"The country club has to evolve and become like piazzas in Italy, the town square where families—and not just the men who are golfing—meet on weekends"
Dean Foust looks at the demise of the second-tier country club in a Businessweek/Golf Digest collaborative piece.
The number of golfers belonging to clubs now is down to 2.1 million—900,000 below the peak in the early 1990s. Experts such as consultant Jim Koppenhaver, whose Buffalo Grove (Ill.) firm, Pellucid, monitors the industry, believes at least 400—and worst case, 1,000—private clubs will have to close, convert to public play, or be absorbed into healthier clubs before the carnage is over. "The whole country club model is at risk," says Koppenhaver. But "for a lot of golfers, the value proposition of belonging to a club is hard to pencil out."
Now this I'm not so sure about:
In the end, some industry insiders believe the long-term solution is to reinvent the country club, moving beyond golf to a broader array of services that meet the changing needs of younger members. In San Clemente, Calif., the once-bankrupt Bella Collina Towne & Golf Club has sold 120 new memberships in the past six months by adding pilates, karate lessons, and even a vegetable garden (for the restaurant) that members' kids help plant.
On the golf course, Bella Collina now offers a free junior golf program and permits members to take lessons from the club's instructors at no charge. That last move created turnover among the teaching pros, who viewed the cash from paid lessons as a perk of the job. But club officials say the gesture has helped get more mothers and children out on the course with their fathers.
I'm sure the PGA of America will be thrilled with that model.
"The country club has to evolve and become like piazzas in Italy, the town square where families—and not just the men who are golfing—meet on weekends," says John G. Fornaro, one of the investors who bought Bella Collina last year. That's good advice, but it may be coming late to clubs where the wolf is already at the door.
Is this the way to the future? Piazza golf? Don't men still need a place to go to get some alone time?
Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 08:36 PM
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Reader Comments (30)
The purist in me would love to belong to and play a private, golf only, small clubhouse, no restaurant/pool/tennis type facility, and this model has the advantage of low overhead, but there's a dwindling market for it.
As my kids get older, I am hoping they get the golf bug, since first I would love to have them play, and second, I could play with them and thus justify spending every weekend at the club. But in this scenario, we need to belong to a club with pool/tennis/restaurant/jr program/possibly daycare/maybe pilates ???, which of course is the exact type of high overhead operation that has trouble surviving in this market.
Anyway, if Golf has trouble getting my business these days, it stands absolutely no chance with the casual player....I don't know the solution, but certainly it's in the opposite direction of CCFAD's, high cost/high maintenance facilities etc and is moving towards smaller, cheaper, quicker to play, 9 holes, executive, fun for beginners and juniors and seniors.
...I give you the links at St Andrews. What a model! 1180AD to 2009AD (except for a brief period of private ownership during the 19th century, I believe).
During several decades of cc and muni work, I watched a particular scenario repeat itself: Millions were borrowed to build up the clubhouse while the golf maintenance was offered crumbs. Member costs go up, real golfers go elsewhere, as the family unit is usually too busy with other interests to support the clubhouse circus.
Course sells to enthusiastic new owner who repeats mistake of pumping money into clubhouse, after several attempts, course becomes apartment complex with interesting history of burned clubhouses.
American clubs need to evolve a more inclusive model. It hasn't killed the ritual and stature of Muirfield or other private courses in the UK to allow a few tee times on selected days of the week to be available to the public. I think people would be willing to pay handsomely for the chance to play the private clubs alll over Long Island and the rest of the country. Many fairways are mostly empty as it is. The extra cash flow could bolster the maintenance budget and save some clubs from bankruptcy. But U.S. clubs are too stubborn to share.
Different clubs need different solutions depending on their market, the competition and their desperation.
Certainly, some are already becoming semi-private or offer a non-equity,non-voting, no initaition annual fee membership and others are increasing their outings to weekdays other than the traditional Mondays. Many clubs now offer various types of memberships- weekdays only, twilight,seniors or whatever- anything to generate cash flow. Other clubs are trying to pump up their F&B business by offering specila dinners or even having a BYO wine night.
Obviously, the top tier clubs in major metro areas will not change the way they do business. Why should they?
I hope the vegetable plot in nowhere near the golf course -- sprays, applications, run offs.
What specific amentities each club decides to include is dependant on the members preferences.
For the traditional golf only clubs that are financiall sound, don't make a change.
For ones needing this revenue boost, keep some areas of the club traditional...dress codes, etc. But open up some rooms/areas that cater to different groups of people. A kids area, a teen area, womens area, mens area. Do this in the right way and people will want to come, hang out, and spend money.
Think of why men like to go to a golf club. To play golf, have a meal, or a drink and chat about topics of common interest between them and their counterparts. Now blow that out to women, teens, kids, etc. BUT it is vital to keep many areas that keep the clubs initial integrity intact or you will drive away older, established members who like things like they are/were.
Do really think top tier clubs in the USA will be willing to become "more inclusive" by offering tee times at a high rate to the public? Guess what? They already do by having charity outings or member sponsored unaccompanied play if they allow that kind of play. Most do not and require guests to play with a member. So, if you want to play Merion, Winged Foot, etc go find a charity outing and pay the big bucks AND you'll help out some good cause too.
I doubt that you'll ever see the UK model at these clubs. Can you imagine LACC advertising Tuesday tee times for the public at $500?
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/portmarnock-one-of-irelands-top-golf-club-wins-battle-over-women-members-14548436.html#ixzz0Vo8f3gR7
The real question - as I see it - is how many people are willing and able to pay for a private club membership when writing that monthly check causes them to pause? . . . When golf was the "in" game and the "bubble" economy was rolling - it was easy to find people who - for the cost of a family vacation to Hawaii - would pay club dues for a year. . . But, when the bubble burst, it turns out a lot of folks found their club membership just as discretionary as that Hawaii vacation. . . Club memberships drop - not so much because members find they do not have the "time" - but when the cost seems greater than they want to pay. Most clubs have lots of members with lots of money who utilize the facilities very little. . . Private clubs simply need people with discretionary money - the bells and whistles are pretty meaningless and only add to the operational costs. . . Private club membership is a luxury and every economic downturn will cause shrinkage - trips to Hawaii are a bargain right now too.
Piazzas are public and centrally located.
Clubs are exclusive and tend to be remote.
I don't think any form of evolution, not even punctuated equilibrium, gets you there.
Maybe he needs to get out of the office, away from his book of inocuous statistics, and see some country clubs. He will see a lot of vibrant FAMILY oriented places. Tennis courts - pools - dining - parties - entertainment...and yes, that evil golf course.
Foust needs to pull his head out of his biases and look at reality. SOME country clubs that were built as part of a golf and real estate explosion are going to be closing. The Italian Piazza's are public facilities. Why doesn't Foust demand that MUNI'S become the piazzas he loves so much ? Just a guess - it's because he likes playing class warfare games like this.
I'm sick of these media types who think that Europe is the answer to the world's problems. The people who wanted to get away from Europe are the reason the US exists in the first place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piazza_della_Signoria
Yeah, golf will work there. No question about it.
Ah, KLG, I know it well! Our hotel was no more than a driveable Par 4 away. What a beautiful city.
@ court
'...Why doesn't Foust demand that MUNI'S become the piazzas he loves so much ? Just a guess - it's because he likes playing class warfare games like this.
I'm sick of these media types...'
The author didn't suggest that. A club investor he interviewed did.
"Don't men still need a place to go to get some alone time?" Sure. But it's less and less at a club. And that' not just golf clubs either. Business clubs in downtowns are dinosaurs. And that's a good reflection on how family life has changed. I enjoy Mad Men. But I'm glad I didn't live back then.
Q.E.D.
MacDuff: Next time I might just schlep the clubs to Italy. Golf and vino della casa rosso sounds like an unbeatable proposition.
I go to the club to get away from kids & families, and to enjoy golf with my friends at the club.
It's bad enough that the club built a swimming pool (largely unused) a few years back. We're still paying that mistake off. What next, a skateboard park?