Scaling New Heights

The Goal: Turn the mundane task of closing the pool for the season at Town & Country Club into one last chance to earn pool-related revenues.

by C&RB Staff (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
April 2008
 

Scaling New Heights The Goal: Turn the mundane task of closing the pool for the season at Town & Country Club into one last chance to earn poolrelated revenues. The Plan: Find ways to safely stock the pool with fish and then invite families to come catch their fill, with accompanying F&B events. The Payoff: Over 120 participants enjoyed a memorable event that only promises to become bigger and better as a unique and eagerly anticipated event on the annual calendar.

Closing the pool doesn’t rank high on any club manager’s list of favorite tasks—not only because it ties up labor and creates operational challenges, but also because it signals the end of an opportunity to use a key revenue-producing facility.

But as Vincent Tracy, General Manager of Town & Country Club in St. Paul, Minn., contemplated the need to close his club’s popular new pool area (C&RB, August 2006) at the end of this year’s summer season, he couldn’t help but think there had to be a way to do more than just say to everyone sorry, it’s time to get out and put on the tarp.

“When I worked at a club in Texas, we had a pond on the property that we stocked and used for catch-and-release events,” Tracy says. “That was always a lot of fun for the members, so I wanted to see if there was a way we could do the same sort of thing in a pool setting.”



Tracy began to research how he could begin to prepare the pool immediately after Labor Day weekend, which had always marked the traditional end of the pool season for the club, so he could then stock it with live fish and invite everyone back for a special family fishing derby the next weekend, to mark the pool’s official closing.

After getting instructions from a local trout farm for how to safely lower the chemical and pH levels of the pool water and cool it enough to sustain live trout, the pool heaters were shut off at the end of Labor Day Monday, so it could be neutralized and turned into a trout pond.

The First Annual Town & Country Fishing Derby, complete with prizes and a $7 poolside buffet, was advertised in the club newsletter and promoted throughout the club and at the pool building. Buzz about the unique idea spread quickly among the membership, and reservations came in quickly. Many members hosted family and friends, and the club even booked a children’s birthday party for 25 kids around the event.

Town & Country Club added substantial revenues to an otherwise dead period, just by telling members there were fish in its pool (above). At Westmoor Country Club (below), nearly 100 campers enjoyed a variety of activities and a night under the stars when the golf course was turned into an overnight campsite.

As the event approached, Tracy ran into some special challenges—such as when he was told the water was not cooling fast enough to safely accommodate the trout. He quickly ordered over 8,000 lbs. of block ice and had it dumped into the pool to lower the temperature sufficiently.

When Derby Day came, over 120 participants, young and old, arrived with poles in hand, ready to land one of the 110 fish now swimming in the Town & Country pool—especially a golden rainbow trout that would fetch a $25 prize. Trophies were also awarded for the heaviest and longest catches, and to the angler who caught the most fish overall.

A cleaning station was set up poolside, under the direction of Executive Chef John Kain and his team, where members’ catches could be filleted, wrapped and bagged. After starting at 11:00 AM, all fish were caught and the event was finished by 4:30 PM—in plenty of time for the pool area to be cleaned up and used for a wedding that was scheduled to start at 6:00 PM.

Buoyed by the windfall of unbudgeted revenues that came from the success of the idea, Tracy is planning for how to expand and improve the Fishing Derby as the club makes it an annual event. “It was definitely a learning experience,” he reports. “This year, I think we’re going to go with walleye—and I will definitely budget for the ice. But it’s clear that this can be a great, low-cost event that will become another tradition at Town & Country. The members are still talking about how much fun last year’s Derby was, and how they’re looking forward to the next one.”

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