Gaston Country Club in Gastonia, N.C., has completed a comprehensive renovation of its men’s locker room, modernizing one of the club’s most heavily utilized spaces while preserving its longstanding role as a gathering place for members.
According to General Manager Travis Smith, the renovation represented the first significant update to the men’s locker room in approximately two decades.
“We just felt like it was time to give the space another upgrade,” says Smith.
The renovation didn’t add any space, but it changed the carpets, added a fresh coat of paint to the walls, and reimagined the bar area.
A fresh look
The men’s locker room acts as a full-service locker room with a bar, TVs, and places to eat.
“It does well financially, but it needed new carpets, new windows, a new ceiling, new furniture and TVs,” says Smith.
With members having to go through the locker room to change or grab gear, the foot traffic was great and allowed members to grab a drink or food before or after their round of golf.
Robert Buckles, President of Gaston Country Club, says the renovation is a fresh look, which has also taken place in other areas of the clubhouse.
Rather than adding amenities or completely changing the area, Buckles and Smith focused on updating current amenities that were already working well with the membership.
With the new renovation, a big goal was to attract new members to Gaston Country Club and move the club forward.
“Most things I’ve been reading are about clubs that have chosen to implement improvements and get rewarded with membership,” says Smith.
And it’s working. Buckles says the membership director is giving tours and generating a lot of interest among prospective members.
“We felt like we needed to create an area that matched our member initiation fees and lived up to expectations,” says Buckles.
The bar area now has new coolers, a new bar and a bar display.
“We added 10 TVs, added three new windows and put in a new gas fireplace,” says Buckles.
The renovation also added a small fitness room with training bands and weights for members to warm up with before they head out to the club’s 18-hole golf course.
“We went through each area and tried to make the most of each room,” says Smith.
The idea for this renovation came three years ago when the board, Smith and Buckles toyed with the idea of “pretty grand ideas,” says Buckles. However, the timing and the budget were not quite right.
Instead, Buckles and Smith decided to focus on the essentials, like replacing the carpets.
“Somewhere along the line of these small renovations, it just kept getting better,” says Buckles. “You can’t quit once you start and we just wanted to add these touch-ups to every room.”
Members were even a part of the renovation process. Juli Miller and Katie Hancock, Board Members at the club, worked tirelessly with the contractor and design team to bring the vision to life.
Managing logistics and member feedback
The biggest challenge of this renovation was making the area feel cohesive.
Before the renovation, the locker room was split into two separate rooms. Buckles and Smith wanted to remove the dividing wall for a more open floor plan.
“We had to bring in a steel beam to replace the wall we tore down and that was a big challenge to make sure it was done the right way,” says Buckles.
During the renovation, Buckles and Smith decided to move the locker room into the pool facility to temporarily accommodate the 25-30 men who were still wanting to use the locker room.
The project started Jan. 15 and was completed by May 15.
This past Monday, June 8, 2026, Gaston Country Club hosted the 2026 U.S. Open Qualifier. This was just in time to put the new space to the test and Buckles said the locker room was a huge hit.
During construction Smith says that members were able to drop by and check out the progress, but the club also provided updates through a newsletter that went out every two months.
“Member feedback has been extremely positive and everyone is excited to get back into the locker room and take advantage of the updates,” says Smith.
Through this project Smith says he has learned new things about membership. He found that many members want the renovation complete to take advantage of the new amenities while others are concerned about the reason behind the renovations.
A part of Buckles and Smith’s job was to create a positive experience for both types of members throughout this process.
“We felt like we needed to create an area that matched our member initiation fees and lived up to expectations,” says Buckles.
Both Smith and Buckles mention that as membership demographics shift the club has to shift with them.
Keeping the clubhouse fresh and relative is also the advice Smith offers to other GM’s.
“Younger members want updated amenities like this,” says Smith. “We are moving away from the older member coming in to just play golf and head home. Gaston is more of a family-centric clubhouse, so we want our upgrades to match that.”
