The Club and Resort Industries are Full of Great Ideas

I want to know what innovative ideas you are introducing at your club. Shoot me an e-mail and we can work together on sharing your creative solutions with colleagues.

June 2022 marks the 16th annual Ideas Issue for Club + Resort Business. Over the years, we’ve gathered some of the most innovative events and activities from across the industry. Last year, for instance, we showcased the Millennial Membership program at Woodstone Country Club in Danielsville, Pa. Thanks, in part, to the program offering lower monthly dues to single members under the age of 30, the club’s membership numbers went from 175 to 325 in just five years. 

In another success story, The Country Club of Jackson (Miss.) began offering a one-stop shopping experience for customized merchandise that can promote members’ own businesses. The sale of customized products through the golf shop has not only built better relationships between the members and staff, but it has also provided the club with additional revenue.

At Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria, Va., the Fitness Manager wanted to provide a fun, safe environment for teaching fitness basics to kids, ages 4-10. The club created a strategic approach to building sports performance while testing endurance. As a side benefit, the new program also yielded a surge in adult programming.

This year, see how River Oaks Country Club in Houston, Texas hosted a “Paint the Pool Party,” which marked the final poolside event before kicking off a $29 million improvement project. To make the outing especially personal, members were invited to grab a paintbrush and say goodbye to the summertime hot spot. 

Champions Run in Omaha, Neb. is no stranger to the Ideas issue. With a popular seventh-inning-stretch activity in mind, the club hosted its own Mascot Races. Champions Run’s primary mascot is Kraken, an orange octopus wearing a pirate hat, but the club has four other mascots: a green gator, a yellow sea dragon, a red ray, and a blue barracuda. Lifeguards donned the costumes and raced one another on the pool deck—involving members and treats from the snack bar.

Club Communications have always been an important way of keeping members informed, but (nearly) gone are the days of printed monthly newsletters mailed to the home. E-mails are much more convenient, timely and cost-effective, but today’s younger members are open to even quicker forms of communication. Champions Run has them covered, too, in the form of TikTok. Raychel Reed, Social Media & Marketing Intern at the club, says “TikTok is great in the sense that you can catch and keep their attention for the span of your 15-30-60 second videos.”

Tree clearing can be a point of contention with golfers and non-golfers, alike. While one side enjoys the shade, privacy and natural habitat the trees provide woodland creatures, others argue that they can be the enemy of healthy turf. But when a pest, such as the emerald ash borer, infests the property, tree removal is a must. The Peoria, Ill. Park District made the best of a bad situation at the Newman Golf Course by hiring a local chainsaw artist who carved the PPD logo into one felled tree—providing a nice addition to the grounds. Great idea!

Ideas come in all shapes and sizes and don’t always originate in the U.S. I recently read a story out of the U.K. where the owner of a private 9-hole course (Hollyville) was offering free golf in exchange for help with maintenance. 

In Lostwithiel, Cornwall, UK, every square yard of non-playing surface at Gillyflower golf course will be used to grow fruit and vegetables or encourage flora and fauna. It is being billed as a unique “edible” and green golf course. There are even three Tamworth pigs kept on site to help trim undergrowth in a more natural manner.

I want to know what innovative ideas you are introducing at your club. Shoot me an e-mail and we can work together on sharing your creative solutions with colleagues across the country … and the “pond.”