This episode was a treat! JD Varon, CGCS has been the Superintendent at Countryside for 26 years! He's an expert in his field and has provided our Members with incredible playing conditions for nearly 3 decades. In 2019 he led a $5.5m complete course renovation. Todd Lowe began consulting with Countryside in 2024, primarily to provide further expertise advice on our agronomical practices. Todd's input led to much needed extended summer closings for more aggressive maintenance of our greens - something that has never been implemented in Countryside's 40 year history. 

A Florida native and the son of a golf course superintendent, Todd Lowe has dedicated his career to turfgrass management. From working on golf courses at the age of 14 to earning degrees in Environmental Horticulture (University of Florida) and Horticulture Sciences (Clemson University), Todd’s expertise is deeply rooted in both experience and education.

For nearly two decades, he served as a USGA agronomist, consulting on golf course maintenance, authoring industry articles, and speaking at superintendent associations worldwide. He also played a pivotal role as the lead agronomist for several USGA and IGF championships. From 2018 to 2024, Todd brought his knowledge to Bayer Environmental Sciences (later Envu) as a technical service manager, assisting turf managers, developing pest management programs, and overseeing research for innovative turf solutions.

In 2024, Todd acquired PhD Laboratory to further research soil physical properties on golf course greens. With cutting-edge Rootzone Performance Metrics (RPM), he helps courses optimize cultivation strategies, ensuring peak playability and turf health. His extensive experience, from agronomy to laboratory diagnostics, makes him a trusted authority in the field.

If you're interested in club tech, marketing and anything that is "member facing" Sean and Taylor are your guys. 

Sean works for MembersFirst as the Client Development Exec.. MembersFirst helps hundreds of member-based organizations attract, engage and retain a vibrant and actively involved membership. We deliver the industry's premier end-to-end technology solution by combining expert website design, development and consultancy services with a complete set of tools to power content management, email marketing, social networking, search engine services, mobile marketing, reservations and club management.

Taylor is the Director of Client Management for TTA / Jonas. Jonas Club Software is a partner of ours at Countryside and the industry leading provider for technology solutions in the club space such as POS, accounting, booking modules, event management and so on. Bot of these guys have club backgrounds and we had some cool discussion on what's trending in the tech space and what clubs should be thinking about into the future.  

Enjoy this one...it's fun.

We try and script most of our episodes and though this one might not seem like, we did have a rough outline...We discuss some of our favorite memories from 2025 and go deep down the rabbit hole of our favorite Christmas movies and non-Christmas Christmas movies. Which begs the question, Is Die Hard a Christmas movie???? There's probably some talk about holiday traditions also...

As usual there's lots of laughs, lots of fun, some meaningful discussion and cool "small things"...

Joe Basso is not only the GM / COO at our neighboring community, Naples Lakes Golf & Country Club, he's also one of only 26 General Managers in the Country to hold the very prestigious MCM certification - often referred to as the "doctorate" in Club Management. Joe has had an impressive career in which he led clubs in Missouri, Michigan, Del-Ray Beach before taking the helm at Naples Lakes. Our very own Director of Golf, worked under Joe for nearly a decade at Birmingham Country Club. 

It was a honor to share some time with Joe and discuss all things club wise and most things "south Naples wise"...He also shares some intriguing "small things that made big impacts"

How do you pull off a 600+ member Grand Re-Opening that is arguably the most important event in our club's history??? You plan it for 2 years.....and have leaders like Chef Jay, Scott Ortiz and many others involved...

In this episode we debrief the Grand Re-Opening, discuss some upcoming events, talk a little bit about leadership, get an update on Chef's recovery and or course.......we share some small things that made big impacts!!!

This one is full of laughs and conversation on all things November....Mike and Joe welcome two first timers to the show, Joe Herbstrieth, our Director of Golf, and Andy Meunier, our F&B Manager. We've got some great "small thing" examples at the end of the show and some deep discussion on how to graduate from the kid's table....

Enjoy!

What an absolute honor to sit with Phil Newman of RSM to discuss all things club related and some things not. Phil has been a staple in our industry for nearly 4 decades and has been focused in the Naples/South Florida market for 20 years. Countryside was one of Phil's first clubs when we relocated to this area in 2006 and we've been a client ever since. Aside from his focus on club auditing, Phil serves as an industry expert and best practices related to club financial accounting, balance sheet growth, member equity and market comps. Perhaps most importantly, Phil is often the "first call" when myself or my peers need some expert advice with anything club related but especially finance related. 

Phil and his wife Tammy, both partners in RSM, have recently announced their retirement to come in April of 2026 - so this episode is extra special as they both have been stable lighthouses for our industry. 

Enjoy and CONGRATS Phil and Tammy!

What's your favorite Halloween candy? What's your favorite halloween costume? More importantly what's your LEAST favorite candy? In this episode the team explores Chef Jay's odd preference in candy meaning he prefers the candy that (we believe) a majority of people dislike the most. 

We also chat about our upcoming 7th annual pumpkin carving contest which has become a staple employee & member engagement event.

As always, this episode is full of tons of laughs and several "rabbit hole" conversations. 

Hang in there until the end for our usual "small thing" examples.

We're super excited to chat with Tim Jones, General Manager / COO and Joe Foster, Assistant General Manager of Stonebridge Golf & Country Club. This is our first episode featuring some industry peers giving a little peak behind the club management curtain....Tim has led Stonebridge for over 20 years and has taken the community through more than one renovation. Joe has held leadership positions at a number of clubs in the area prior to Stonebridge such as Mediterra, Colonial and Country Club of Naples. 

Countryside spent a considerable amount of time with the team at  Stonebridge when planning and strategizing our clubhouse renovation. 

If you're a GM, Board Member or Member at a club talking about or beginning a renovation, this is the episode for you...We share real, recent experience and some initiatives and best practices to stay ahead of surprises and communicate through the progress.  

And of course....we all get a chance to share a "small thing, that made a big impact"!

We've got Maria on the show - one of our long tenured AMAZING team members and Joe chats with Marci Foster, a Countryside Member and Board Member who has done so much for our community. 

We talk about what we're looking forward to most this season, some sneak peaks into upcoming events and of course....we share some small things that made BIG impacts. Enjoy!