Michael McCarthy is now taking on the same challenges at Addison Reserve CC that he conquered at BallenIsles. |
Everywhere he went, Michael McCarthy kept hearing the same questions: “What happened? Why’d you do it?”
Some were asking out of genuine interest in his professional, and personal, well-being; from others, he sensed maybe just a little too much eagerness to hear some dirt or juicy gossip.
But in all cases, McCarthy could understand why he was being asked to explain why he’d left one of the plum jobs in the private club industry. After all, he did so right after his impressive achievements as Chief Operating Officer/General Manager of BallenIsles Country Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., had earned him one of the most prestigious personal honors in club management: the 2006 Excellence in Club Management Award in the top category (Country/Golf Clubs with 600 or more full-privilege members) of the annual awards program co-sponsored by the McMahon Group, Inc. and Club & Resort Business.
The questions proved persistent enough that McCarthy decided to use his regular “President’s Message” column, in the Spring 2007 issue of the newsletter for his Florida chapter of the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA), to “go public” with his answers.
“Many people have inquired why I took a different direction at this moment in my career,” McCarthy wrote. “After eight years at BallenIsles, I had accomplished most of what I had planned. And I truly believe that when you get too comfortable, complacency sets in. With my passion level falling, I looked in the mirror and realized it was time for a change.
“If you find yourself running in place and doing the same things each day with a decided lack of enthusiasm, then it is time to take stock of what you really want [to do], and perhaps make a change,” McCarthy wrote to his fellow chapter members. “The concept can be daunting, but the benefits can be great.”
For McCarthy, those benefits now promise to come from the newest challenges he has taken on as Chief Executive Officer/General Manager of Addison Reserve Country Club in Delray Beach, Fla. He sees parallels between what he is tackling now and what he first encountered at BallenIsles.
“[BallenIsles] wasn’t a recognized club nine years ago, and now it’s sitting at number 17 in the country [as ranked by the Club Leaders Forum],” McCarthy says. “Now, I’ve been given the challenge to turn Addison Reserve into a world-class club, too. We’re building a $9 million spa and fitness center, we have 27 holes of golf under construction and we’re in the planning stages of a $20 million to $35 million clubhouse expansion.
“Those are the kinds of things that put a fire in my belly and make me excited when I wake up in the morning,” he adds. “I know it was difficult for some people to understand why I’d want to do it all over again, but I thrive on change.”
Common Trait
Taking on big challenges—and turning them into big results—is a recurring theme among the full group of the 2006 Excellence in Club Management Awards winners, which also includes Rick Sussman, General Manager of Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club in Menlo Park, Calif. (see “From Tin Cup to Pure Platinum,” C&RB, April 2007) and the winner of the “Rising Star” Award, Frank Benzakour.
Hardly any wine was to be found at Middle Bay CC before Frank Benzakour arrived as GM; six months later, there are two cellars, 2,100 bottles and a 45 percent increase in sales. |
And like McCarthy, Benzakour has already taken his passion for pursuing new challenges to a different club venue from the one where he earned his recognition. His “Rising Star” status was conferred because of his accomplishments while Clubhouse Manager at Bonnie Briar CC in Larchmont, N.Y., where in three years he helped to wipe out that club’s food and beverage deficit, which had been as high as $325,000.
Middle Bay CC President Larry Stopol (right) was happy to recently salute Frank Benzakour for his “Rising Star” performance, earned while Clubhouse Manager of Bonnie Briar CC. Now, because of what Benzakour has already achieved as Middle Bay’s new GM, Stopol feels he’s worthy of consideration for another award. |
Benzakour then proved the “Rising Star” label to be an instant prophecy, by moving on at the end of last year to become General Manager at Middle Bay CC in Oceanside, N.Y. And just as instantly, he showed he could step up to the tasks that go with the General Manager title, too. In just six months, Benzakour has already directed these achievements at Middle Bay:
• A 10-point reduction in labor costs, from 32 to 22 percent, and equally significant reductions in food costs.
• Earning “green” certification for the club through a $65,000 overhaul of all electrical outlets, ballasts and bulbs to bring them up to code; Middle Bay’s new energy-efficient lighting will now yield savings of $3,000 per month.
• Completing the first step to earning Audubon Society certification for the club’s golf course.
• The building and opening of a ladies’ spa.
• In the area closest to the heart of Benzakour—a former sommelier—the development of a full-fledged wine program for the club, taking it from what he describes as “not even a wine list” upon his arrival to something that already entails two wine cellars stocked with 2,100 bottles and 120 different varietals; a full schedule of wine classes and dinners that members have “embraced”; and a 45 percent increase in wine sales.
All of these accomplishments have, in fact, inspired Middle Bay’s President, Larry Stopol, to want to give Benzakour a chance to be a back-to-back winner of the Excellence in Club Management Awards; for the 2007 competition, a nomination for Benzakour will now be submitted, for his performance as Middle Bay’s General Manager.
(For information on submitting nominations for the 2007 Awards, see the Call for Entries on this page.)
Achievements for Others, Too
Another hallmark of the Excellence in Club Management Awards winners is how their achievements extend to benefit not only their clubs, but their communities as well. This was once again in clear evidence with the group of 2006 winners, through examples such as the Marine Corps Welfare Fund two charity golf outings that were run under Michael McCarthy’s direction at BallenIsles. A submission about the work that went into organizing and promoting the Marine Corps outings at BallenIsles took the Blue Ribbon in the Public Relations category at the 2006 Idea Fair of the Club Managers Association of America.
“The two outings raised over $100,000,” reported BallenIsles’ Past President, Richard Mendelson, in his nomination of McCarthy for an Excellence in Club Management Award. “Following this outing, Michael was honored by the Marine Corps and presented with one of three American flags that flew over Fallujah, Iraq. His vision for [charitable work] in support of the armed services is now being shared with the volunteers from ‘Tee It Up for the Troops.’ ”
(“Tee It Up for the Troops” is a non-profit organization created to help support the families of fallen and disabled members of the armed forces. Each year, it hosts a National Day of Golf on the Friday closest to September 11, and seeks participation from clubs around the country. For more information, see www.teeitupforthetroops.com)
McCarthy’s passion for this kind of work is a big part of his desire to continually seek out new challenges. “Having the opportunity to make a difference is what really stokes the fire and gets the juices running for me,” he says. “We all have a responsibility to give back to the communities in which we work and live, and the rewards that come from getting involved with these kinds of [charitable] tournaments are especially satisfying.”
McCarthy has taken advantage of his involvement and leadership with the Florida Chapter of the CMAA (the country’s largest) to “personally challenge the rest of the state,” he says, to get behind causes, such as the Marine Corps Welfare Fund, the Special Olympics and SOS Children’s Villages, just to name a few. “We’ve had several clubs throughout the state raise over $100,000 each, and some regions [of the chapter] have raised a half-a-million dollars on their own,” he reports.
Advancing the Cause
It also stands to reason that the Excellence in Club Management Awards winners would represent some of the more progressive and effective approaches to operating structures, philosophies and techniques to be found in the industry. So it’s no surprise to discover that the 2006 group of winners can also offer some interesting insights in these areas.
Frank Benzakour, for example, has become a specialist in dramatically reducing food costs and labor costs, largely by taking a common-sense approach. To get a handle on food costs, he says, “You have to match your ingredients and menus to your culture. It doesn’t make sense to have fancy herbs or special meats flown in from around the country if you’re a family-oriented club and your members just want good, all-American food.”
To get better control of labor costs, Benzakour advocates regular, diligent schedule reviews with each department head. The very act of making it known these reviews will always be conducted, he says, will have just as much value for controlling costs as any adjustments that might come from them.
“There’s nothing wrong with overtime, but only when the level of business calls for it,” he says. “When [department heads] know you’re always going to sit down with them, week after week, to meticulously scrutinize hours and see if they match up properly with business volume, you’ll be surprised how quickly they start to think more carefully about whether they really need 90 hours of labor for the week.”
Another trap to avoid, Benzakour counsels, is trying to make up big deficits in a hurry. “If a club’s been doing things a certain way for 30 years, you’ll have more success over the long run by trying to change mind-sets slowly over time,” he says. Eliminating the F&B deficit at Bonnie Briar, he notes, was a gradual process that really didn’t yield dramatic results until the third and fourth years. But because changes were implemented in a way that ingrained them into the operations, they had a much better chance of becoming permanent once they did take hold.
Michael McCarthy has certainly had his share of challenges when trying to implement structural or operational change in club settings, too. During his tenure at BallenIsles, he saw the club make the transition from developer to member ownership, and as Chief Operating Officer had to steer it through a complete revision of bylaws, major changes in policies and dues structures, and the election and installation of the first all-club-member Board (not to mention major facilities renovation projects and the massive unexpected recovery efforts needed after four major hurricanes in an 18-month period).
At Addison Reserve, which also recently transitioned from developer- to member-owned, McCarthy now carries the title of Chief Executive Officer/General Manager. This is more appropriate, he says, given the additional authority that he thinks is needed for effective management and direction of today’s operations. In fact, while he’s not yet prepared to provide a lot of details, McCarthy hints he’s moving toward the eventual elimination of operating influence by committees, so he can then be free to run Addison Reserve with his professional team.
“It’s a totally different approach and we’re moving quickly towards it,” he says. “I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t think it could work.”
Excellence in Club Management™ Awards
Entries are now being accepted for the 2007 Excellence in Club Management™ & Rising Star Awards, co-sponsored by the McMahon Group, Inc. and Club & Resort Business. The awards program honors private club general managers, managers and chief operating officers who have exhibited outstanding skills in their clubs. Awards are given in three categories: The deadline for submitting entries is September 1, 2007 Submit your nominations online at: www.clubmanageraward.com |
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.