The Capital City Country Club (Brookhaven, Ga.) recently underwent a $40 million renovation that transformed its fitness center along with renovating the men’s and women’s locker rooms, one of the dining rooms, and building a new event space.
The renovation began in 2022 and took around 20 months to complete, but investment has paid off, according to Ken Shigley, Titleist Performance Trainer at Capital City Country Club.
Ken Shigley,Titleist Performance Trainer at Capital City Country Club.
“I think we have one of the strongest fitness centers in the country,” he says.
Shigley and Jennifer Polic, Health and Fitness Director of Capital City Country Club, dive into the renovations and how it positioned the fitness center and club for the future.
Creating a space for wellness
Capital City Country Club has three locations: a downtown Atlanta location, the Brookhaven campus., and the Crabapple campus.
The downtown club mainly hosts events, while the Crabapple location centers around golf.
The Brookhaven location blends both concepts while offering traditional club amenities, including a pool, dining facilities and a fitness center.
Polic describes the fitness program as robust, featuring 14 personal trainers on staff, a three-room spa staffed by four massage therapists and an esthetician, three physical therapists, a chiropractor, a stretch therapist, and an indoor/outdoor pool for an aquatics programming and two group fitness studios.
The renovation added 3,000 extra square feet to the fitness center and installed floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the golf course.
Polic says the functional training area houses pilates equipment, Shigley’s golf performance area, stretching equipment and more.
The remaining space is dedicated to cardio equipment.
“The fitness and wellness aspect of our club is definitely the most used amenity,” says Polic.
Jennifer Polic, Health and Fitness Director of Capital City Country Club.
Because of the popularity, Polic and her team moved off-site and leased a former physical therapy facility to provide members with workout space during the renovation.
The average age of members utilizing the fitness center, along with the fitness classes, is in the 50s, says Polic.
“But we really have something for everyone at the fitness center, which is really what sets us apart,” says Polic. “There are so many pieces of equipment and we do around 35 fitness classes per week. Plus, we offer unique programs like the golf performance area.”
Connecting golf with fitness
Shigley has been at Capital City Country Club for about 12 years and has witnessed significant growth during that time.
The golf performance program is a multifaceted initiative that includes three head golf professionals who focus on instruction, swing mechanics and fundamentals.
Shigley focuses on the fitness side of golf with two or three employees who handle the physical therapy and medical side of the training.
“We’ve been doing this for about five to six years now and it’s better than anything I’ve seen before,” he says.
Shigley’s performance training spans across generations. He works with high schoolers who want to do more working outside to middle aged and older people who want to work on core strength, balance, mobility and stability.
This aspect of the fitness center was started around a year before Shigley came on board and since then it has taken off.
Shigley says the program starts with a physical therapist doing a head-to-toe assessment on the member. The therapist is looking for injuries or limitations to pinpoint and give them a golf specific assessment. Then, they get sent to Shigley.
“I now have a blueprint on how to most effectively train this person without doing any unnecessary work,” he says.
This training is done in the form of group classes and one on one sessions with winter being Shigley’s peak season.
“During the summer months, members are out on the course so much that we focus more on recovery and that’s really where our therapists come into play,” he says.
Having a range of people be a part of the program is Shigley’s main piece of advice for other clubs looking to add an offering like this at their location.
“You want to have people who are passionate and knowledgeable about what they’re doing,” he says. “Especially with golf, if you are someone who is passionate about the game, people pick up on that and they can see if you’re not passionate about it.”
To Shigley the passion from the team is what makes the program stand out.
“You can have a basic program that’s just like everyone else’s, but if you have people that care more and are more qualified, you’re going to succeed,” he says.
One on one classes are Shigley’s preferred method of training. This way he can customize the training specifically for that member.
He also keeps group classes to no more than six people in order to offer a personalized experience for everyone.
Thinking outside the four walls of the fitness center
Polic says the renovation of the club’s fitness center comes at a time where more people are seeing the importance of staying active and flexible throughout their life.
“People want to still be able to play golf or tennis and take part in other club activities,” she says. “But they also want to be able to get down on the floor and play with their grandkids. I think that’s why we’ve seen mobility on the rise over the past few years.”
With emphasis being placed on wellness, Polic says what separates a good fitness center from great one is the programming it offers and the people who run the experience.
She advises other fitness centers to offer something for everyone, no matter what facility is available to you.
“It doesn’t have to take place within the four walls of your fitness center,” says Polic. “We go outside to our pool deck and do outside classes and are always trying to think outside the box to get people involved.”
Polic is also aware that the fitness and wellness movement comes with a lot of fads, but she believes recovery offerings like cryotherapy, saunas, spas and cold plunges will continue to gain popularity.
“The industry seems to have moved away from selectorized equipment and moving more towards functional training,” she says.
This means moving away from pieces of equipment that offer limited ranges of motion or movement and moving towards more band work, cable work, or anything that will help members bring more movement into their daily lives.
In order to not fall victim to the latest fads, Polic pays attention to research showing what’s going to last, which is what she did when investing in a cold plunge.
“There’s more and more research coming out about these cold dips and more boutique gyms opening with these offerings that we are fairly certain it’s not going to be a fad,” she adds.
