Recent industry hires and promotions include new General Managers at Blackstone Country Club in Peoria, Ariz. and Maple Bluff Country Club in Madison, Wis.; new Head Golf Professionals at Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View, Del. and the Omni Interlocken Resort; a new Director of Athletics at The Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach, Fla.; and a Golf Course Superintendent at Yale Golf Course in New Haven, Conn.
Here are some of the recent new hires and promotions announced by club and resort properties and other companies in the club industry. Announcements and photos for this regular People on the Move report can be submitted at https://clubandresortbusiness.com/submit-industry-news/.
Blackstone Country Club in Peoria, Ariz. promoted Patrick Denney, PGA to General Manager. Denney was previously Head Golf Professional at Blackstone Country Club.
Maple Bluff Country Club in Madison, Wis. named Alan Johnston as General Manager. Johnston was most recently a wine merchant at Vie de Vin and the Director of Food & Beverage at The Geneva Inn in Lake Geneva, Wis.
Charlie Yates Golf Course in Atlanta, Ga. promoted Cameron Lilly, PGA to General Manager. Prior to the promotion, Lilly was Head Golf Professional. Before joining Charlie Yates, Lilly was Assistant Golf Professional at East Lake Golf Club, also in Atlanta.
The Club at ArrowCreek in Reno, Nev. named Jim Cleary as General Manager, Nathaniel Brethold as Assistant General Manager, and Chef Leon Teow as Director of Culinary Operations. Cleary most recently served as General Manager of Red Hawk Golf and Resort in Sparks and previously held the title of Chief Operating Officer at The Lodge of Four Seasons and The Club at Porto Cima, both in Missouri. Brethold mostly recently worked for the Ricketts family—owners of the Chicago Cubs. He successfully helped that team build and open 10 restaurants and a 173-room boutique hotel in the Gallagher Way Complex. Chef Teow spent a decade with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel company and most recently he served as Executive Chef at Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando.
Greenville (S.C.) Country Club promoted Chip Hughes to Assistant General Manager. Prior to this role, Hughes served as Clubhouse Manager for the club. Hughes joined Greenville from Augusta National Golf Club, where he served as the Assistant Clubhouse Manager. Hughes previously served as the Food and Beverage Manager at Colleton River Plantation Club in Bluffton, S.C. and began his career at the Thornblade Club in Greer, S.C.
Mariner Sands Country Club in Stuart, Fla. named Riza Mutluguler, CAM as Assistant General Manager. Mutluguler was most recently Club Manager at The Loxahatchee Club in Jupiter, Fla. and previously served as Clubhouse Manager at Augusta National Golf Club.
The Country Club in Chestnut Hill, Mass. named Patrick Laxton as Director of Club Operations. Laxton previously served as Clubhouse Manager and Director of Rooms and Member Services at Harvard Club of Boston.
First Tee—Greater Richmond (Va.) named the leadership team for Belmont. Mark Lynch, PGA, will oversee the day-to-day operations at Belmont, while Dan Sabina, GCSAA, will run the daily agronomy of the course. Lee Gordon will be Belmont’s Food and Beverage Operations Manager, while Tim Faerber recently was hired as the Senior Assistant Golf Professional. Lynch, a five-year employee of First Tee – Greater Richmond, joined the organization in March 2016, becoming the Director of Golf of both First Tee—Greater Richmond golf facilities in March 2018. Sabina joined First Tee—Greater Richmond in May 2020. Prior to taking over at Belmont, Sabina worked at The Federal Club in Glen Allen, Va. as well as other prestigious golf clubs including The Governors Club in Nashville, Tenn., Oakland Hills in Detroit, Mich., and Pumpkin Ridge outside Portland, Ore.
Indian Valley Country Club in Telford, Pa. named Andrew Tuffner as Clubhouse Manager. Tuffner was most recently Food & Beverage Director at Chester Valley Golf Club in Malvern, Pa.
Pelican Isle Yacht Club in Naples, Fla. swore in John Garmhausen as Commodore. Karen Hendricks, Vice Commodore, and Bob Flaherty, Rear Commodore, were also sworn in and will lead the Club Board of Directors.
Bear Trap Dunes in Ocean View, Del. named Eric Mason as Head Golf Professional and Jonathan Tupper as Executive Chef. Mason started as an Assistant Golf Professional at Bear Trap Dunes in April 2016. Tupper has been a Sous Chef at The Den at Bear Trap Dunes since March 2019.
Omni Interlocken Resort in Broomfield, Colo. named Michael O’Toole, PGA as Head Golf Professional. Most recently, O’Toole was First Assistant Golf Professional at Legacy Ridge Golf Course in Westminster, Colo.
The Summit Club at Armonk (N.Y.) named Drew Clayton, PGA as Assistant Golf Professional. The former Assistant Golf Professional at Trump Golf Links at Ferry Point, New York, joins Ferry Point colleague Colin Igoe, who is The Summit Club’s Director of Golf at the newly renovated Rees Jones course.
Montcalm Golf Club in Enfield, N.H. named Brennan Earls as First Assistant Golf Professional. Earls is a PGA Class A Member, elected to Membership 2020 with a specialization in Teaching and Coaching. Earls recently served as an Assistant Golf Professional at the Burlington (Vt.) Country Club. He has also worked at Quail Valley Golf and River Club in Vero Beach, Fla., The Quechee (Vt.) Club, and Streamsong Resort and Spa in Bowling Green, Fla.
Yale Golf Course in New Haven, Conn. named Jeffrey Austin as Golf Course Superintendent. Austin was most recently Director of Agronomy at Quail Hollow Country Club in Concord, Ohio and a former Assistant Superintendent at Augusta (Ga.) National Golf Club. Austin replaces Scott Ramsay, the former Superintendent, who left in March 2020 to serve as Superintendent of Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va.
The Club at Ibis in West Palm Beach, Fla. named Jay Berger as Director of Athletics. A former Top 10 professional tennis player and father of PGA Tour professional Daniel Berger, Berger was the U.S. Tennis Association Player Development’s Head of Men’s Tennis and has coached the U.S. Olympics and Davis Cup teams.
The Standard Club in Johns Creek, Ga. named Michael Holder as Head Tennis Professional. Holder most recently served as the Director of Tennis at the Clubs at Houston Oaks in Hockley, Texas.
Papago Golf Club in Phoenix, Ariz. named Charles Kassels as Executive Chef of Lou’s Bar & Grill. Kassels most recently served as manager of the Little Miss BBQ in Phoenix. A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, Kassels has also worked at the Boulders Resort in Scottsdale, Ariz., Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico and El Chorro Lodge in Paradise Valley, Ariz.
The Plantation on Crystal River (Fla.) named Timothy Head as Executive Chef. Prior to joining the Plantation on Crystal River, Head worked as Executive Chef for Laurel Springs Golf Club in Suwanee, Ga.
Salamander Hotels & Resorts named Stephanie Bernazard as Director of Leisure Sales at Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Va. Bernazard joins Salamander after nearly three years with the Boca Raton Resort and Club and Boca Beach Club, both Waldorf Astoria Resorts, where she served as the Luxury Leisure Sales Manager.
The Club Management Association of America announced the newest club management professionals to attain the designation of Certified Club Manager (CCM). The members of CMAA and the Canadian Society of Club Managers (CSCM) who were recently successful in meeting all CCM requirements are:
Carmen Amato, CCM, Coppinwood Golf Club, Goodwood, ON, Canada
Eric Baldwin, CCM, Badminton and Racquet Club of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Paula Jean Hunt, CCM, The Club at Admiral’s Cove, Jupiter, FL
Liz McDowell, CCM, York Downs Golf & Country Club, Unionville, ON, Canada
Michael Reilly, CCM, Park Country Club of Buffalo, Williamsville, NY
Jennifer A. Sinclair, CCM, Bear’s Paw Country Club, Naples, FL
Samantha Van Veen, CCM, The Briar Club, Houston, TX
Orrin Vincent, CCM, Montage International, Irvine, CA
Adrian Vivas, CCM, River Oaks Country Club, Houston, TX
Onifer Wilmoth, CCM, Highlands Falls Country Club, Highlands, NC
Jeff Wilson, CCM, Doral, FL
The Greenville Country Club elected its 2021 Board of Governors at its recent annual meeting of the club’s members. The board is:
Hamilton “Bo” Russell, president
Howard Einstein, vice president
Jim Morton, secretary
Michael Fletcher, treasurer
Matt Smith, Long Range Planning Committee chairman, Executive Committee and the Board’s immediate past president
Lee Palms, Greens Committee chairman
William Boswell, Fitness and Pool Committee chairman
Jeff Powell, Tennis Committee chairman
James McKissick, Membership Committee chairman
Frank Davis, House Committee chairman
Kelly Odom, History and Traditions Committee chairman
Beattie Ashmore, member at-large
Lindsay Carrington, member at-large
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