Doing Away with Déjà VuThe Goal: The new management team at Rhode Island Country Club wanted to show how it could create unique and unforgettable experiences and provide outstanding service; reviving the Annual Member Guest Tournament offered the perfect opportunity. The Plan: Bring the service to the golfers by moving a buffet and full bar service to the front driveway; add a skills competition and create new atmosphere through new approaches to traditional evening events. The Payoff: Guests were “blown away” by the new excitement evident at the club—and members were thrilled that their guests enjoyed such unique new experiences. |
All private clubs, and especially ones with rich traditions like the over 100-year-old Rhode Island Country Club in Barrington, R.I., look forward to their annual member-guest tournaments. Not only do these rank among the biggest events of the club golf season, they also provide the best opportunity to show off what’s great about the property, its golf course and its members.
Participants in the Rhode Island CC Annual Member/Guest Tournament enjoyed having service brought “front and center” to them after they’d finished their rounds. |
But even member-guest events held at clubs with great courses and great histories can benefit from fresh new approaches once in a while. And so, as the first member-guest approached under the watch of a new management team at Rhode Island CC, the new staff decided not to hold back in trying new ways to enhance everyone’s enjoyment of an already popular and eagerly anticipated event. “We wanted to make the tournament unforgettable,” says Jules Olley, Clubhouse Manager.
Traditionally the format for the member-guest tournament at Rhode Island CC has involved three days of golf, with dinner service on the first evening for golfers only, and on the second for the golfers and their spouses.
The first evening—which has come to be known as “Stag Night”—tends to be more male- dominated. So Olley and his team decided to capitalize on the “guy factor” and create a “Fenway Park” atmosphere, complete with concession stands, a golf skills challenge developed by the club’s golf pro, and Beatles music.
“On the first and second tee, we set up the first-ever golf skills challenge,” says Olley. An eight-foot wall was constructed for members to try to chip over. Barrels were also set up to chip into, and other challenges were created that were both difficult, and fun to watch.
The question for Olley was how to provide a comfortable atmosphere for the audience that would want to watch the competition. Typically, club events are held on the back terrace, to take advantage of views of the Newport bridge. But having the Stag Night event on the terrace created service gaps, as happens so often with these types of tournaments, as the early-finishing golfers waited for the rest of the field to come off the course.
Instead of making members wait around, the club staff decided to bring the service to the golfers. Everything from the terrace was moved to the front of the clubhouse near the pro shop and adjacent to the first and second holes, where the skills challenge would be going on.
“We put up tiki torches along the first fairway, hung up lightbulbs, piped in The Beatles, and set up concession stands for the guys that night,” Olley reports.
The patio furniture that lined the front driveway—which the club closed for the evening—provided front-row seating at the first and second tees. This also proved to be a good venue from which to do some good-natured heckling, as golfers attempted to clear the eight-foot wall and complete the other parts of the skills challenge. A buffet that was set up with casual foods near the same area, as well as a full bar and keg service, added to the relaxed setting.
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“The first night was hugely successfull,” says Olley. “The members and guests were able to enjoy the summer weather, have fun with some friendly heckling and enjoy good food and beverages, all while participating in, or watching, the golf skills challenge.”
Traditionally, the second evening of the Rhode Island CC member-guest is a bit more formal, and typically has a theme.
Here, too, the new club staff decided to pull out all the stops in taking things to a new level.
This year’s theme was a Hawaiian Luau. “And this time,” says Olley, “instead of changing where the event was located, we completely transformed the entire clubhouse.”
Looking to increase pool attendance, the club used the area as the setting for the cocktail hour, transforming it into a tropical paradise with a full bar and decorating it with a fountain, floating candles and flowers.
The valet station was relocated to the pool entrance and as guests arrived, they were greeted by a theme-dressed staff member and draped with leis.
After the cocktail hour, guests proceeded to the terrace, where there were more tiki torches, lit candles and an impressive dinner buffet.
“The buffet was set up at the far end of the terrace, and was unlike any other we had done before,” says Olley. “It was a square shape with our chefs enclosed in the middle, underneath grass umbrellas.”
The buffet was adorned with Hawaiian-themed décor as well as Hawaiian-flavored food choices. The chefs manned each side and the guests could get food from any part of the buffet. (This eliminated long lines and guests having to wait for their food, as they would with a traditional buffet setup.)
To continue the water theme, the other half of the terrace was set up with tables, on top of which were vases filled with water and a tropical fish, a dessert buffet, and a fire pit surrounded by seating. For dessert, the guests could have something prepared by the chef, choose from fresh fruit and other prepared desserts, or roast their own marshmallows over the fire.
The inside of the clubhouse was adorned with straw umbrellas, colored spotlights, water centerpieces with fish, seashell candles and tropical music.
“So often, clubs aren’t willing to change the way they do things, and so no one challenges whether or not you can even just bring a patio umbrella inside,” says Olley. “Our guests were blown away by the new appearance of the club, and really enjoyed the new experience.”
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