Beyond The Baselines

Young John Bierkan would bike through the parking lot at the club where his father was teaching golf most childhood mornings at 6am. These halcyon Pennsylvania mornings might have seen his siblings resetting the blackout curtains, but not John. Golf was in his blood and his early mornings as a junior golfer saw John always at the club – every day and all day. And, from those early days and moonlit mornings while breathing in the freshly cut fairways, Bierkan knew he wanted to, just like his father, teach golf.

John has become one of the leading golf instructors in the country. From his early days at Doral through his time at Quail Valley and Old Marsh, John started out on a trajectory that took him to some of the most prestigious golf and country clubs in the nation.

As one of the leading Directors of Golf Instruction in the country, John has a learned and objective viewpoint from over 20 years of experience. His views of golf, golf and country clubs, and the differences among different parts of the country in which he has worked are valuable to all of us in the private members club and hospitality businesses.

Taylor Newman left college for two careers. Her love of writing led her to her daily, first shift – a beat journalist covering the DC Metro sports teams for the sports desk at the Washington Post. Ben Bradlee would have been proud of her commitment up there with Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in terms of hours. For when Taylor had filed her sports reports, she would move to her second, eight-hour shift at Chevy Chase Club, where she was serving as an Assistant Professional.

Finally, weighing up her options, Taylor chose the hospitality, private members club, and tennis career – and she has never looked back. In fact, she has used her writing skills to build one of the biggest cardio tennis programs in all the nation.

Through communicating with members, Taylor and present BeyondTheBaselines.com Vice President Britney Sanders, took over a quiet cardio tennis program. Changing the headlines of the program and using writing and lines of communication, the two women built a program that has led to fifteen cardio courts each week.

“Cardio is not just about running a good clinic, it’s about knowing the personalities and levels of all the players to help make it succeed.”

Newman is a consummate professional: checking the court booking sheet at 10pm every night for the next day to avoid any surprises or pitfalls, picking up balls after each and every cardio class outside the fences, and mentoring her assistants on a daily basis both on the court and in terms of hospitality, off the court. Just as she would have been at The Post covering sports, Taylor is on duty twenty-four hours, always being out there ready to communicate, learn and grow.

The Washington Post lost a treasure to tennis. Here’s Taylor Newman on the Beyond The Baselines podcast.

Hospitality runs in the family. Alexandria LaRocca, Director of Member Engagement at The Beach Point Club in Mamaroneck, New York, and Matt Assumma, who served at Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, join the podcast. And, they’ve known each other for years, and we mean for years, since they were kids.

Alexandria and Matt are both offspring of well-known and highly regarded club managers, having grown up in the industry. Their respective backgrounds highlight how important both human resources and hospitality are in the private members club industry.

Matt spent eight years at one of the leading clubs in the country, Ocean Reef. He notes how he worked his way up through the ranks from banqueting and ended up working in the membership department, where he would flag visitors who may have visited the club more than twice in five years, but who had not expressed an interest in gaining membership. Membership plays such an important role at any club through events, such as outings and member guests, but for a iconic club on the tip of Key Largo, perhaps new members can be even more significant.

Ocean Reef, although a private club, can be seen as a destination with both a conference center and an inn on property. Matt notes the friction that can be caused between hosting events, attracting new members and the tradition of a small, fishing village which was the dream of its founder and present-day members, according to Assuma.

LaRocca notes that although email is very strong, different messages require different timings and different avenues of communication. Tennis, food and beverage, and timing of delivery all affect how communications are received by her elite and private membership at Beach Point Club. She realizes that with the numerous clubs in the area, a director of membership really is forced to know the entire brand – not just the activities at the club – but the brand that is the club’s identity. That identity separates the club from its many competitors, especially in the Westchester/Fairfield county areas of New York and Connecticut.

Assumma lived on campus at Ocean Reef for a year before he, for the first time in his life, commuted from a property off campus during his time in the industry. Housing can attract great talent, especially since many may be on J1 or H2B visas, states LaRocca. But, there are times when living on property can be difficult. Your thought process may be that you can never be “off duty” or a member might find you late at night as they might need their clubs for an early-morning flight, as has happened to Assumma.

In looking back at their respective careers, it’s clear that perhaps the hardest job one might have in the private members club arena is running a dining room. With that said, both these individuals started doing that as teenagers working with their fathers, and food and beverage is clearly a life-long love as well as a wonderful way to learn the club industry from the inside out.

Two major seasonal jobs have just one director: Brett Gaede. From his first ever, post-college professional position at the renowned Nantucket Yacht Club, Gaede has made New England and Florida his seasonal homes, and follows his members, and the sun, up and down the East Coast.

With his two director roles, he lives with water views year-round, and has views over the Atlantic almost two thousand five hundred miles apart, depending on the calendar. Gaede is the director in the summer in Maine on the remote Mount Desert Island at The Harbor Club. A very private club, hidden in the gem of a village called Seal Harbor, made famous by the ultra-private Rockefeller family back in the early 1900s. At his winter post, where he serves the membership as director at the elite Hillsboro Club, just outside Ft. Lauderdale, Gaede works with an older demographic and a club that is etched in tradition with its tennis and croquet professionals in all-white clothing from head to toe.

Famed Testa’s Restaurant in Palm Beach, Florida in the winter had a sister restaurant also on Mount Desert Island in Maine. Nick Testa Senior formed a motto: Pine trees in the summer, palms in the winter. That’s exactly how Gaede thinks as he spends evenings enjoying the scenery of Acadia National Park in the summer and views of Hillsboro Inlet in the Broward County, Florida through the winter months. Gaede could have used that motto to describe his life over the past 15 years. Funnily enough, Testa’s in Bar Harbor is just minutes away and in Palm Beach just about 30 miles from his winter nest, as the proverbial crow flies.

As the director that has “racquets, and will travel,” Gaede takes us through his tips of creating a great seasonal program. Housing is crucial to help find and retain great instructors and assistants at such “destination” clubs. Second is the meal plan or benefit. Third comes, perhaps, the commission as the millennial employees look for comfort in not only their food, but their life and living and having a work/life balance.

Gaede has seen trends away from tournaments to live ball and pro-fed clinics, especially at Seal Harbor. With an older demographic at Hillsboro and a more transient membership in Florida with rooms at the inn as part of the club, he feels that the trend will soon arrive in Florida too. It may already have. He is packing all courts at both clubs each morning with Cardio, Liveball and 105 and attendance over 40 on a daily basis. Tournament entries are weaker each year, and he explains his thinking as to why pro-fed clinics are here to stay as the leading weekend entertainment.

Have a listen to perhaps one of the best seasonal directors in the country. He says he’s happy where he is now. We aren’t surprised: he has two of the best seasonal jobs in the nation. Brett Gaede on the Beyond The Baselines Podcast.

It’s not easy to engage members twelve months a year in the cold, frigid air of Canada when your only amenity is golf. Ash Chadha, general manager at Glencoe Golf And Country Club, is bringing members to the club in bigger and bigger numbers through various methods, even in the dark winter months. Offering a warm welcome through a cold winter is just how he does it.

Glencoe, established in 1984, was an outlier of its sister club, the downtown city club, Glencoe, in Alberta, Calgary. The idea of being open twelve months a year had started just before Covid. As the city boundaries grew toward the 45 holes of golf – the club boasts just golf and food and beverage – and Covid created a bigger demand, opening in the heart of winter was different.

Ash speaks with the experience of being a long-serving club manager with over 15 years of senior management work under his belt. For eight years he was a department head – a food and beverage manager – and his work as a general manager is often seen through the lens of his department heads, a position in which he personally learned to thrash out ideas before presenting them to upper management.

Chadha has brought in comfort food – burgers, chili, and fish and chips – for the membership throughout the winter and with the ever-popular NFL, even in Canada, on the televisions and fires lit in the fireplaces, he keeps his membership engaged. He’s brough in hiking, ice skating and other wintry events to keep the members engaged. “That’s all we really want as managers, isn’t it?,” asks Chadha. Then he answers his own question: “Members using the club in some capacity.” Even in the cold of a Canadian winter at a golf-only country club.

Chadha admits that the year-round effort does put pressure on the staff. Ash holds weekly staff meetings, along with one-on-one meetings with the department heads on a regular basis. Visibility, he says, is just as important for senior management with the team as it is with membership. However, the key objective, he says, is not to interfere with their specialty or their side of business, and as a general manager the main task is to provide support and be available to staff and membership.

Nominating committees at Glencoe have largely filled an administrative role in the past. More and more, many clubs are moving to nominating committees that are actually soliciting for members to fill voids on the board. A shift to this more business like practice might take a generational shift, says Chadha. It takes trust and transparency, Chadha believes, as members aren’t always trusting of the board to choose their own successors, or even a nominating committee to perform that role. Chadha says it may be easier and wiser at this point if a group of members from outside club governance bodies nominate a particular individual.

Bylaws and policies also present a big challenge in that the member perception is that the board really owns the opportunity to choose their replacements, and that makes it rather hard for the membership to accept a nomination.

“I know the big firms like KKW and GGA are promoting that clubs be run like a business, but from a corporate governance standpoint, the challenge in our business is there is an inherent conflict between the boards, and the membership, and the non-for-profit institutions they are responsible for.”

Learn at both the day-to-day and the long-term strategic levels from this industry leader who caters to over one thousand principal members and 3,200 individuals at Glencoe Golf and Country Club.

This could be the best conference in our industry. It may be the biggest. It was the largest, according to the organizers, in over twenty years. The PGA Merchandise Show reached new heights this last week of January, 2024 with more vendors, more club managers and more industry leaders. And, we at BeyondTheBaselines.com were there to cover it all: the conference, the speakers, and the vendors.

From new releases on the golf, tennis, pickleball, and the retail fashion side, the conference offers those in the club management and private members club industry a chance to meet, greet and learn from each other in ways that were probably unimaginable twenty years ago. With educational seminars, social gatherings both inside and outside Orlando’s Orange County Convention Center, and vendors lining up to sell to the industry’s buyers, the PGA Show is second to none in the industry.

We sat down with Jennifer Gelhaus, the newly appointed Director of Racquets at the famed Oyster Harbors Club in Osterville, MA and discussed just how the golf and tennis industries are similar but, also, quite different in respect to marketing, communication and retail.

Join us as we have a coffee in the lounge just outside the enormous exhibition halls which had hundreds of rows and thousands of vendors. Where will this growth in fashion and retail, pushing the booths of the tools of golf and the nine irons to the side, leave the industry? Live at The PGA Merchandise Show – we have it, and you, covered.

Already a Top 100 course in the nation, The Tree Farm was a vision of a PGA Tour Player back when it was a deep, dark and dense tree farm owned by a timber company. Looking to fully open its doors in September 2024, The Tree Farm is hoping to become not only a destination, but is also hoping to change how we might envision a golfing experience.

The dream of PGA Tour player Zac Blair, The Tree Farm, a private club in Batesburg-Leesville, South Carolina, is just twenty-five minutes away from the revered Augusta National. Although Blair may have had some of the same desires as Bobby Jones had when he designed Augusta, Blair does not envision a major championship at The Tree Farm – he just wants the members to have fun and enjoy their game of golf. Simple. Just like the club’s logo.

Zac’s dream started back in his native Utah, but when he was down in South Carolina with friends, he saw the property and started digging in – not earth – but his heels. He and renowned club manager, Eric Dietz, have set up a club to fully open in September, 2024. And, they have both gotten their hands dirty in creating a project that is cutting edge for the golf and club industries.

Tom Doak, famed for his minimalist style, was perhaps the perfect choice to route the holes on the property that Blair wants to keep as the focus. Doak already had six courses in the Top 100 and studied under Pete Dye, while perhaps his biggest influencer was Alistair McKenzie. McKenzie of course studied under Bobby Jones. Blair then brought in his good friend Kye Goalby to finish the design – Kye had worked with Doak previously on several projects and was the best choice for finishing the ultimate design, says Blair.

With 70 founding members, raising $35 million to help jump-start the project, Dietz and Blair know all 320 members. The two men are already well on their way to filling the 370 memberships at what will surely become one of golf’s most desirable destinations. Blair has interviewed each and every member while Dietz welcomes them to the club, a club that is not steeped in tradition like past clubs he has managed, but is warm and welcoming to all levels of golfer.

The Tree Farm revolves just around golf – there’s no other real amenity. The clubhouse – the architect is a personal friend of Blair – is being designed and outfitted with the surroundings and natural, local environment in mind. The lodging is being built around an idea – Blair and Dietz call it “a lunch to lunch experience” – 24 hours, 2 rounds, 2 lunches, and 1 dinner to be enjoyed before departure.

This idea of a course as a destination drawing members from miles away for a day or two, or even more, is a growing trend in the industry. With Streamsong outside of Tampa perhaps as the first of this kind, developers and financiers are finding large tracts of interesting land and building courses as destinations for day-trippers through to those looking for weekend getaways and week-long stays. Golf in Scotland, say at a Machrihanish or even further out like a Machrie, may have long before been destinations – and Blair and Dietz are using that model created long ago here in South Carolina, about as far from the Isle of Islay as one can get.

“The course should be the star,” says Blair. It’s the course as to why people will want to come and visit. At a full-length of 6,900 yards and par 71 from the back tees, it’s open and accessible for every level of golfer to enjoy and play. Listen in as Eric and Zac take us through their initial conversations and how they are creating a global destination from the land of an old timber company.

Isabella Graf moved to the United States from her native Germany early in life. She may be a shining example not only of proverbial “American Dream,” but also of the experience and education available in the private club industry, where she is fast becoming one of its leaders.

Chosen to be a regional leader for the United States Professional Tennis Association and Head Professional at The Landings in Fort Myers, Florida, Graf is looking to become a mentor in her own right after learning from so many.

As a graduate of the Professional Tennis Management (PTM) program at Methodist University, and with three internships under her belt, one for each summer through her collegiate years, Graf believed, she was well prepared for the industry. That was until she realized that member relations, not teaching, is at the heart of our industry. Those internships at the clubs, she says, were crucial to her development just as much as her work in the classroom and understanding stringing techniques.

Standards and character are what Isabella looks for when hiring. She realized early in her career that these were the two traits required of a leader in the hospitality business, and through her own self-reflection and discipline, raised the bar for herself, personally. And now, she looks to these traits when raising the bar for a racquets program and while hiring to fill positions to bring that program to a “best-in-class” status.

Graf is going places and understands the industry far better than many of her more senior colleagues. Listen in as she explains how she looks to be a mentor in her own way, not just to other female teaching professionals, but to all in the business of member relations.

by Ed Shanaphy, CMAA

We welcome in 2024 here at BeyondTheBaselines.com with a renewed vigor and an eye to a bright future in the private members club industry. Although 2024 will have its challenges as we head toward an election the likes of which we may have never or will never see again, we can take solace in that the private club industry is in a strong position to move forward, with both member and private funding readily available.

Post-pandemic normality has returned and waiting lists are shrinking across the industry as clubs look to renew their relationships with their current membership. This new normality will require innovation in connection with new programming, technology and communication with both members and staff.

Marketing, through top-notch hospitality, and branding along with brand loyalty, will have to be at the top of the agenda to attract new members and younger families to the membership rolls. Legacy memberships and reaching out to the community will be imperative.

Clubs will have to reinvent themselves within the community, possibly breaking that barrier where they are viewed as elite and privileged. Through community outreach, charitable giving and strategic fundraising and well-chosen business outings, clubs will use many methods to serve a need to source possible new members.

Tournaments and events might have to be reworked over the next few years As families travel more, having lost those Covid years to travel the globe, tournaments such as three-day golf member-guests and club championships might have to be shortened, in both time and formats. As we watch tennis changing formats and pickleball matches short and fast, we might want to think about how we can get through events in hours rather than days.

As an industry, we will have to look at upgrading and prioritizing daily communication with members to bring them back to the clubs, clubs where they spent much of their time during the pandemic. We can’t allow members to feel blasé, or even bored, with what in effect was their “home away from home” during the pandemic. Daily text messages, or pushes from the club’s cellphone app, or even an email with course and court conditions might have to be conjoined with an anecdote about the club or one of it’s member or staff, will be a necessity.

As we head into January, 2024, I would like to thank all my guests on the Beyond The Baselines Podcast over the past years. We were just awarded our 50th episode badge and I couldn’t have fathomed that we would have over 1,000 downloads for episodes and over 12,000 listeners.

Please have a listen as I thank our team and partner clubs, and the road our work and consultancy has paved for me. As we look to the future, it’s always important to learn the lessons from the past. What have I personally learned from doing our company’s podcast? I discuss why we established Beyond The Baselines and where we feel the industry is heading and where we have come as an industry over the past fifteen years.

I’d love to hear from any and all of you in 2024. Feel free to reach out to me via email at [email protected] and please let us know your thoughts on the podcast and the industry. To all our friends, colleagues, partners and staff, Happy New Year!

Ed Shanaphy is the President of SBW Associates, Inc. Through its management consultancy arm, BeyondTheBaselines.com, Ed has worked with clubs on both sides of the Atlantic, including Wianno Club in Osterville, MA and The Beach Club in Palm Beach, FL. He’s served as President of Blackheath Rugby and Lawn Tennis Club in London, England and is and has been a member of over a dozen private members clubs. Before his entrance into the private members club industry, Ed served as CEO and Managing Director for nineteen years for Haysbridge (UK) Ltd, a multi-national conglomerate in the marketing, music and film recording industries with offices in Dublin, Sydney and London.

Colin Burns had only 4.5 years of experience in hospitality when he applied for the club manager’s position at Winged Foot, one of the most storied private golf clubs in the nation, if not the world. And, after an eight-month search process, he was selected as the club’s next general manager – all 31 years ago when Colin had just crossed the line into his thirties. He recalls the president of the club asking him if Colin weren’t a tad young for the job. Colin replied: It’s not a permanent condition.

As we watch a generation of these long-serving club managers move into retirement or consulting – in addition to Colin, we lost Brian Kroh just this month at John’s Island Club in Vero Beach, Florida – we are left with a legacy from which we can all learn.

Colin’s experience is second to none. He managed the US Open during the height of Covid. Five full years of planning all going down the drain as he had to work with the Governor of New York and plan the tournament without spectators as Bryson DeChambeau put his indelible mark on the sport.

Now as he joins executive search firm GGA, Colin discusses how every club has a different environment and that search committees, managers and search firms should understand the club’s culture first before trying to match a candidate to the club.

If you really desire a quality organization you should do things with people, not to them. Burns has put this as his central motif throughout his career. And, with that teamwork sentiment, Colin points out that the hierarchy of a private members club staff doesn’t always equate to salary levels. The director of golf, tennis, squash, or even agronomy, may indeed be the highest paid member of staff at many clubs.

And what’s even more meaningful to club staff members than base compensation? Housing is top of Colin’s list and finds it the top of his staff members’ list as well.

And finally, Apogee means zenith or the highest point of development – and Colin’s new project is certainly a zenith of physical land development and a highlight of a continuing, outstanding career.

Originally named COO for an incredible project based in Hobe Sound, Florida, now senior advisor, Colin is truly excited about Apogee. It’s a three-course extravaganza – or as he calls it “Streamsong on Steroids.” Designers Gil Hanse, Jim Wagner, Mike Davis and Tom Fazio and Kyle Phillips have teamed up with financial backing from Dolphins owner Steve Ross. Colin takes us through the plans and the vastness of this incredible project, and how this team is betting on South Florida moving up to Martin County in the very near future beyond Jupiter and toward sleepy Stuart.