Recently, in their July/August 2023 issue, “The Board Room” Magazine included a series of comments from esteemed club industry professionals on what makes a great private club. One fundamental that may have been lost at many clubs in favor of the traditional “buzzwords” of “member experience”, “leadership”, “greatness”, “stewardship” and more, even though I agree wholeheartedly with those elements is HAPPY MEMBERS..
As an avid golfer since childhood, I’ve been privileged to be a member at several private clubs and analyzed, appraised, consulted for and even sold many others. I’ve seen more clubs than most people and many “from the inside out”. To me, the definition of a great club is really quite simple. It’s the club that has happy, satisfied members – period. Not only must they be happy to be members, but they should be happy with their day to day member experience. Even clubs with ordinary golf courses, limited financial resources and mediocre food and clubhouses can be “great clubs”. As they say, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and what is great to some varies. There are investor-owned clubs where the members feel a sense of pride and “ownership” that can be absent at even some of the most prestigious member-owned clubs, where club leadership rarely changes and members are in constant fear of petty or unwarranted disciplinary actions from the board, or self- appointed club czar. Not very comfortable. Remember Judge Smail in “Caddy Shack”? According to a Golf Digest article from 2014, what makes a “Best Damn Club” starts with everything except the golf course. They define it as “places perhaps lesser known, but whose special atmosphere is tangible—almost hits you in the face the moment you drive in.”
To some, a great club is about the status of belonging or having fine dining options. It could be about “showing off” one’s financial strength at a club with high entrance fees and dues. To others it could be the history of the club or golf course, or maybe who designed it or whether it was a venue for major championships. Some clubs are inundated by onerous and outdated rules and/or customs that inhibit the members’ ability to enjoy the club’s recreational amenities they joined for in the first place. While many clubs self-measure their own “greatness” on criteria like these, it’s a happy, stable membership that really makes a club great – and financially sustainable. After all, don’t we join clubs for recreation, relaxation and to have fun? Over my many years of membership in various clubs the complaints from members often outweigh their compliments about the club. I’ve heard some clubs called the “No Fun Zone”, among others.
As my friend, Neil Hampton, General Manager of Royal Dornoch Golf Club in Scotland said, the difference between golf in the US and in the UK is that in the US golf has become a status symbol and in the UK it’s an “everyman’s” game. The quest for that status can result in a “stuffy” atmosphere where even members and their guests don’t always feel welcome or comfortable. I’ve often wondered if the operating model of those clubs that welcome us as visitors in the UK wouldn’t work well at some of our clubs in the US. With only one exception I can think of, my golfing travels in the UK have taken me to many well-known (and some lesser known) clubs where I’ve always been warmly welcomed and made to feel “at home”.
All clubs – even the upscale ones – need to pay attention to economics. None are “bulletproof”. Regardless of the membership’s level of affluence, belonging is not cheap and if the members aren’t having fun, after awhile they’ll lose interest and leave. The COVID era club boom has made many clubs flush with members, some of which may not be there a few years into the future as they possibly return to their pre-club activities. Club leadership, and through them, club staff and management play an outsized role in determining to great extent membership satisfaction. If members are happy, not only will they stick around. but they’ll use the club. It’s not the guy who plays golf 100 times per year who makes the club successful. It’s the majority of members – who might play 10 or 20 times per year that make the difference between economic success and failure, and those folks need to be happy (and stick around) for the club to succeed. Once a member starts to calculate their cost per round, there’s a problem.
So, if happy, satisfied members make a great private club, what makes happy, satisfied members? Here are my top priorities:
- Access – It shouldn’t be difficult to get a tee time.
- Atmosphere – Comfortable, relaxed and unpretentious with sensible rules only where needed, and enforced thoughtfully, fairly and reasonably
- Welcoming – A membership and leadership (or ownership) that is inclusive and friendly
- Facilities – Desirable, high quality and well-maintained
- Management & Staff – Trained club & hospitality professionals who find ways and have the authority to say YES
- Transparency – Members deserve to know how decisions are made and what their money is used for
- The “3 C’s” – Communication, Consistency, Culture
Happy members result for a club culture that provides the recreation and relaxation they sought when joining, value for their recreational dollar and all the social benefits of being around compatible people. Happiness is really the primary, if not only criteria for joining a club. If one can’t find that, they’re at the wrong club. That’s my two cents, for what it’s worth.