The Palos Verdes, Calif. club lost more than 100 members when it shut down in 2015 to begin an 18-month renovation, but has already built membership back up to a waiting list with still more than six months to go before reopening. The buzz over new amenities including a fitness center and spa, plus special price concessions, have led to an “onslaught” of inquiries, the club reports.

 

A major renovation project that’s excavated 6 million cubic yards of dirt and barreled through approval from more than a dozen agencies isn’t all that’s making the “new” Rolling Hills Country Club in Palos Verdes, Calif. attractive to new members, the Torrance, Calif. Daily Breeze reported.

“I don’t think my wife would have allowed it if it weren’t a family-friendly club,” said Redondo Beach, Calif. resident Trey Smith, who joined the club last year, attracted in part by the family-friendly atmosphere being cultivated as part of the club’s major renovation.

Rolling Hills’ 18-month renovation project began last year, and includes a David McLay Kidd-redesigned golf course on parts of what used to be a quarry, a 60,000-sq. ft. clubhouse built from the ground up, and amenities including a fitness center and spa. The entire project is expected to be finished by the summer of 2017.

C&RB reported on the project when it began last year: http://clubandresortbusiness.com/2015/06/10/rolling-hills-cc-reworks-18-hole-golf-course/

Despite the accolades that are already being received for the improvements that are being made, the Daily Breeze reported, the focus for the club is on the communities in the Palos Verdes Peninsula where it sits, and the families from the “beach cities” who are already clamoring for memberships.

“It used to be where a golf course could just have a great course and be successful,” the club’s General Manager, Greg Sullivan, told the Daily Breeze. But that’s not the case any longer. Now, new members like Smith are looking for a family-oriented experience, Sullivan explained.

That means fitness centers, spas and options for teenagers and children— the kinds of amenities that drew Smith and his family to join. His 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son will enjoy the large lawns and pool area, Smith said, and his wife will likely make use of the club’s gym. “There’s a number of different things that they gear specifically to the kids, and that was a huge draw for us,” he told the Daily Breeze.

The majority of new interest in the club is coming from Manhattan Beach, Calif. and the Palos Verde Peninsula, Sullivan told the Daily Breeze, and much of that is because of the amenities and facilities that Rolling Hills club is building up for families.

As a whole, that’s a business edge for the club, added Kerry Welsh, the club’s Communications Director, by positioning it as one of the few in the region that offer any amenities geared toward families.

“The golf industry has kind of dropped a little bit, and the places that are really being successful are the ones marketing to families,” Welsh said.

The fact that the club is still under construction hasn’t dampened interest, either, the Daily Breeze reported. With the ongoing construction, Smith and his family received price concessions when they joined in December 2015. That had appeal along with the fact that when the club reopens next year, everything will be brand new. “We saw it as the perfect time,” Smith said.

The number of people now jumping at their chance to buy a membership to the club is a stark change from the beginning of the project, the Daily Breeze reported. When the club shut down to prepare for the renovation, more than 100 members cleared out, Welsh said.

“We were worried, would the club even survive if we don’t replace the members?” he said. “And we’ve just had an onslaught.”

Now, months before the project is set to be completed, there’s a waiting list, Welsh reported.

The project will also include an expansion of the Rolling Hills Estates community, after a builder bought rights from the club to build 114 new homes adjacent to the renovated golf course, Welsh said.

“It’s better for everybody,” Sullivan said.