The only hint of golf at this Texas property is the owners’ and staff’s drive to make it “the Augusta of sporting clubs.”
Even though he’s been in club management for over 35 years, Rick Sussman recently changed his reading habits so he could get better informed about the things that will help him continue to succeed in his profession.
For most of his career, Sussman was immersed in golf-centric properties, first as a regional vice president for ClubCorp in Texas (where he helped the producers of “Tin Cup” film scenes for that movie at some of the clubs that he managed) and then in California as General Manager/COO of two properties with strong golfing traditions: Mission Viejo Country Club and Sharon Heights Golf & Country Club. But in the spring of 2015, Sussman suddenly stopped reading golf-industry publications. He’s still in club management, and at a very high-end property. But now he relies on magazines like Covey Rise and Garden & Gun to help him relate to his membership.
At a Glance: Hageman Reserve
Location: Sulphur Bluff, Texas |
Last spring, Sussman relocated to Texas to become Vice President of Hageman Reserve, a new private club located about 90 miles northeast of Dallas, in the unincorporated community of Sulphur Bluff. In 1990, which was apparently the last time anyone bothered to take a count, the population of Sulphur Bluff was estimated to be 280. As Hageman Reserve builds its membership and staff, it won’t be long before it has more people than that within its gates. But even with 14,000 acres of rolling prairie available to them on the club property, none of those people will be playing golf. The only hint of the game to be found at Hageman Reserve, in fact, comes from the drive exhibited by its owners, and staff, to put it on the map as “the Augusta of sporting clubs.”
Finding a Purpose
While it would seem that a property once owned by a prince of Liechtenstein would have always been destined to become a haven for the noble pursuit of sport shooting and other activities, there originally was no intent to create any kind of club when the land in Sulphur Bluff was bought in 2005 by Steve Hageman. As the Chairman of the Hageman Group, an Indiana-based company that built its business through seed corn production and other agriculturally related ventures, Hageman was drawn to the Sulphur Bluff property for its farming and ranching potential, with perhaps some of it also being used to serve as a family retreat.
But one member of the Hageman family, Shad Schenck, who is married to Steve’s daughter Sara, was at the time competing on the professional bass-fishing circuit, and knew enough about prime fishing spots to be rated 31st in the world. When he checked out the new property his father-in-law had acquired, Schenck not only saw its potential for great fishing, but even more so for hunting—and in particular for ducks and other waterfowl, because of its ideal fit and location for their migratory patterns. The Hagemans then recruited Shane Roethle, a wildlife biologist who had helped to develop and operate a corporate hunting property in Arkansas for the Monsanto Company, to be a partner in planning to turn the Sulphur Bluff land into an ideal habitat for both wetlands and upland birds, as well as other animals.
From there, plans quickly began to take shape for how to share the treasures of Sulphur Bluff with other hunting and outdoors enthusiasts. And to match what was felt to be an unparalleled attraction because of its unique combination of sporting experiences, the Hagemans set out to mark their entrance into the club business with equally distinctive concepts and features for all aspects of how they would provide access to all that the property could offer.
The unmistakeable symbol of this approach is the Hageman Reserve clubhouse/lodge that now rises majestically out of a bluff on one of the property’s highest points. Five years in the making, the 65,000-sq. ft. edifice was fashioned from Texas limestone and slate and has inspired visitors to describe it as everything from “a medieval apparition [of] a 400-year-old French chateau” to the “palace of the prairie.”
After gaining access through inconspicuous gates off one of Texas’ unique FM (farm to market) rural roads, visitors to Hageman Reserve are immediately treated to a drive through grazing and crop-growing areas (a herd of 600 head of cattle is maintained on site, with another 1,500 on the property. And 8,000 of the 14,000 acres are still actively farmed, to raise rice, corn, barley, wheat, soybeans, sorghum and other grains).
The approach to the clubhouse also provides an up-close, water-splashing-at-the-wheels look at wetland areas that are teeming with birds and other wildlife, before finishing by winding through a 15-acre, 16,500-vine vineyard that produces nine different varietals of grapes, two of which are native to Texas, and completes the feeling that you may indeed have arrived at a European estate.
That old-world impression is only enhanced inside the clubhouse, which is floored throughout with post oak that was cleared from the site to build club facilities, and also features elegant chandeliers, large wood-burning fireplaces and 30 well-appointed guest suites. A basement-level wine cellar houses 1,500 bottles and a private dining area that is used to present candlelight dinners with real silver, crystal glassware and white-glove, synchronized service, all orchestrated by Food & Beverage Service Director Lyndsay Caldwell, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who served her externship in fine-dining restaurants in California’s Napa Valley.
Not everything within and around the Hageman Reserve clubhouse harkens back to previous centuries and far-off lands, however. Outside the back of the building, a resort-style pool area, with a heated pool that never closes, also offers access to a modern workout room, sauna, and cabana. Spa services are also available within the clubhouse.
On the ground floor, “The Barn,” a large room originally conceived as a banquet area for weddings and events, was recently transformed into a “Dave and Buster’s”-type indoor recreation area geared to younger guests. A retail gallery (the club’s term for its pro shop) is fully stocked with the latest in apparel and gear (including an ample supply of guns) and features high-end brands such as Beretta, Filson, Orson and Stetson, as well as Under Armour.
Upstairs, a private conference room is equipped with what IT Director Gavin Galloway calls “the most advanced Skype system in the world,” which uses voice-recognition technology to automatically focus on whoever is speaking around the large table.
Brought to Texas from the parent company in Indiana, Galloway has also been working outside the building to deploy waterproof, camouflaged and domed cameras throughout the property’s wetland areas, so that ducks and other birds can be scouted without disturbing them—and not just for hunting purposes, but also to keep sporting activity away from active nests, as part of Hageman Reserve’s mission to ensure that its habitats always flourish. By this spring, Galloway was planning to have a live 24/7 camera feed that employs night vision available on the club’s website, so waterfowl’s breeding and activity patterns can be observed, and respected, at all times.
Needed Expertise
As the Hageman Group got deeper into all that creating a private club would involve, its executives recognized that some aspects of the business went beyond their scope of expertise. A search firm specializing in club-management placements was retained to find someone who could direct Hageman’s new venture through the critical stages of building the membership, putting a full staff in place, and establishing service standards.
The search firm originally expected that it would have to go beyond the realm of traditional golf and country club experience to fill the position. But it was soon surprised to find that a wealth of qualified candidates who currently held top jobs at some of the club industry’s most prominent properties were eager to present themselves as candidates. From among this group, Rick Sussman emerged as the choice to be the new Vice President in charge of Hageman Reserve.
Like many of the other candidates, Sussman was comfortable at Sharon Heights G&CC and had not been contemplating a change. But he, like others who presented themselves for the job, was fully intrigued by the challenges that would come with helping to develop such a unique new property—even if golf wouldn’t be a part of it (in Sussman’s case, he has also always had an active interest in hunting, too).
Now that he has been in Texas for close to a year, Sussman has come to enjoy many of the aspects of this form of private club management that he never experienced previously in his career. “While I always had good relationships with my Boards and committees, it is nice to know that [the Hagemans] are committed to this always being a legacy club and never being member-owned,” he says. “That comes from their focus on family values and how it extends to members, guests, the staff and the club’s day-to-day activities.” The Hageman Reserve staff eats daily meals together at the kitchen’s chef’s table, and each evening features a cocktail-and-charcuterie hour in the clubhouse’s main gathering area where members, guests and the staff have informal conversation and tell stories; this, and other aspects of how the club is operated, have been likened to a bed-and-breakfast.
In his first year, Sussman has focused on restructuring Hageman Reserve’s invitation-only membership policies and procedures and getting the staff—which includes Director of Lodging Wayne Caldwell, himself a former golf club GM at The Links at Land’s End in Yantis, Texas—aligned with the club’s mission (“enhance the lives of members, guests and team through authentic discovery, relationships and stewardship”) and vision (“to be the premier private outdoor sportsman’s club in the world by attracting and retaining the highest-quality employees that deliver life-enhancing experiences to members and their guests”).
Those experiences, Sussman notes, will continue to go well beyond hunting as Hageman Reserve grows (membership, which is planned to eventually number close to 350, is now approaching triple digits—and while management originally expected it would need to draw members from around the country and world, it has been encouraged to see how much strong interest has already come just from the Dallas area).
“The focus is on hunting and sport shooting, and you can do that at any level here, from the most experienced to beginners,” Sussman says. (Mike Mize, the club’s Director of Shooting Sports & Upland Hunting and one of less than 70 Level III certified shooting instructors in the country, has set up unique practice and learning areas, including a “duck roost” game where clay targets get fired out from a variety of natural positions, and a one-mile loop in the woods where targets are launched from 12 stations hidden behind wood piles and rocks.)
“But there is always going to be so much more than that to do,” Sussman adds. “And we’re adding to the possibilities just about every day. Kayaking, paddleboarding, nature walks and picnics—we’ll have all of that, and just about anything else you might want to do. And whether you want to have all kinds of adventure here, or just relax and and use this special place to get away from it all, we’ll provide a level of personalized service that will be a memorable experience in itself.”
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