The 119-year-old Illinois club is finding new ways to make the most of its picturesque surroundings and proud traditions while making needed changes with the times.
Peoria, Ill., may rank as America’s most misunderstood and mislabeled city. It’s often viewed by the uninformed as being part of the Chicago area, even though it’s over 160 miles southwest of the Windy City. And even with a population of over 115,000, Peoria has had a hard time shaking a long-standing image as a small town with hard-to-please people—as first expressed in the phrase “Will it play in Peoria?” that originated over 100 years ago during the vaudeville era, and was then further popularized in Marx Brothers movies of the 1920s and ‘30s.
The truth is, Peoria has long stood on its own as a significant and sophisticated Midwestern municipality. And like many cities of its size, its history and culture are embodied by a well-established, traditional country club—in this case, the Country Club of Peoria (CCP), founded in 1897.
A visit to the CCP property quickly dispels another misconception that many may have about central Illinois—that it contains nothing but flat, open farmland. CCP has literally risen above that impression, occupying 27 acres in the neighboring village of Peoria Heights—and the name of the town is properly descriptive.
To get to CCP, you must wind your way up from the city of Peoria to reach Grandview Drive, once called “the world’s most beautiful drive” by President Theodore Roosevelt when he visited the area in 1910. There, in the middle of a well-kept neighborhood of impressive homes, you’ll come to CCP’s striking, 37,000-sq. ft. clubhouse, the core of which dates back to the 1920s.
But the most impressive sight comes after walking through the clubhouse to see the many sweeping views from along the eastern edge of the club’s property—a panoramic vista from bluffs above the Illinois River (see photos, above and on pgs. 22 and 26) that’s sure to surprise anyone who harbors the typical impression of central Illinois topography.
“Anytime we bring someone [from outside the area] out here, the reaction is always, ‘I can’t believe this is Peoria,’“ says General Manager/COO, Charlie Dimpfl, CCM, as he stands on a clubhouse terrace.
Spreading the Appeal
Another part of Peoria’s image that has endured for many years is the perception that it’s a one-company town. Caterpillar Inc., the global manufacturer of construction machinery and equipment, was formed through a merger of two firms in 1925 to become the Caterpillar Tractor Co., and the new company’s headquarters was then moved from California to Peoria in 1930.
Caterpillar’s presence certainly was a major stimulus to Peoria’s growth through subsequent years—and when its business was affected by economic cycles, the city clearly felt the impact as well. In 2009, in fact, after Caterpillar had announced thousands of worldwide layoffs at the start of the recession, President Obama went to its facilities in Peoria to announce details of his economic stimulus package (his appearance, of course, led to a new cycle of “Will it play in Peoria?” references from economic and political commentators).
As it, too, has grown over the decades, CCP has certainly enjoyed close ties with Caterpillar and has counted many of the company’s executives and employees among its membership and Board leadership. And when the recession brought unprecedented challenges to all club operations at the same time that interest levels in golf were beginning to flatten, an excessive dependence on the fortunes of the city’s major employer as it was making significant reductions in its workforce could have led to short-term trauma that even a long-established club would find difficult to overcome.
In the case of CCP, however, recognition had already been made, prior to the recession, of the need to not only begin to broaden a membership base that was shrinking in part because of Caterpillar-related attrition from relocations and retirements, but also to update facilities and encourage more diverse usage of the club.
Steps to address those needs were first implemented under the direction of Mark Bado, MCM, who served as CCP’s General Manager/COO for four years before taking his current position at The Kansas City Country Club (“The Power of Three,” C&RB, October 2015). Since 2013, those steps have been sustained and expanded by the staff led by Dimpfl, who had served as Clubhouse Manager under Bado at both CCP and The Kansas City CC before returning to take the top job at CCP.
Today, while CCP retains significant connections with Caterpillar, the club has also tapped into a variety of other thriving enterprises in the Peoria area, including major hospitals and Bradley University, to draw from a wider range of membership prospects. Those who still hold to outdated impressions of Peoria as the center of middle-American dullness will also be shocked to learn that it is home to Maui Jim, the popular, ultra-hip, high-end sunglasses manufacturer that relocated from Hawaii to Peoria in 1996. Taking advantage of the company’s natural tie-ins to golf and recreation, CCP now hosts the popular annual Maui Jim Invitational, which includes appearances from Senior PGA Tour players.
All told, Dimpfl reports, membership initiatives that have been designed to reach out to the full breadth of possibilities within Peoria’s more diverse economy (and that have included initiation-fee incentives) have paid off with nearly 60 new members already joining in 2016. An equally exciting number, he adds, is the average age of the new membership: 47, which has put a significant dent in the average-age figure of the club as a whole. Not surprisingly, this influx has also pushed participation numbers up significantly for CCP’s swim team, kids’ camp and junior golf and tennis programs.
CCP has also bolstered its membership base, and its balance sheet, with an initiative through which existing members could have an assessment waived for a $3.1 million clubhouse improvement project by bringing in a new member, and from the sale of lifetime memberships that include an exemption from dues and regular assessments. “We sold 10 [lifetime memberships] off the bat, including three to people who are over 60 years old,” Dimpfl says.
Worldwide Awareness
Perhaps the most notable example of how the Country Club of Peoria is expanding its reach—and of how any lingering misunderstanding about the Peoria area and what it has to offer may be erased—comes from a new reciprocity arrangement that CCP entered into this year, through ClubCorp’s Alliance Club program.
Through the arrangement, CCP members are automatically enrolled in ClubCorp’s ClubBenefits program and are eligible to use the management firm’s network of golf and country clubs, business clubs, sports clubs and alumni clubs in 27 states and two foreign countries, along with special offers from participating hotels, resorts, restaurants and entertainment venues. CCP Members can also upgrade to ClubCorp’s Signature Golf Unlimited plan for additional benefits and privileges.
“We were approached by ClubCorp as a potential club in the area that they would like to work with,” says Dimpfl in describing how the new arrangement came about. “They were looking for a central Illinois club that was a go-between from Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis and Des Moines.
“After sitting with them to get the details and having them tour our facilities, it was a natural fit,” Dimpfl adds. “When it was presented to our Board, there was no resistance to it. The only direction that was given was to make sure there was no language about the purchasing of CCP by ClubCorp.
“Each one of our Board members saw this as a value-added opportunity,” he continues. “Everything we have been working on has to have a definite value-add to the membership, so when recruitment time comes around and we talk about dues, I can share all that goes into it.”
While the arrangement is still young, Dimpfl reports that he’s already seen more than 20 CCP families take advantage of some of the program’s benefits. “Most like the flexibility of being able to golf and then dine at one of [ClubCorp’s] city clubs,” he reports. “I would anticipate as the season ends in our area, more will take advantage of it. We also have a group that’s planning a golf trip to ClubCorp clubs in the Dallas area.”
Because ClubCorp has “very strict guidelines” on how to use the program, with all requests required to go through the management company’s concierge service, implementation of the program has not created additional administrative burdens for Dimpfl and his staff, and in fact it has proved to be “very easy to use,” he says.
The arrangement also increases exposure, and brings some additional revenues, to CCP from others in the ClubCorp network. “Usage of CCP by members of other ClubCorp clubs has been surprisingly good, given our location,” says Dimpfl. “In the first two months we’ve been with them, we have done close to 20 golf rounds.”
Becoming a ClubCorp Alliance partner actually represents an expansion of reciprocity arrangements that CCP was already extending to its members through its participation in the Central Illinois Country Club Association, a group of eight clubs, all at least 40 miles from each other, that provides all members of each club with full access to others in the group. CCP has also made arrangements for members to have access for dining and overnight stays at The Union League Club of Chicago and the University Club of Chicago.
“We are always looking to grow our network for the membership,” Dimpfl says. “The [new ClubCorp] arrangement is a one-year agreement at this point, and I would say it has been successful on both fronts so far.
“When I sit down with prospective members and we get to dues, this has already sealed the deal with new members twice,” he adds. “As we grow the usage of all of these [reciprocity arrangements] among our membership, I see it being a huge win for us.”
Delivering the Goods
Of course, increased exposure for CCP, and Peoria, means an increased spotlight on the club’s management team and staff to deliver high-end experiences that will keep both regular members, and occasional guests, spreading the word about the surprisingly exciting sights and activities that can be found in central Illinois. The CCP team is not only ready, but eager, for its close-up. In addition to continued facility improvements that will include the debut later this summer of a new sports bar lounge that will add yet another prime spot for enjoying river views (see rendering, pg. 22), the club’s managers are excitedly planning a variety of new programming designed to appeal to all segments of its expanded membership base.
On CCP’s parkland-style golf course, which features (once again) surprising elevation changes in a tight, challenging 6,200-yard layout that is the second-oldest in Illinois, Head Golf Professional Scott Brownfield and Golf Course Superintendent Andy Morris (“The Right Recipe,” C&RB, September 2015) are making strides to get rounds activity on the upswing again. In addition to recent course renovation work that involved regrassing, the addition of fairway bunkers and tree-thinning to improve turf conditions, a shift to more family-oriented golf programming and renewed attention to providing special touches for outings are all showing signs of paying off, Brownfield reports.
“Half of our new members are not golfers, so we’re making a special effort to reach out to them and introduce them to the game in an enjoyable way,” he says. “We’re having social clinics for kids, allowing music on golf carts and not being as strict about dress codes and cell phones. We’re giving tons of lessons to junior golfers, even starting with a ‘Little Tykes’ program for four-, five- and six-year-olds where they hit beach balls with cut-off swimming noodles. We want to do everything we can to get kids hooked as much on golf at an early age as they do on soccer or baseball.”
In the clubhouse, a dining program that developed a strong reputation under former Executive Chef James Kremer (“Enjoying the View,” C&RB, November 2012) is now under the charge of new Executive Chef Stephen Hurd, who brings experience from both restaurants and the club business (Toledo Country Club), and is also a competitive ice carver. “I’ve run the gamut [of dining venues] and when I look at what the club encompasses, it’s everything I like, from upscale food to home cooking,” Hurd says in explaining his return to the club side. “And it’s especially nice to be able to do that in a traditional, Midwestern club, where the people are genuine and they view coming to eat at the club as going to a restaurant while also enjoying the social aspect of being with other members.
“The challenge for a club chef is to keep making things so good and different and enjoyable that it never occurs to members why they wouldn’t want to go the club,” Hurd adds. “I’m looking forward to taking on that challenge again.”
That’s the same objective Dimpfl is encouraging all members of the CCP staff to pursue, for all aspects of the club’s operation. “Yes, we’ve got this great, majestic building and a property with spectacular views—but we still have to make sure it’s a place where members ‘hear the noise’ that’s not just the slamming of the clubhouse’s big front door,” he says. “We’ve got a good vibe and energy going now, and we’ve got to make sure we keep finding ways to feed on that.”
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