When the membership is quieter and the number of tee times per day dips, that’s when the staff at Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club in Gold Canyon, Ariz. kicks it into overdrive. General Manager Mark Gurnow shares some of the club’s recent updates.
Private country clubs stay open year-round, but whether it’s during the winter months when the course is buried under ice and snow, or in the middle of the hot summer, there’s always an “off-season.”
Located just outside Phoenix, Ariz., Superstition Mountain Golf and Country Club enjoys mild winter weather so we consider the heart of summer off peak. Many of our members are snowbirds leaving us with a slightly slower pace in the summer. And, while we are finding that more and more members are staying throughout the year, June through August are the most quiet times at the club. That said, anyone who has worked at a private golf club will tell you, there’s really no such thing as an off season.
When the membership is quieter and the number of tee times per day dips, that’s when the staff at Superstition kicks it into overdrive. Here are a few things we worked on during our “off” season this year.
Courses
We were able to close one of our two Nicklaus Design courses and undertake a bunker sand refresh, and general bunker maintenance, as well as greens resurfacing. Both were major undertakings led by our long-time Director of Agronomy, Scott Krout, who has been at Superstition Mountain since its first golf course was under construction in 1997.
We made repairs to the climate-controlled comfort stations and overhauled the cart tunnels and cart paths. A new set of tee markers were installed and the team performed extensive trimming and maintenance on the course’s surrounding, natural desert landscape.
Dining
We are proud to offer our members an exceptional food and beverage program – with everything from elegant tasting dinners to casual lunches and everything in between. After carefully reviewing our member survey and product mixes, we realized it was time for a change.
We know that our members dine at the club as much as four or five times per week. Dining at any one restaurant that frequently will make anyone tire of the same menu each day. We also found that at least 60% of sales in the dining areas came from specials. This prompted our Food & Beverage Director to come up with an innovative program that would require our talented F&B department to step things up a few notches – a menu that changes every two weeks. At least half the menu would change, the other half would remain constant keeping member favorites—what we like to call our “Superstition Staples”—always available.
The off season gave us an opportunity to lay a foundation with the staff, making sure we were fully prepared and had the new, rotating menu concept dialed in before the busy season. The Executive Chef took the time to train the team in technique, vs. simply following a set recipe, so they would be able to handle the constant transition of changing menu items. The change impacted front-of-house operations, as well, and staff had to get used to learning new menus every week, updating the POS systems, etc. The entire F&B department has risen to the challenge, and we think the rotating menu concept will be a huge success.
Amenities
Naturally, our members love golf, but we also have an active tennis club with an expanding pickleball program and lively bocce ball league. During the summer we resurfaced the bocce, tennis and pickleball courts. This included the addition of two more pickleball courts to better “serve” the membership.
To better suit the changing needs of our club, we installed a door to allow the cardroom in the ladies’ locker area to be utilized for mixed events like bridge, wine tastings, private dinners and more. We also added an entrance for the men to enter the cardroom as, obviously, they cannot go traipsing through the ladies’ locker room.
Pavers were installed on the patio of the private dining room to update and expand the space. This also allowed us to install conduit under the new pavers to run power for patio heaters. Speaking of heaters, this is also the time when we prep for fall/winter events and begin assembling portable heaters.
A new A/C unit was installed in the golf shop, pool fencing was installed, roofs were repaired, staff areas were refreshed and all of the lighting in the club’s parking lot was replaced. And so much more.
I am grateful for our dedicated staff that put in the work to ensure members have the best possible experience each and every time they step onto the course or into our club. It is because of them; Superstition continues to be an exceptional place to live and play.
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