Top club managers’ success is as much a function of what’s in their hearts as what’s in their toolbox—and their passion is contagious.
A highlight to the conclusion of what I like to call the “golf tradeshow season” is our annual Excellence in Club Management Awards reception and dinner. The awards themselves are a joint effort between C&RB and the McMahon Group; however, most of our respective efforts are behind the scenes. Award candidates are nominated by their clubs and winners are selected by a panel of peer managers in the industry—chaired this year by Kevin Vitale, General Manager/COO at Baltusrol Golf Club.
The dinner (hosted magnificently by The Country Club of Orlando) is a recognition and celebration of the winners’ achievements and is attended by members of their families, Board members and staff from their clubs, and, of course, a large number of their fellow club managers. You will be reading more about this year’s winners, and their achievements, in the pages of Club & Resort Business throughout the course of this year.
What a magazine article can’t provide, however, is a sense of the passion the winners have for this industry, for their clubs, and for the family support they unfailingly credit as a major contributor to their success.
Today’s club managers have better tools and resources available than ever before to help drive revenues and member satisfaction. The acceptance remarks made by each of this year’s award winners lead you to believe, though, that their success is clearly as much a function of what’s in their hearts as what’s in their toolbox. And their passion for this business and for their clubs has a contagious effect throughout the ranks of their management teams and staff.
Weather or Not
Everyone has an opinion on climate change and global warming. The dividing line is pretty clear—you either see it as a problem and care about it, or you don’t. Each side can provide research and facts that supports their position. Charles Krauthammer (my guess is the majority of you know who he is) wrote a very interesting article on the subject that was published in newspapers on February 20. Google it to read what he has to say. Very compelling.
What is indisputable is that regardless of best efforts to encourage golf participation, weather has a huge impact on our business. The NGF (National Golf Foundation) just published its 2013 Rounds Played Summary—they dropped by 4.9% from 2012 to 2013.
At first glance, the decline seems pretty severe. But overall rounds were up 5.7% in 2012 (the largest increase since 2000), and up 13.6% that year in the Northern Region. The primary reason for the increase was great weather across most of the country. The weather in 2013 was wet and lousy by comparison in most of the country, contributing mightily to the decline in rounds played. The barometer can wreak havoc on the most thoughtful of business plans.
On the bright side, PGA Performance Trak reports that more rounds were played per day open in 2013 than in 2012 or 2011.
Members/Customer Satisfaction
April is in sight and the Masters is right around the corner, so most of us are thinking spring—and golf. No doubt your club is ready.
A common thread for success this year and for the future (for all clubs, private and public) will be to provide an attractive value proposition for your members and guests. If the service and club experience are commensurate with the fees and prices you charge, everyone wins.
And, of course, pray for good weather!
Quote of the month:
“Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.”
— Oscar Wilde
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