Terrence Quinlan, Membership & Lifestyle Manager of Copperleaf Golf Club (Estero, Fla.) is picking up on a trend many other clubs are also seeing. Members are experiencing text fatigue.
“Members don’t want to read anymore,” says Quinlan. “They love to watch videos and are naturally drawn to that form of media.”
Terrence Quinlan, Membership & Lifestyle Manager of Copperleaf Golf Club (Estero, Fla.).
When Quinlan came to Copperleaf Golf Club in January, he wanted to play on this video attraction and continue a video series he did at his previous club.
Bringing the idea to his director of communications and marketing, the monthly catch-up video series, Copperleaf Catch-Up, was created.
A monthly preview with personality
The Copperleaf Catch-Up series is a video of Quinlan, that comes out the first of every month, going over the events at the club for the month.
Having the videos come out at the first of the month gets members excited, Quinlan says. It builds anticipation for the coming month and its events.
It also keeps things from getting repetitive. Having a video come out once a week makes it easier for the videos to get lost in the shuffle too.
“With a monthly cadence, there’s a one stop video that you can watch, get the details and the dates, and be done,” he says.
Quinlan keeps the videos fun, too. In July he shot the video from a pool float in Copperleaf Golf Club’s pool. In October, he sat on a fairway mower to go through the monthly events.
Having a fun background or scenery captures members’ attention even more and is a more interactive way for members to learn about club events.
“I believe the love of videos is a generational shift,” he says. “All generations, Gen Zs, Millennials, Baby Boomers, all of us enjoy videos. All of our eyes get caught on something. We eat with our eyes, we watch with our eyes, that’s just the direction communication is moving.”
Quinlan acknowledges that more clubs are stepping into the age of videos as members enjoy seeing staff having fun. It also creates an introduction of members to Quinlan, who has been at the club for less than a year.
“I’m still learning members’ names, but they know mine from this series,” he says. “And they get a glimpse of my personality through the videos that newsletters would not be able to provide as clearly.”
Three emails with clear priorities
Continuity in the way Copperleaf Golf Club communicates with its members is a top priority for the club. The club sends only three email blasts a week.
On Tuesdays, the Copperleaf Connection comes out, which includes golf activities, fitness, community and administrative information all in one email.
On Wednesdays, the Food and Beverage Corner comes out. Any food and beverage events or updates are included here.
“If any of the events I name off in the Copperleaf Catch-Up video series changes or has adjustments made, these newsletters are where those updates live,” he says.
On Friday, each department head takes turns sending out emails.
“Members are used to seeing messages from a General Manager, and we learned that members want something different,” says Quinlan.
This keeps communication from getting repetitive stale and allows every department to have an avenue to communicate with members directly.
Fresh ideas with a new team
Quinlan says that Copperleaf has undergone a lot of leadership changes recently. The General Manager and Director of Finance started in April 2025 and a new Food and Beverage Director started in May of 2025.
Instead of being worried about these new changes, Quinlan says this signifies a new Copperleaf Golf Club.
“It’s still the same members, but there is a new team, and we have a 90% satisfaction rate,” he says. “Members are loving the new, creative ideas the team is bringing.”
Quinlan says members will adapt to ideas that are solid and creative—like the Copperleaf Catch-Up.
And the video series doesn’t take a lot of work behind the scenes. Quinlan says the biggest thing is making sure the microphones are charged before shooting the video on an iPhone.
“The Bluetooth microphones I got are $20 from Amazon,” he says. “The hardest part of the videos is adding that creative element to it.”
When it comes to offering advice to other clubs that want to launch a similar video series, Quinlan has three big rules: Be silly, be goofy and be engaging.
“We have to be professional a lot of the time but let members see your silly side and have fun,” he says. “This is where you are most of the time, so just be yourself.”
