see if your club makes the list of C+RBʼs Top Innovators this year!
MANAGEMENT + MEMBERSHIP
YOU CAN’T EVER START PRIMING the new member pump too soon. That’s certainly the thought behind the Baby Bib program at Congressional Country Club (CCC) in Bethesda, Md. As soon as a new “Congo Kid” is born, members are encouraged to contact the club’s Director of Member Events with the child’s name and date of birth. As a congratulatory gift, CCC gift-wraps a baby bib with the distinctive Congressional logo, along with a handwritten note to the family, to pick up on their next visit to the club. The Director of Member Events then notifies the Director of Member Services, so the new arrival’s information is added to CCC’s member database. All this adds up to a win-win-win: 1) the new Congo Kid is welcomed with his or her first piece of CCC swag; 2) with the new child in the member database, their growth and involvement in the club can be tracked and they can be welcomed into the Congo Kids program when they turn four; 3) Mom and Dad are thrilled to send in pictures of the baby wearing the bib, which then get published in the club newsletter and posted on the CCC website.
THE SAFETY COMMITTEE AT MYERS PARK COUNTRY CLUB in Charlotte, N.C. created a “Safety Selfie” contest as an initiative to spread awareness of safe practices both at work and at home. Staff members from all departments were involved in the contest that spanned three months, helping to engage numerous team members to consistently keep safety top of mind. Staff members had six opportunities to submit “safety selfies,” and a winner was selected after each submission deadline. The submissions were also posted in various areas of the club so they could be seen frequently by employees. The contest inspired creative submissions such as an “Abbey Road” takeoff (left) that reminded people to walk in pairs and look both ways before crossing a street. Emphasizing safety in this way has helped Myers Park lower its workers’ comp mod rating from 1.54 to 0.86 in three years, leading to serious savings in insurance premiums and in payments for medical expenses and lost work time.
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SOMETIMES, THE BEST WAY to make sure you get things right is to first see what it’s like to get them wrong. That was the approach The Country Club of Virginia (CCV) took as it prepared to open a new fast-casual restaurant. Rather than a typical soft opening that just involves serving a few friendly first “customers” in a relaxed setting, CCV employed “Training Games” for its staff that unfolded over several days and included specific instructions to “guests” for what to order and how to act. For example, large groups were directed to order food that would come from a single station, to create high-volume pressure on a particular worker and help instruct others on the staff on how to provide proper support in those situations. One out of every seven guests was also given a unique scenario designed to create confusion in the dining room or on the line—everything from complaining about food to spilling it on the floor, knocking over a beverage, or telling a staff member the restroom was out of toilet paper or that someone took their food off their table. CCV’s successful opening to the venue, which has received “glowing member reviews,” was directly attributable to the exceptionally high attention to detail in training and preparation gained by taking this harder approach to a soft opening, says Ryan Bender, CCV’s Food and Beverage Director.
OFFERING IMPACTFUL EMPLOYEE-ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS and benefits will take on added importance as clubs ramp up to full operations, especially if they need to attract back staff that may have been laid off or furloughed. Programs instituted by the Bella Vista (Ark.) Property Owners Association, which includes Bella Vista Country Club, can serve as a model for going beyond normal offerings to be competitive and to position an organization as truly employee-friendly. Even before the pandemic, because of its location in the northwest Arkansas market that had low unemployment, and because of its non-profit, 501 (c) (4) status, Bella Vista put a premium on developing incentives that it saw as critical for employee retention, and built a three-fold program with these features: • Paid Time Off (PTO) donations—A request was sent out to all employees asking for PTO donations for co-work-
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ers that had exhausted theirs because of personal or family issues. This eliminated an employee facing an extended time without pay, and in 2019, two employees who had emergencies with their children were able to take additional weeks off with pay, thanks to 50 employee donations. • Employee Emergency Fund—This program provides limited financial assistance to eligible employees in times of disaster, personal emergencies or hardship. Funds are secured from voluntary employee donations through payroll deductions or personal donations. • Employee Assistance Program—While most companies provide access to limited counseling sessions, Bella Vista’s program offers face-to-face and online counseling; performance/life coaching; support after a crisis; training and development; financial and legal consultation; work/ life resources; and awareness/inspiration campaigns. The free program includes both a website and mobile app,
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PRODUCT SHOWCASE �������� ��������
T��������� Manage the Fleet
Building a Database
Product: Private Communities Registry, Inc. Features: ▶ Powerful Internet-based sales and marketing tool ▶ Engineered to build consumer awareness and deliver solid sales leads ▶ Easily track results ▶ Attract qualified buyers from outside your local market ▶ Raise community awareness
Private Communities Registry, Inc. www.privatecommunities.com
Product: Shield Plus™ Features: ▶ Screenless technology that provides real-time equipment, usage, mileage, hours, work and idle-time data for maintenance equipment ▶ Receive detailed efficiency reports to maximize and manage your crew’s workload ▶ Establish activity zones, target times, task completion and balance workloads ▶ Define reduced-speed zones and geofence areas to keep your crew safe ▶ Receive instant alerts detailing the location of equipment when exceeding speed limits or entering a protected geofence ▶ Real-time location of all equipment. View history data to analyze travel times between activity areas and optimize efficiency ▶ Web-based and accessible anytime, anywhere, using your computer, smartphone or tablet ▶ Extended warranty and service, built-in battery and automatic software updates ▶ Supported by TechForce™, the industry’s largest network of factory-direct technicians
Textron Fleet Management www.textronfleetmgmt.com
Weather Watcher
Product: Severe Weather Intelligence Features: ▶ Provides comprehensive severe-weather intelligence for member safety ▶ Equips operations managers and superintendents with a turnkey solution to constantly monitor lightning and dangerous weather conditions ▶ Issues customized alerts to approaching severe weather in real time ▶ Alerts can be pushed to multiple locations via a variety of methods—mobile devices, computers, indoor visualization tools, or to an outdoor alerting system
Earth Networks
www.earthnetworks.com
Total Course Technology
Product: Cart-Mounted GPS Tablets Features: ▶ New “Cut the Cord” solution allows golf courses to easily self-install IZON GPS tablets ▶ No need for any connection to the cart battery ▶ No wires or drill holes—mount two U-bolts, pop in, press play, and the full IZON system is up and running ▶ Up to 15 hours of full combined battery life ▶ Recharge at night through a standard power plug or a convenient, popout backup battery into an IZON recharging station ▶ Course management with real-time pace of play, flood control, pin placement and more ▶ Unique advertising and sponsorship management with IZON’s digital ad server, IZON REACH ▶ Now offering the new IZON Battery System GPS Tablets
IZON Golf
www.izongolf.com
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PRODUCT SHOWCASE
K������ E��������
������� ��������� Seascape Escape
Smooth Water
Product: MODwater Dispenser Features: ▶ Countertop water dispenser instantly delivers cups of chilled, hot, sparkling or alkaline water ▶ Unique, patented in-line carbonation technology delivers up to 20 gallons of sparkling or chilled water per hour, without the use of a separate motor ▶ See cost savings by no longer having to buy/deliver bulky dispenser bottles ▶ Results in a drastic reduction in plastic water bottle waste ▶ Launched at the 2019 National Restaurant Association Show ▶ Recognized for a Kitchen Innovations (KI) Award ▶ 14-7/8-inches wide
Hoshizaki America
www.hoshizakiamerica.com/modwater
Where There’s Smoke
Product: Cook-N-Hold Low-Temperature Smoker Oven Features: ▶ Fully insulated Cook-N-Hold smoker designed for flavorful results by slow cooking with real wood chips ▶ Efficient 3,000-watt power unit allows for reheating of prepared meals or bulk items with maximum temperature of 325°; powerful 250-watt cal rod heats chips quickly ▶ Includes stainless-steel vented chip box and variable one-hour timer, for mild to heavy smoke flavor ▶ Standard solid-state electronic control with large, clean, easy-to-read and -operate LED digital display, to ensure holding at precise food temperatures ▶ 18 factory- or fieldprogrammed cook-and-hold cycles ▶ Cook and hold up to 100 lbs. (45 kg.) of meat in less than 6 sq. ft. of floor space ▶ Fully insulated, stainlesssteel interior and exterior for ease of cleaning ▶ Photo shown with optional stand
Product: Seascape Collection Features: ▶ Transitional design ▶ Texawood HDPE lumber made from recycled plastics ▶ Dining chairs, spa chairs, and chaise lounges are all stackable and store with ease ▶ Available in all frame finishes and four lumber colors
Texacraft
800-327-1541 • www.texacraft.com
Mi Casa, Su Casa
Product: Casa Bistro Dining Chairs Features: ▶ Comfortable wrought-iron outdoor furniture made in the USA ▶ Includes dining, counter, and bar-height chairs/stools ▶ Can be used with or without a cushion ▶ 5-step powder-coating finishing process and outdoor foam and fabrics provide durability ▶ Classic design fits any style
OW Lee
800-776-9533 • Sales@owlee.com
Harmonious Pairing
Product: Trelon Collection Features: ▶ Trelon outdoor collection includes: Dining Chair, Lounge Chair, Swivel Action Chair, Bar Stool, Sofa, Love Seat, Coffee Table ▶ Commercial-grade aluminum frame available in 19 finishes ▶ Cushions available in a wide selection of fabrics ▶ Integrated venting helps keep cushions dry and mold-free ▶ Cloth strap available in charcoal gray and brown ▶ Designed by John Caldwell ▶ Made to the highest standards in the USA
Tropitone
www.tropitone.com
Cres Cor
www.crescor.com
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PRODUCT SHOWCASE
G��� C��� Quiet on the Course
Product: 2020 Drive2 QuieTech EFI™ Fleet Car in Arctic Drift Features: ▶ Yamaha-exclusive QuieTech technology ▶ Performance-tuned, industry-first independent rear suspension ▶ 12.8% more miles to the gallon over the competition (45 MPG) ▶ Industry-leading fuel economy with Accu-fuel delivery system ▶ Fewest emissions and up to 76% fewer pollutants than competitors
Yamaha Golf-Car Company 866-747-4027 www.yamahagolfcar.com/golf
Lone Rider
Product: Pacer® Single-Rider Golf Cart Features: ▶ Restore revenue during Covid-19 social-distancing protocols ▶ Free of charge to qualifying courses in exchange for a rental revenue split of 70% to Vantage and 30% to club ▶ Reduce germs/contamination ▶ Faster pace of play ▶ Offers an outdoor experience to people tired of being cooped up inside ▶ Exercise, family enjoyment ▶ Good for mental health ▶ Much longer battery life; up to six rounds on a single charge ▶ Terrific club publicity ▶ Comes factory-equipped with the Vantage TAG System, and is upgradeable to the Vantage Infinity Screen at any time ▶ The Infinity Screen offers additional revenue opportunities
Vantage TAG Systems
Luxury Experience
Product: Club Car Tempo™ Features: ▶ Designed with automotive styling and features that feel like upgrades, the brand-new Tempo represents the very best of Club Car: proven engineering, industry-leading durability and reliable comfort ▶ Also features Club Car’s newest technology, Tempo Connect, a more powerful connected solution; with Visage Fleet Management and the Shark Experience, an exclusive in-car entertainment system designed to attract more golfers, it will take business to the next level
Club Car
www.ClubCar.com
www.vantage-tag.com
T����� + C�����
Hit the Bullseye
Product: The Bulfinch Chair Features: ▶ The Bulfinch chair by Eustis Chair has a customizable, traditional hardwood and upholstered design ▶ Great for long meetings or shared meals ▶ Available as an arm or side chair, in COM or COL ▶ Ideal for member dining room, boardroom, dining room ▶ The Bulfinch chair comes with a 20-year warranty against joint failure ▶ Every Eustis Chair is made in the USA from your choice of hardwood
Eustis Chair
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Heavenly Seating
Product: Celia Series by MTS Seating Features: ▶ 1-1/4”-square aluminum frame ▶ COMFORTweb Seat® ▶ Available in a variety of back styles ▶ Available in both chairs and barstools ▶ 5-year structural frame warranty ▶ Standard powdercoat colors
MTS Seating
734-847-3875 www.mtsseating.com www.clubandresortbusiness.com
PRODUCT SHOWCASE
M����� S������� + A��������� Join the Club
Product: ClubProcure Features: ▶ Program offers clubs 150 ways to save time and money ▶ More than 3,000 clubs nationwide leverage ClubProcure’s strategic relationships with well-known, national companies to gain tremendous buying power ▶ Pick and choose which offerings work best for your needs ▶ This year marks the 25th anniversary of ClubProcure servicing the club industry
A�������� X Marks the Spot
Product: Royal Basket X-Frame Folding Hamper Cart Features: ▶ Part of your COVID-19 Sanitation Plan ▶ Great for storing and transporting towels, laundry and more ▶ Removable, super-strong vinyl or mesh liner ▶ Easy to clean ▶ Collapsible, lightweight 1" steel tubular powder-coated frame ▶ Several color options
Tri-C Club Supply – Duffy’s 800-274-8742 www.duffystric.com
In the Bag
ClubProcure
www.clubprocure.com
Preferred Insurance
Product: Preferred Club Insurance Features: ▶ Available for private golf and country clubs, semi-private clubs, high-end daily-fee courses, social clubs, tennis clubs, private golf communities, homeowners associations and golf management companies ▶ Proprietary PREFERRED CLUB Package ▶ Building and personal property ▶ General liability ▶ Commercial auto for fleets ▶ D&O/EPL ▶ Pollution liability ▶ Cyber liability ▶ Excess and umbrella liability ▶ Limits of $25M, $50M and $100M ▶ D&O and EPL covered in the umbrella ▶ Workers’ compensation
Preferred Club
www.ventureprograms.com
Fore Supply Co.
Product: Custom Imprinted Bags Features: ▶ Classic Poly Shoe Bags - from onecolor imprint to photo-quality printing ▶ Doing takeout and to-go orders? We’ve got you covered ▶ If going green is your thing, we now have an expanded line of Eco-Friendly options ▶ Whatever your needs, we’re here to help you adapt ▶ Call for pricing and proofs
800-543-5430 www.foresupply.com
Cooling the Air
Product: Renegade Smart Fan Features: ▶ Wet-rated, weather-resistant aluminum housing and finishes meet the elements head-on ▶ A powerful DC motor inside keeps things running smoothly ▶ Quiet and 70% more efficient than traditional AC fans ▶ Designed with refined proportions and generous scale ▶ For unprecedented control, connect with the exclusive Modern Forms app to create schedules ▶ Integrate with smart home devices and more ▶ An energy-efficient LED luminaire powered by WAC Lighting rounds out the design ▶ The indoor/outdoor smart fan is available in four finish combinations: weathered wood blades with a graphite housing; matte black blades with a matte black housing; matte white blades with a matte white housing; and barn wood blades with an oil rubbed bronze housing ▶ Comes in two sizes—52 inches and 66 inches ▶ Includes a Bluetooth hand-held remote which controls the light, six speeds of the fan, and the direction, backwards or forwards
Modern Forms
866-810-6615 www.modernforms.com
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PRODUCT SHOWCASE
Course + Grounds Watch the Flow
Product: NozzAlert™ Flow Monitoring System Features: ▶ Toro® Multi Pro® Sprayers are even more efficient with the new NozzAlert™ Flow Monitoring System from Toro ▶ NozzAlert delivers continuous monitoring and provides visual and audible alerts if there are any flow disparities ▶ NozzAlert monitors the entire spray boom for optimal flow, with each nozzle noted on the intuitive color display ▶ If there's a flow disparity, usually caused by worn, broken, missing or totally or partially clogged nozzles, NozzAlert notifies the operator through a visual change to yellow or red on the display, as well as an audible alert ▶ NozzAlert installs quickly and is fully compatible with all tri-truss Toro Multi Pro Sprayers produced since 2006 ▶ Users can customize the error-range settings and display, such as selecting whether to display the flow rate or turning the audible alarm on or off ▶ All NozzAlert system components are chemical and weather-resistant for longlasting performance
Toro
www.toro.com
Pools + Patio Social-Distance Dining
Product: Dining Canopies Features: ▶ 10’ x 10’ tents set up quickly ▶ Durable aluminum frame and ribs, nylon joints ▶ Telescoping legs for adjustable height ▶ The canopy is made of durable polyester ▶ Available with two side panels
FiberBuilt
866.667.8668 www.fiberbuiltumbrellas.com
Flexible Shade
Bambrella—Levante Commercial 10’-Square Bamboo Side Wind Features: ▶ The perfect solution for those who need flexible shade options ▶ Rotates 360º and tilts up to 45º ▶ 4” solid bamboo uprights and crossbeams combined with marine-grade stainless-steel fittings ▶ The Levante series is a durable and attractive choice for poolside, courtside, and outdoor dining areas ▶ Also available in 11’ square and 11.5’ round sizes and 12 color canopies ▶ The number-one choice of offset umbrellas by our existing club managers
Bambrella
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Clocks
Timely Remembrance
Product: Verdin Golf Course Clock Features: ▶ Many two- and four-faced models ▶ Clocks are custom-made and UL-approved ▶ Superior Moonglow backlit dials are shatterproof ▶ Custom headers, colors and dials with logo ▶ Optional installation and maintenance by Verdin technicians
The Verdin Company
800-543-0488 • www.verdin.com
ADVERTISER INDEX APPLENTI 716-295-9400 / www.applenti.com
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CLUB PROCURE 800-363-5480 / www.clubprocure.com
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CREATIVE GOLF MARKETING www.creativegolfmarketing.com
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DONNELLY ENERGY www.donnellyenergy.com
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EUSTIS CHAIR 978-827-3103 / www.eustischair.com
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‘FORE’ SUPPLY 39 800-543-5430 / www.foresupply.com FORETEES sales@foretees.com / www.foretees.com
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JOHN DEERE www.JohnDeere.com/golf
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OW LEE 800-776-9533 / owlee.com
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PEACOCK + LEWIS AIA 561-626-9704 / www.peacockandlewis.com
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PREFERRED CLUB 11 800-523-2788 / www.preferredclub.com SPORTS SOLUTIONS, INC. 800-969-8008 / www.sportssolutionsinc.com STITCH GOLF www.stitchgolf.com
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STRATEGIC CLUB SOLUTIONS 7 262-661-CLUB / www.StrategicClubSolutions.com TRI-C CLUB SUPPLY – DUFFY’S 23 800-274-8742 / www.duffystric.com TYSON FOODS www.choosechairmans.com
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THE VERDIN COMPANY 800-543-0488 / www.verdin.com
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