Show of Strength?

Club GMs weigh in on the first all-purpose Golf Industry Show.

by Don E. Vance, CCM (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
April 2007
 

“The more all-encompassing shows are the most productive.” — Chris Berlin, Gm, Country Club Of Birmingham (Ala.)

“Shows are important from a networking standpoint.” — Tom Kelley, GM, Bella Collina, Clermont, Fla.

As managers of clubs and resorts, it is our responsibility to question everything through a focus on constant improvement and continually reevaluating our properties. Over the years, I have found it is too easy to slip into a routine and do the same things over and over. But I have also learned, over the course of my 37-year career, that every club or resort is very different in many ways—and that each new property needs to be managed with this in mind.

This year, when I put my budget together, I had to strongly reevaluate my education and travel calendar, to make sure I was being prudent with my club’s financial resources. While I have always attended the Club Managers Association of America (CMAA) conference in previous years and found it to be very beneficial, I opted not to attend the Golf Industry Show (GIS), which for the first time included the CMAA conference, in Anaheim this year.

There were several reasons behind this decision. To begin with, I was not particularly fond of this year’s location for the GIS. So this, along with the fact that I had a limited budget, led me to choose other programs to attend. Since I had not been to the PGA Show in Orlando for several years, I felt it would be wise for me to make sure I went there this January, especially since we have just opened a Greg Norman Signature golf course.

In addition, I am planning to attend the National Restaurant Association show later this year in Chicago, and the CMAA’s Leadership and Legislative Education Conference in Washington, D.C. I have also been invited to participate in the Great Clubs of the South Symposium that will be held in Oklahoma City this year.

Collectively, I felt these programs would provide the best and most balanced educational value for my dollar this year. But still, I wanted to find out from others who did attend this year’s GIS what they thought about it, and how effectively they felt the CMAA conference and show had been folded in with the seminars and exhibits of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA) and the National Golf Course Owners of America (NGCOA).

So I contacted two colleagues who did go to this year’s GIS—Chris Berlin, General Manager of the Country Club of Birmingham (Ala.), and Tom Kelley, formerly with the Club at Hammock Beach on Florida’s Palm Coast and now General Manager of a new property, Bella Collina, that is being developed west of Orlando. (For more on their backgrounds and clubs, see the boxes on pages 51 and 52.)

I knew I could count on both Chris and Tom to give me good and honest feedback not only about the first GIS, but also about how they now rate and use trade shows and conferences in today’s ever-changing business. Here’s what they told me:

Vance: Who from your property went to GIS this year?

Kelley: Just me.

Berlin: Our East Course superintendent and our West Course superintendent attended the conference, as well as myself and our private party planner.

Vance: Because of the newly combined nature of the show, did you try to have more of a team approach this year, where everyone walked the floor together or “crossed over” to go to seminars in other disciplines?

Berlin: We did not take advantage of the team approach, but I liked the concept once I heard more about it. We will almost certainly do this next year.

Vance: How do you think it worked out to all be at one single show—both for you as a GM and for the other members of your team?

Berlin: One of the most important and productive parts of all past shows has been the chance to talk with peers on an informal basis around the more formal educational opportunities. In this sense, this year’s show was just as strong as ever.

Vance: When you’re surveyed by show

organizers for your feedback, what will you tell them about show length, location, format, etc., and how the next GIS can be improved?

Kelley: The main thing I felt is that the booths need to better organized by category—golf course equipment, china, wine, software, furniture, etc. The location was great, and the length of the show was good.

Berlin: In trying to be honest with myself, most of my objections from this year stem from the human condition of simply not wanting to adapt to change. When I boil it down, I really don’t have qualified complaints.

Vance: In general, are shows becoming more or less important for you to plan capital purchases, get operational ideas, and learn about the business?

Kelley: Slightly more important, especially when developing a new property, as I am now.

Berlin: Shows are still very productive for me for getting new ideas and new spins on old ideas, but not so much for capital purchase planning. My purveyors are so competitive, I don’t find many “steal” prices at the show that are significantly better than what I can get with a little pushing any time of the year.

Vance: Is it becoming more difficult to budget the time or expense to attend them?

Berlin: Absolutely not! This is the most productive way to allow yourself and your department heads to benefit from getting out of the normal routine, not only to soak in formal education, but also for the even more valuable peer-to-peer conversations.

Vance: Can properties still afford to view shows as primarily reasons to get some badly needed R&R—or is it more essential that you demonstrate real paybacks from the time and expense of attending them?

Kelley: Shows are important from a networking standpoint; they give me an opportunity to tell my colleagues about The Ginn Company, and most importantly, I have a great time seeing old friends and socializing.

Vance: Because of the changing nature of our business, are there different types of shows or events that you and your team now find most valuable to go to?

Kelley: The PGA show and the Golf Industry Show are still the two big ones for me, with the restaurant show in Chicago also taking on added importance, as we continue to upgrade and emphasize food and beverage offerings in the industry.

Berlin: The most valuable from a return on investment perspective are those that target our needs. The more all-encompassing shows and conferences are the most productive.

Vance: How important is formal certification, both for GMs and other club positions (such as superintendents) in today’s business?

Kelley: It has been helpful to me; without it, there wouldn’t be as many doors now open to me.

Berlin: We are all familiar with the concept of benchmarking, and I’m certain most of us use the concept almost daily, in one way or another. Formal certification is the reliable benchmark of professionalism, and our way of supporting the value of continuing, job-specific education.

Vance: Do you think the curriculums for certifications in all of the disciplines in our industry have kept up with the need to provide more practical, business-oriented instruction?

Berlin: I am frankly impressed with both the CMAA’s and the GCSAA’s approach to this discipline. I think our testing requirements are becoming more stringent, as they should be. Equally important is the continuing requirement for re-certification, which fits with our responsibility to demonstrate the ability and desire to stay on top of our game.

Kelley: I don’t think we can ever keep up with the ever-changing world. We never stop learning.

Vance: For many of us, the real action and value has always been at the chapter/regional level—is there a need to retool or rethink how we operate at those levels, too?

Berlin: All of the local, regional and national venues have a place in what we as an industry are trying to accomplish. Through various forms of education, each level should be helping to cement not just our ability to do our jobs better, but also to provide the positive perception in our members that we are taking responsibility for being the best at what we do.

Worth Waiting For Chris Berlin, CCM, has been General Manager of the Country Club of Birmingham (Ala.) for over four years. Previously, Berlin was General Manager at the Portage Country Club in Akron, Ohio; Clubhouse Manager at the Belle Meade Country Club in Nashville, Tenn.; and Assistant Manager at the Augusta (Ga.) Country Club. He also spent 12 years of his career in independent restaurant ownership. The oldest and largest club in Alabama, the Country Club of Birmingham was founded in 1898. It offers two 18-hole golf courses, 18 tennis courts, a full golf practice facility, and a very active swimming pool. The current Tudor-style clubhouse, built in 1927, is approximately 100,000 sq. ft., with two casual a la carte dining rooms seating 120 persons each, a formal dining room for 90, and banquet rooms with space for up to 1,500 people. The club’s fitness facility averages over 40,000 member visits per year, and 40,000 rounds of golf are played annually between the two courses. The club’s 1,750 members are very active, providing $2.9 million in annual food and beverage revenue. The “Platinum Club” survey of 6,000 private clubs, conducted every three years, has listed the Country Club of Birmingham in its Top 100 in each of its last three surveys. The waiting list for club membership remains at an all-time high.

High-Tech Horses, and More Tom Kelley, CCM, is the General Manager of Bella Collina, a private club community being developed by Ginn Resorts in Clermont, Fla. (20 miles west of Orlando). When completed, Bella Collina will include more than 800 homesites with lake and golf views, an 18-hole championship golf course designed by Nick Faldo, a 57,000-sq. ft. “Italianate” clubhouse with six dining outlets, full-service health and day spa, Jr. Olympic lap pool and family pool, six hydra-grid tennis courts, two basketball courts, baseball and soccer fields, billiards room, banquet room, and a fire pit. Perhaps Bella Collina’s most distinctive feature is its equestrian center, which includes a horse barn, fitness center, grill and lounge, 375 acres of land for horseback riding, covered riding arena, dressage and hunter jumper facilities, and turnout paddocks. “Overall, it’s the most unique architecture I’ve seen in my 36 years in this industry,” says Kelley, previously General Manager at Ginn’s Club at Hammock Beach in Palm Coast, Fla. “One of the great things about Bella is the fact that Bobby Ginn understands the need to amenitize our clubs to meet the ever-changing needs of our members,” Kelley adds. “For example, the entire club is electronically equipped to monitor public and non-public areas. Equestrians can go online and check on their horses ‘24/7’ from anywhere in the world. And there’s much, much more like this, throughout the property.”