C+RB’s inaugural Awards for Events recognize Bel-Air Bay Club for hosting a Planner Mixer for more than 250 planning professionals, to showcase its Upper Club as a premier venue for weddings and other events; and Country Club of Roswell (Ga.) for its “Gold Rush” shootout—a unique twist to the way clubs’ member-guest tournaments are usually finished.
The December 2019 issue of Club + Resort Business features the 2019 Innovation Awards, recognizing club and resort properties that have conceived and implemented concepts that have paid real dividends in the form of enduring member and guest satisfaction and loyalty.
These properties were recognized for innovative achievement in the Events category:
Having the ideal facility to host an event won’t do a club any good if no one knows it exists. To make sure that wouldn’t be the case, the Bel-Air Bay Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. hosted a Planner Mixer for more than 250 planning professionals, to showcase its Upper Club as a premier venue for weddings and other events.
To offset the cost, the mixer was sponsored by more than a dozen vendors who provide services for weddings, corporate events and other festivities. One of the vendors, Brand Videography, captured the event on a video that can now be used for future marketing purposes.
Given its proximity to Hollywood, Bel-Air also recognized the potential for inviting television and movie-location scouts to the Planner Mixer, as part of an initiative to promote its Upper Club as a prime filming location as well. That led to “NCIS: Los Angeles” shooting a wedding episode at the club, with TV Guide sending a reporter to cover the filming. The magazine then published the report, which included a mention of Bel-Air Bay Club as the site, as a cover story.
Many “successful” innovations come and go with the wind, but the real test of their effective implementation is how they stand up over time.
In a twist to the way clubs’ member-guest tournaments are usually finished—a shootout with the flight winners playing for the overall title—the Country Club of Roswell (Ga.) has all 72 teams play in a “Gold Rush” shootout that starts with a unique format.
Each team in the member-guest is paired with another team, to create new teams of four players, paired by handicap to create balance. All players—usually from a field of 132, but sometimes with as many as 144—then play the same hole (usually the first), using an alternate-shot format. Each team picks one player to tee off, so 36 players tee off, one after another.
Teams are eliminated after each hole and five holes are played in total. The event takes at least three hours to complete, and the entire community comes out to watch. The winning foursome wins actual gold coins.
“Talk about pressure, as 500 members watch you tee off and your entire foursome’s chances rely on your opening tee shot,” says John Speiss, CCM, the Country Club of Roswell’s General Manager. “But what a way to end the member-guest, as each and every player gets to participate in the grand finale!”
“We have done this for 20 years,” Spiess adds, “It’s a great format for any club looking to freshen up their member-guest.”
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