Even a strike from Mother Nature shortly after it was installed couldn’t dull the shine of The Vineyard Golf Club’s new clock.
Mark Twain once said that thunder is impressive, but lightning does the work. Officials at The Vineyard Golf Club on Martha’s Vineyard in Edgartown, Mass., recently found that out firsthand.
A lightning strike on July 1 stopped time at the club—literally. The club’s new Verdin clock stopped working following the strike, less than a month after its installation was completed.
But Club President Drew Conway says he had plenty of confidence, as soon as he learned of the strike, that the club was going to find out just how good customer service at The Verdin Company—a six-generation, Cincinnati, Ohio-based family business that has made cast-bronze bells, carillons, tower and street clocks, and other streetscape furnishings since 1842—really is.
After the storm, Scott Anderson, the club’s General Manager and COO, sent a text to Jeannie Caldwell, Verdin’s Street Clock Product Manager. “At Verdin, we have no problem giving our cell numbers to customers,” Caldwell points out. “We want to be accessible.”
Anderson notified Caldwell of the issue and his next question was how long it would take for someone from Verdin to get to the club to look at the clock.
“We opened our office on Tuesday after the July 4 holiday, and I told him we would get right on this,” Caldwell says. “[Anderson] asked if it would be days or weeks, and I said it would be hours.”
A technician immediately got on the problem and diagnosed the issue by talking with staff at the club. It was determined that two fuses inside the clock had blown. Once arrangements were made for the fuses to be replaced, the clock was running again.
“Depending on the issue, service technicians always call first to get an understanding of the issue before they are dispatched,” Caldwell notes. “They want to make sure they have the equipment they need. If they can solve it over the phone, great. If not, they will be prepared to find a solution when they arrive.”
Lightning is always a concern at golf clubs, but Caldwell says it has been rare for it to be an issue with a Verdin clock. “I can only recall one other time we dealt with a lightning issue, and I’ve been with the company for 20 years,” she says.
But at The Vineyard, the storm was severe enough to have other effects that won’t be fixed as easily. The lightning also did about $20,000 in damage to an irrigation system, Conway reports. “Unfortunately, that is not going to be fixed by switching two fuses,” he says.
The Time Was Right
Founded in 2002, The Vineyard Golf Club sits on 235 preserved acres on the island of Martha’s Vineyard and is located just two miles outside of historic Edgartown, Mass., and close to the beautiful rural village of West Tisbury.
The club is designed as a walking course and its holes flow seamlessly from green to tee. It was designed by golf course architects Gil Hanse and his design partner, Jim Wagner. A new front nine debuted in 2012, and a completely re-designed back nine followed in 2015.
While the course has traditionally had a rustic feel, Conway notes, it didn’t have a clock for a long time.
“We’ve been a throwback-type facility,” he says. “One day, we decided we needed a clock. We had a smaller clock that hung on a wooden pole, but it wasn’t fitting [for the club].”
Once the club decided it was time for “the right clock,” Conway says, Verdin was the natural choice. Board member Bud Polley researched the type of clock that would be best for The Vineyard, assisted by the club’s Head Golf Professional, Eri Seguin, PGA.
“Verdin was selected because they are a great clock maker and they specialize in golf courses,” Conway says. Many Vineyard members play at other clubs around the country, he notes, where Verdin clocks are prominently featured. “A lot of those places have a signature clock at the first tee,” he says.
Club officials got the ball rolling for their own new clock by meeting with Caldwell at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla., at the beginning of 2016. “They went back and started to work on the design that they wanted,” she says. “They ordered the clock in March and they had a deadline. They wanted it by May 16.”
The design that club officials came up with for The Vineyard’s clock, Conway says, is intended to be a classic, timeless look that can be a signature sight on the property for years to come. The clock is customized, with the club’s name and “Est. 2002” above the dial. The club’s logo is on the face, and the clock is painted in “Verdin green” with a gold accent.
Once the clock was ordered, The Vineyard’s course-and-grounds crew worked under the direction of Golf Course Superintendent Kevin Banks to prepare the site for installation, running power to the location and installing a concrete base.
“We have some very talented people on our staff,” Conway says. “They put the clock on the base, set it up and it started ticking right away.”
Installation was completed during the second week of June and—lightning strikes aside—club members have been pleased with the addition, Conway reports.
“It is in a beautiful position between our first tee and 18th green,” he says. “You can see it as you are teeing off on #1 and also from 18 and when you come back from the driving range. Most importantly, you see it from the deck of our clubhouse as you look west; you see the beautiful sunsets and the clock.”
The clock has also become an attraction for golfers who now take pictures around the clock to commemorate their time at the club. “[It’s] become a focal point for photos, because it shows exactly where you are,” Conway says.
And if it’s true that lightning never strikes twice in the same place, members and visitors can now gather under the new clock with even more reason to smile.
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