Rancho Valencia Resort, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

Palatial spas have become a hallmark of high-end resorts—but clubs of all shapes and sizes can learn a design tip or two from these luxurious wellness centers.

What golfer couldn’t benefit from a post-links massage, or a weary traveler from a rejuvenating yoga session? In-house spas and treatment rooms have become veritable fixtures for clubs and resorts, allowing guests to indulge in special services and regular members to establish a regime for individual wellness plans.

While not all clubs have the means, space or incentive to install elaborate spa accommodations, paying attention to key design motifs can still create an immersive experience. Successful spa designs combine elements natural to the location, such as a mild climate or hot springs, with rich colors and the services that members and guests crave.

Whether it’s a renovation to an existing spa or a brand-new facility, club managers must carefully consider an overall design that integrates comfort with convenience.

Finding the ‘Om’

When the Rancho Valencia Resort in Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., re-opened its spa last October following a 10-month, $30 million renovation, the newly designed spa reflected a strong focus on wellness and relaxation. A chief component of its redesign was the brand-new Serenity Yoga Pavilion.

The 2.5-acre southern California spa, which was originally built in 2006, embraces its year-round temperate climate with three temperature-varied therapeutic pools, a Watsu therapy/massage pool, a lap pool, and private sun gardens. Indoor amenities include 10 treatment rooms with private patios—five of which have outdoor, deep-soaking tubs and rain showers—and two couples’ rooms featuring fireplaces, private patios, outdoor showers, and tubs for two.

The desire to showcase the serenity of this atmosphere, while meshing with the resort’s mission to focus on fitness, prompted the addition of a dedicated yoga space. “Our greatest challenge was determining how to create a tranquil, peaceful setting for the new, open-air yoga pavilion,” explains the resort’s owner, Jeff Jacobs.

Rancho Valencia Resort, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.

To take advantage of its coastal surroundings, the 1,000-sq. ft. pavilion features a “floating dock” for the instructor: a fixed surface in the center of a shallow pool that surrounds one end of the pavilion. Brazilian flooring was selected to embody the character of the resort, one that Jacobs says “creates a hacienda Zen design.” The overall design “enhances the natural Zen surroundings of the San Dieguito River,” Jacobs adds, which flows through Rancho Santa Fe from San Pasqual to the Pacific Ocean.

This new addition embraces the spa’s overall décor, one that General Manager Simon Chen says “pays homage to the hacienda style of the resort.” Vibrant, hand-painted tiles in royal blue and yellow accent warm, adobe-like colors for both the spa’s interior and exterior. Two main courtyards, surrounded by treatment rooms, have an open-air atrium feel, with flowing water landscapes and lush greenery. Ceramic pottery and wooden seating add to the tranquil atmosphere.

The effect of the spa’s design correlates with Rancho Valencia’s mission to better serve its health-conscious travelers. The result is a high-end facility that has virtually re-branded itself as a full-service health/fitness operation.

“While before the renovation, the resort was [best] known for its tennis program, the new fitness program at the spa has really drawn a larger audience of active travelers from several markets,” notes Chen.

Overhauling an Oasis
As the saying goes, all good things come to those who wait. In the case of the Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Homestead in Hot Springs, Va., guests at the historic resort will be able to experience an all-inclusive spa experience for the entire family for the first time this summer.

Set to open this June, the 60,000-sq. ft. spa redesign has been 18 months in the making. Touted as a “hybrid renovation” project by Angie Day, Canyon Ranch’s Corporate Spa Director,  the existing spa has been updated from top to bottom with new electrical, mechanical and plumbing; new floor layouts and additional space for treatments; relaxation lounges and locker rooms. The multi-level spa encompasses a complex layout, resulting in 28 treatment rooms.

On the lower level, existing family changing rooms have been renovated with a slightly smaller footprint, and a new family spa suite will offer spa treatments for younger guests. The main level, covering over 20,000 sq. ft., includes the reception and retail area, a revamped fitness area, locker rooms and a women’s and men’s European-inspired Aquavana suite, which Day describes as “a trademark of Canyon Ranch SpaClub facilities.” The Aquavana experience includes traditional aromatic steam rooms, an herbal laconium (a dry-heat sauna), experiential rain shower, and heated lounge relaxation area.

Continuing upward, the third floor accommodates most of the treatment rooms and the women’s and men’s relaxation lounges, while the top floor houses a beauty salon, specialty treatment rooms, a co-ed lounge and outdoor deck.

To create a cohesive look for the entire facility, the design team turned to the resort’s history for inspiration. “Our designers looked to match the existing look and feel of The Homestead while creating a relaxing, beautiful spa,” explains Day.

Countertops are fashioned from local quarried marble, while cabinets are painted to match the tradition of The Homestead’s millwork. A color palette of organic earth tones, with a heavy emphasis on shades of green, was selected to complement the resort’s natural color scheme. In the spa reception area, a modern hanging chandelier makes an illuminating statement, while a “shabby elegance” décor style is carried throughout the property’s interior.

Stepping outside highlights one of the Canyon Ranch SpaClub’s most eye-catching additions: an adults-only spa garden. The more-than-11,000-sq. ft. space features an octagonal soaking pool that has been refurbished from a turn-of-the-century hot springs pool, as well as a reflexology walk and deluge shower that are fed from two of the numerous hot springs the crew discovered during construction. By embracing and cultivating the gifts given naturally to the area, the crew transformed what could have been a setback into a feature that further sets the resort apart.

A traditional step-up whirlpool connected to a swimming pool, private rental cabanas, lounge chairs and a co-ed dry sauna offer additional outdoor spa amenities. A small kitchen and dining niche allow guests to nourish their bodies post-treatment.

During construction, spa services were held in guest rooms at The Homestead. Once the project is complete, The Homestead will officially turn the reins over to Canyon Ranch, which will be the operator of the space.

Canyon Ranch SpaClub at The Homestead, Hot Springs, Va.

With the grand opening a month away, the excitement is palpable. “This SpaClub will be a ‘taste of Canyon Ranch’ and enable guests of our host property, The Homestead, to gently dip their toes into what Canyon Ranch has to offer,” says Canyon Ranch’s Public Relations Director, Sheryl Press.

Springtime Sprucing Up
Serving its spa clientele for well over a decade has been the name of the game at the Kohler Waters Spa at The American Club. But when the Kohler, Wis., resort’s spa reached its 12-year mark, management realized that its original treatment rooms needed an update.

“These rooms had worked well for us for the past 12 years,” explains Jean Kolb, Director of Wellness for Kohler Co. “However, we wanted to be able to make them better operationally and give them a new look.”

This past March, a month-long renovation of the resort’s nine original treatment rooms was started. Those rooms comprise a significant portion of the total of 21 treatment rooms on the property, several of which feature the latest in Kohler plumbing, including baths, showers and custom-built Vichy showers. Kohler Waters Spa also prides itself on what Kolb describes as “unique features”: an 8-foot, deep-cool plunge pool for men and a 5-foot, deep-cool plunge pool for women.

Kohler Waters Spa at The American Club, Kohler, Wis.

Renovations to the nine treatment rooms feature light gray cabinetry, granite countertops and ice blue lavatories. Chilewich runners in steel gray serve as the new flooring. “It works very well for treatment rooms, as it has a soft cushion for the comfort of our therapists,” notes Kolb. The gray/blue color palette complements The American Club’s butter-yellow walls and black-and-white tiled flooring.

To add to the calming effect this renovation aims to achieve, one wall in each treatment room showcases photographs of waterfalls under adjustable, dimmer-switch lighting. “We will also add whimsical sconces just for fun,” adds Kolb.

As the project got underway, guest services were only affected temporarily, with Kolb noting the greatest challenge as operating “in a five-star manner while construction is [taking place] on the other side of a temporary wall. We did quite well, working with our construction team to ensure the louder noise was kept to a minimum during business hours.”

As the spa readied itself for an April unveiling, Kolb was enthused by the prospects of newly renovated treatment rooms  that could further enhance The American Club resort’s already strong reputation. “It has really created a nice offering year-round,” she says. “The spa is a great place to relax after a long day of golf!”

JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa, Tucson, Ariz.

Dining al fresco continues to be a top priority for members and guests seeking a relaxed social center that highlights the surrounding scenery.

As spring approaches, everyone is itching to get outside. Outdoor living continues to be a top trend in the hospitality industry, and wherever people gather, they want to dine as well. Outdoor dining venues that are both stylish and comfortable offer members and guests the experience they desire, while also providing more options for dining and socializing on the property.

Comfort First

Settled on a hillside of Tucson Mountain Park, the outdoor patio at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa in Tucson, Ariz., overlooks the resort’s 27-hole golf course, the mountain range, and the city of Tucson. With a can’t-be-beat view like that, the patios are a top draw for guests coming from all over the country. “The lights of the city and the sunsets are just spectacular,” says Bill Blodgett, Director of Event Management and Food & Beverage. “Outdoor dining here is at a premium.”

As the resort continued getting more requests from guests opting to dine al fresco, the Starr Pass leadership took steps to enrich the experience for guests and extend the seasons. The biggest challenge to outdoor dining at the property is the desert climate—strong UV rays and the extreme dry heat.

One way the resort addressed these issues was with new shading and misting systems for its Signature Grill dining patio and the poolside patio, Plunge. The Signature Grill patio is now completely covered with an advanced, adjustable shade structure. The system has different panels that can be cast out or drawn back. With plenty of flexibility, the food-and-beverage team can adjust the shades as needed.

“We can individualize the shading for different tables and areas,” says Blodgett. “If diners in one area desire partial sun, we can adjust the shades accordingly in the area they are seated. And if the people two tables down want full sun, we can adjust the shades in their area as well.”

A pressurized fine-misting system is installed within the shade structure that cools down the patio further for a more comfortable dining experience. The misting system was installed around the perimeter of the patio, with the pump and controls located out of sight in a utility room.

JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort & Spa, Tucson, Ariz.

“In the Southwest, our humidity is so low that these misting systems are a popular way to extend patio usage,” says Blodgett. “The misting systems can drop the ambient temperature on the patio by 10-plus degrees.”

The Plunge patio has a similar shade structure and misting system that covers two-thirds of the patio. The uncovered section of the patio has umbrellas to block sun as needed.

The resort also added a new overhead lighting system with Southwest-styled, frosted-glass lanterns that are suspended from the shade structure. The rheostat lighting system can be adjusted to different intensities, depending on the time of day. “We used to just have candles on the tables for lighting, but that was not ideal for reading menus and it was problematic,” says Blodgett. “Introducing lighting fixtures improved the outdoor-dining experience.”

These improvements have taken the patios to a new level without detracting from the pueblo mission-style architecture and design of the areas. Both patios are furnished in contemporary wrought-iron tables and chairs. The chairs all have whimsical seat cushions made from a material designed to handle extreme UV rays.

Prior to using this resilient cushion material, the resort was replacing its chair cushions every 15-18 months, because the UV rays caused the fabric to deteriorate quickly. The new material, however, has lasted three years without deterioration. There are also significant cost savings.
“With our former cushions, we would spend about $18,000-$20,000, replacing the cushions every 15-18 months,” says Blodgett. “Now, we spend about $8,000—that’s more than half the cost and three times the wear-ability.”

The Perfect Location

The indoor/outdoor Grille Room is the place to be at Bermuda Dunes (Calif.) Country Club. Located on the ground level of the two-story clubhouse, the Grille Room is strategically placed between the club’s pro shop and the men’s and ladies’ locker rooms.

“Everyone loves the Grille Room because it is centrally located and convenient,” says Lila Langsford, Membership Director. “Whether members are coming off the greens in the late afternoon for a drink, or grabbing lunch before teeing off, the Grille Room is a great social area for our membership. They enjoy being out in the open and taking in the views.”

The Grille Room overlooks the San Jacinto Mountains and the club’s signature 18th hole. It has indoor and outdoor tables, with the majority of the seating on the oversized covered terrace. Inside, there are tables, a television and a functional bar (with no seating around it). The wall between the indoor grille and the outdoor terrace has double glass doors—which are typically left open—leading to the patio.

“Outside is the most popular area,” says Langsford. “We have people from the Pacific Northwest and all over the country where the weather is not so great. But here it is sunny and beautiful. So everyone wants to be outside to enjoy the good weather with good friends.”

While the weather is practically perfect, the Grille Room patio also has built-in features to maintain comfort and consistency. A beamed, wooden overhead structure blocks the hot California sun. Overhead fans, heaters and lighting are built into the structure, and there are roll-down shades along the perimeter to protect the outer tables as needed.

Bermuda Dunes Country Club, Bermuda Dunes, Calif.

The indoor and outdoor areas share the same small kitchen, which is located within the indoor grille. Because the Grille Room kitchen is smaller, most of the prep work is done upstairs in the club’s main kitchen, and the food is then brought down to the Grille Room kitchen. With the easy-to-access bar located just inside the glass doors, the servers are able to swiftly service the indoor and outdoor areas with very few obstacles.

The scenic surroundings create an inviting ambiance, while the furnishings, décor and lighting further set the relaxed tone on the patio. The patio has stained concrete flooring and patio furniture with plush, oversized cushioned chairs, and round and oval tables. The patio is lined with trees and planters.

Although the club offers members a formal dining option on Friday nights in the clubhouse, the Grille Room patio’s social atmosphere, combined with its scenic views, make it a top draw at Bermuda Dunes CC on a day-to-day basis. “It’s an area I like to showcase with prospective members; it’s often the first place I take them on the clubhouse tour,” says Langsford. “This is the highlight dining area for our club.”

Cutting-Edge Club Style

When the Sarasota (Fla.) Yacht Club renovated its clubhouse three years ago, it blended traditional yacht club design with modern, resort-style architecture. Its new patio areas, in particular, now have a resort vibe that celebrates the club’s waterfront surroundings.

Sarasota Yacht Club, Sarasota, Fla.

“Our club is on the water and everyone wants to be out there,” says Bernie Kloppenberg, General Manager/COO. “People want to enjoy outdoor living.”

The Waterside Dining patio overlooks the marina and downtown Sarasota. The veranda is a covered area with a permanent overhead structure that has a teak and tile ceiling. It is set up with metal and teak dining tables and chairs, along with soft, brown couches. Wooden planters with tropical accents further complement the scenic surroundings.

The club made significant changes to the poolside patio, a casual, versatile dining area with a vacation oasis vibe. “The pool patio has a South Beach feel to it, with very high-end, beautiful silver and white furniture,” says Kloppenberg.

During the renovation, the club also added three soft-seating, living room-styled sitting areas and two stone fire pits, which are encased in glass and have ledges for beverages. “Fire pits are one of the hottest trends in Florida,” says Kloppenberg. “Whether it is 40 degrees or 85 degrees, people want to be outside, around the fire pits.”

A new, modern outdoor bar with 15 bar seats and outdoor televisions was also added to the pool patio.

While the design and décor are crucial to setting the mood in these spaces, Kloppenberg stresses the importance of focusing on function when designing outdoor patios. “Make sure you have your chef, staff and Board members with vision involved in planning these spaces,” he advises. “There is so much money and time that can be wasted if you build something that does not function well.”

Founders Room, Center Club, Costa Mesa, Calif.

Center Club’s thoughtful tabletop décor showcases attention to the finest detail.

The design inspiration for the clubhouse renovation at Center Club, a ClubCorp property in Costa Mesa, Calif., was found just around the corner at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. The clubhouse décor revolves around a musical theme, which is particularly apparent in the Founders Room (the upscale dining room) and Encore Lounge (an informal bar). In the Founders Room, the aluminum dividers between the booths are custom-engraved with the notes of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, and artwork is comprised of a number of framed musical instruments on the walls.

While the overall modern, musical motif was achieved through large design elements such as dark woods and eclectic wall hangings, stylish selections are evident in the smallest details found on the tabletops. Food and Beverage Director Chris Sarten chose updated china, glass, silver and other tabletop décor to complete the look and feel of the dining venues.

“It wasn’t right to put several million dollars into a renovation, with brand new tables, chairs and a granite bar, and then roll out the same old flatware,” says Sarten. “We wanted to make people know right away that this was all new; we wanted there to be no doubt in their minds that this was cool and different.”

Since its opening in 1985, Center Club never had a true bar space. With the renovation, however, the Encore Lounge has continued to gain popularity. To further complement the dynamic, vibrant new space, Sarten decided to add some punch to food presentation—starting with the china.

To give members and guests a visual—as well as edible—treat, the bar serves its menu items on a wide range of plateware of different shapes and textures. For example, the Encore Lounge utilizes concave rectangular plates for meals; bamboo platters for charcuterie and other shared items; mini-baskets for french fries and other fried fare; and whimsical wooden pieces for tartare tastings.

In the Founders Room, the tabletops are a bit more traditional, with round, white china. “This gives it more of a formal feel,” says Sarten. “But since all of our menus are available everywhere in the club, if someone in the Founders Room orders an item from the bar menu like french fries, we put the fries in the mini-basket, just like we do in the bar.”

To further establish the more formal look in the Founders Room, the tabletops all have a vase with a fresh flower, white tablecloth, black napkins, stemmed water glasses for lunch, and stemmed water and wine glasses for dinner. Each table also has a sleek, modern stainless-steel lamp; stainless-steel salt, pepper and sugar caddies; and polished stainless-steel silverware in a matte finish.

Center Club, Costa Mesa, Calif.

An advanced wine cruvinet system allows the club to keep opened bottles of wine fresh for up to 30 days. Thus, the club is able to serve many high-quality wines by the glass. To serve these fine wines in style, the club utilizes Riedel glasses. “It is an added expense, but we have several glasses of wine that are $20 and up, so it is really important to have good wine glasses to serve these wines in,” says Sarten.

Sarten had carte blanche (within a budget, of course) to choose the right china, flatware and stemware for the food-and-beverage operations. He brought in samples and considered the aesthetics, as well as function, in choosing each piece.

While the changes and updates to the dining venues have been well-received, Sarten would eventually like to add another visual element to the tabletops: an iPad menu system that will provide pictures and descriptions of each menu item. “People are so visual,” he says. “They often eat with their eyes first.”

Rendering of the outdoor pool space at University of Texas Golf Club, Austin, Texas

While challenges are inevitable, renovating an outdoor pool space can pay big dividends.

As an integral part of the club and resort experience, pools offer members and guests the perfect opportunity to cap off a hot day on the golf course, or for young families to spend some quality time in one secure location. But with long-term usage comes the wear and tear that eventually calls for a complete renovation—with some pools requiring more work than others.

Whether it’s a renovation to a dated facility, a new addition to a campus-sized setting or a complete overhaul prompted by the devastation of Mother Nature, outdoor pool renovations present their own set of challenges. But when executed carefully and completely, the end result can prompt more people to spend more time getting their fun in the sun at the club—and to bring plenty of family and friends with them.

Powered by Membership
When Mike Hatch took over ownership of the Brandermill Country Club four years ago, he was well aware that the Midlothian, Va., club’s pool was in dire need of repair. “Having gotten to know the membership, it was apparent that the swimming pool and surroundings were a constant negative when attracting new members and retaining existing ones,” explains Hatch, who also serves as the  club’s General Manager. “The pool was 30 years old, and the landscaping was poor at best.”

After calling an all-member meeting, Hatch announced that the club would need to raise $300,000 to complete a pool refurbishment (as the owner, he was willing to invest $75,000 of his own money). He then assembled a small advisory committee to brainstorm how to raise funds, and performed an analysis of Brandermill’s membership. “We found that on average, our members brought four or five guests a year to the club, so we wanted to take advantage of this,” notes Hatch. “We also realized that a large number of the elder members wanted a lasting memory of their membership at the club.”

By putting together a handful of fundraising initiatives, including a Cocktails for a Cause event with food and beverages on every golf course hole, along with auction items donated by members, the club generated nearly $35,000 from one day alone, and eventually amassed $225,000 internally. “It was amazing to generate that type of revenue,” says Hatch of his enthusiastic member community. With the necessary funds in hand, the renovation was set for last February, to be completed in time for Memorial Day 2012.

For starters, the overgrown surrounding area was cleared and trees were removed to open up the space and provide more warmth and sunlight. Maintaining the existing footprint, the pool’s original entryway, with a four-foot dropoff, was enhanced with two sets of stairs, creating easy access points for getting in and out of the water. The original baby pool was updated with a separate filtration system and surrounded by fencing, to comply with safety regulations. “We brought everything up to code,” says Hatch.

Outdoor pool space at Brandermill Country Club, Midlothian, Va.

A new wooden deck with seating for 28 patrons now elevates the outdoor clubhouse dining experience. This design enhancement has already paid for itself, according to Hatch—the club saw an increase of over $40,000 in food and beverage sales last summer alone.

This boost in revenue was also carried over to Brandermill’s overall membership, which has experienced an increase in its junior executives and families. “Sales really picked up when people saw what we had done,” says Hatch; member accolades included expressions of approval such as “sunny,” “airy” and “well thought-out,” he reports.

Brandermill’s new pool has garnered so much attention, Hatch says, members from a neighboring club five miles down the road now opt for this new facility over their own. “We are an entry-level private club now with a niche-market, private country club pool,” says Hatch. “We are appealing to all ages.”

Untapped Resource
For the University of Texas Golf Club in Austin, Texas, a pool concept that was a number of years in the making will make its debut this spring.

“We had discussed the possibility of a pool for years,” explains General Manager Steve Termeer, “but this was the time to take advantage of the opportunity to do it.” Because the developer of the property already owned a 16-acre parcel of land, discussions were put in place to obtain that site and begin building. Once the paperwork was signed and a budget of $1.66 million was set, a six-month construction project got underway.

To embrace the club’s connection with the university, the 4,300-sq. ft. pool will feature a sunbathing deck in the shape of a burnt-orange Texas Longhorn. But the hilly Texas countryside also posed a unique geographic challenge. “We are basically built on the side of a severe slope,” describes Termeer. “We had to design a cantilevered deck and pool on piers.”

A volleyball well provides a source of additional recreation, while zero-entry for both the main pool and a covered kiddie pool provide easy access into and out of the water. Close proximity (about 700 yards) to the clubhouse necessitated a full-service design. “We wanted this to be a self-sufficient area with the latest and greatest in cabana services, including a locker room and a full kitchen,” adds Termeer. To accommodate an uptick in usage during the summer season, the club plans to offer valet service for its members.

With excitement building for the Memorial Day opening, Termeer expects the club to gain 50 new social members as a result of the pool. The pool will also help the club continue its transition from a golf club to a full-amenity country club (it is also building a new tennis facility that will open this year).

“We will still keep our charter name, since golf is our number-one asset,” says Termeer. But the allure of a luxurious resort-style pool in a country-club setting is bound to make swimming a close second.

“Design” by Mother Nature
Sometimes, even the best-laid plans don’t work out, for reasons beyond one’s control. For Rumson (N.J.) Country Club, the story begins back in 2007, when the membership voted to update the club’s original pool and seasonal clubhouse. “The existing facility was from 1972, and we realized it was time to replace it,” explains General Manager Michael Kurtas.

After meeting members’ approval, the club’s Board moved forward with the project, only to be derailed by requirements for building on a coastal area—a process that Kurtas describes as “onerous.” Given the club’s location on the northern New Jersey shore, alongside the Shrewsbury River, strict building codes had to be adhered to that inevitably slowed down the project. Then, when the 2008 recession had a hard effect on many members who work on Wall Street and in New York’s financial district, the club’s renovation was put on hold.

When the economy finally stabilized, Kurtas decided it was a good time to reintroduce the renovation project to Rumson’s membership. Last year, he had an extensive brochure drawn up detailing the reasons for a massive renovation. “The pool has outlived its expected life span, and much of the structural wood framing is cracked and otherwise weakened,” it read. “To illustrate the high cost of continuing to patch the existing structure, we spent over $35,000 last spring to install a new pool liner to make it usable for the summer.”

Setting a total budget of $7.5 million to cover the cost of a new pool, poolhouse, kitchen upgrade and building floor plan improvements—$750,000 of which was designated for pool replacement—the proposal was met with overwhelming acceptance by the club’s Board last September. But then, about a month later, Superstorm Sandy struck the Northeast, completely demolishing the existing seasonal clubhouse, as well as a 40-foot wet-slip marina and the swimming pool complex. “Much damage was also sustained to our golf course, and we had 150 downed trees on the property,” adds Kurtas.

With that, renovating Rumson CC became a necessity, and construction was put on the fast track—but not without further revisions to the existing blueprints. The original design anticipated a separate wading pool for kids, but when new state regulations required fencing around the pool and decking area, there was not enough square footage to accommodate those changes. Instead, one of the step areas would have to be converted into a wading pool as part of the main pool.

New post-Sandy FEMA regulations stipulated additional changes to the main pool. “We needed to elevate the pool 15 feet above sea level, so it will now sit on pilings that make the pool a unique structure, because of its coastal location,” explains Kurtas. The 25-meter competitive swimming pool is currently in the foundation phase and is expected to be open by the end of August. (The club’s social building, complete with waterfront dining, will follow in the fall.)

Rendering of the outdoor pool space at Rumson (N.J.) Country Club

However, the storm also helped expedite plans and teach Kurtas a lesson about supply and demand. “Because we already had plans in place from before the storm, we were able to jump into the fast lane for materials and labor before they went through the roof,” he notes.

For example, Kurtas points to the exotic hardwood decking typically used to build boardwalks and docks. “It’s normally hard to get, and now with everyone rebuilding, it’s even harder to come by,” he says. “We were able to get our hands on it before demand drove up the cost.”

Kurtas is also learning how to best accommodate his members during this transitional stage. The club’s Junior Activities camp, which normally encompasses swimming, fishing and other water activities, will have a different focus this summer. “The program will be modified significantly, and our main clubhouse will have a tent,” he adds.

But rather than have this temporary displacement disturb the momentum, Kurtas sees Rumson’s upcoming changes as an opportunity.

“Our younger membership, who also belonged to beach clubs in Seabright  [N.J.], will now also be without a beach club,” he notes of the neighboring community that felt the brunt of  some of Sandy’s biggest blows. “It’s more important for us to be filling a void.”

Ironwood CC, Palm Desert, Calif.

With interest in fitness amenities growing, clubs are responding in kind by expanding fitness centers literally, and visually, through square footage and clever design.

When the new fitness facility at Ironwood Country Club in Palm Desert, Calif., was built in 2005, there was some pushback from members.

“When we built our fitness center, it was controversial,” says Josh Tanner, General Manager/COO. “Now, we have as many visits to the fitness center as we do to the golf course.”

Without a doubt, fitness has become a top amenity in clubs and resorts across the country. As industry leaders recognize the importance and value of fitness, they are investing in renovations and improvements that ensure their facilities and programs continue to thrive. These facilities are quickly becoming the social center and spirit of many properties.

“In my experience over the last 10 years, most clubs that add a fitness facility realize they didn’t make it large enough,” says Amy Krishka, Sports Director at Ironwood CC. “They underestimate the popularity of fitness and the bang it will give to their club.”

Creating a fitness facility that provides a powerful punch starts with creating a retreat where members and guests can come together to focus on their health.

A Picture of Health
The sports center at Ironwood CC offers more than just an excellent workout. With a state-of-the-art fitness facility, tennis and pickleball courts, a luxurious spa and a physical therapist and chiropractor on site, the sports center focuses on overall wellness.

“Our vision is taking care of our members,” says Tanner. “We do a good job of communicating the benefits of wellness. For instance, our members have learned that if you are a golfer and you work out, you will be able to enjoy the game of golf longer because you will be healthier longer.”

The sports center is located less than half a mile from the clubhouse. The architecture and design of the sports center mirror the Tuscan-style main clubhouse, with its rounded archways, a tawny color scheme and mahogany doors, baseboards and trim.

Breaking through walls and other visual barriers is a strong design theme within Ironwood’s sports center. Windows throughout the entire facility bring natural light and the club’s scenic surroundings into the space for a fresh, open feel. “The sports center is a large space, and all of the windows help make it look even larger,” says Tanner. “We really wanted to bring the outdoors in.”

The cardio and weight room has 180-degree views of the club’s grounds. The back wall in the group exercise room and one side of the Pilates room are made up of windows, to enhance the sense of space and create interconnectedness with the rest of the club. “All of the windows and views make it a very inviting and relaxing area,” says Krishka.

The sports center is also a social space for members to gather in a more casual setting. An inviting lobby seating area overlooks the club’s tennis courts and provides views of the surrounding mountains. The seating area has oversized, cushioned chairs, a coffee table, complimentary coffee and a large television.

Grey Oaks CC, Naples, Fla.

The spa offers a variety of facial and body treatments. “Spa ties in well with fitness because you’re working out the body, but also relaxing it as well,” says Krishka. “Going forward, I believe if clubs don’t include spa services as part of the thought process in fitness, they will be missing the boat.”

The club has furthered its commitment to wellness by bringing in a physical therapist, who typically works out of the Pilates area when there are no classes scheduled, and a chiropractor, who uses the group fitness area.

“We keep our programming fresh and communicate that to our members,” says Tanner. “We show our members the value and benefit of wellness.”

Two Peas in a Pod
Grey Oaks Country Club in Naples, Fla., has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to fitness. The original plans for the clubhouse included a fitness facility when the club was built 20 years ago, long before fitness was a mainstay for clubs. As the popularity of health and fitness has grown, the club’s fitness facilities and programs have continued to evolve as well.

“The demand for the fitness amenity increased dramatically back in the early 2000s,” says Jim Butler, General Manager. “Within the last five years, it has been the lifeblood of our community. Fitness is something people expect.”

To meet member demand, the club renovated both of the fitness centers that are located in the club’s two separate clubhouses—the Grey Oaks clubhouse and the Estuary clubhouse.

“Both of our fitness centers are located within the main clubhouses rather than in separate buildings,” says Butler. “Having members walk through the clubhouse to get to the fitness center makes it more of a social setting and opens up your other amenities to cross-utilization.”

The fitness center renovations included all-new equipment and flooring; changing the layout of the facilities; and adding new programs. The fitness center in the Grey Oaks clubhouse was expanded by 800 sq. ft. to 3,500 sq. ft. The front of the facility houses cardio equipment set up along floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking a lake.

“Having the cardio equipment overlook the water creates a really beautiful scene for members to look at as they run on the treadmill or step on the stair-climber,” says Butler.

Circuit training machines fill the space past the cardio equipment. Prior to the renovation, the club had a separate free weight area in an open room. That area was eliminated during the renovation, to make way for comprehensive circuit training, a form of high-intensity aerobics. “We wanted to have more room on the circuit and spread it out over more space,  instead of jamming it all into one area,” says Butler.

The new Grey Oaks facility also has a 1,000-sq. ft. fitness studio with new wood flooring and an outdoor, lagoon-style pool for water aerobics.
The Estuary fitness center is laid out in a similar fashion, with the cardio equipment overlooking the outdoors and a circuit training space.
Both facilities have a light and airy feel, with pale shades of yellow, blue and green. Floor-to-ceiling windows line the walls, providing ample natural light as the lush landscaping outside offers natural decoration inside the facility.

The flooring in the cardio and circuit training areas is a low-maintenance, rubberized mat system. “We looked at hard flooring, but we chose this because it is easy to clean with soap and water and easy on your knees,” says Butler. “It is a little more expensive, but we’re glad we did it.”

As one of the club’s top amenities, both fitness centers have helped Grey Oaks increase member satisfaction and membership sales. “Our fitness centers give us a competitive advantage,” says Butler. “This is an exciting time in fitness and it is really important for clubs today. Fitness keeps people healthier, living longer and enjoying life more—the reason why people join clubs. When you think about making a difference in people’s lives, fitness is very powerful.”

Boca West CC, Boca Raton, Fla.

A Hub of Activity
The sports center and spa at Boca West Country Club in Boca Raton, Fla., is the buzzing social hub of the property. The 150,000-sq. ft. complex is comprised of a fitness center, an aerobics studio, a movement studio, an aquatic complex and a spa and salon.

“The fitness center and spa serve as the main social outlet for our members arriving to the sports center,” says Joe Barone, Director of Fitness, Aquatic and Spa Operations. “They come here to improve their health, meet with friends and relax in luxurious facilities.”

The complex has an open Floridian design that utilizes natural light, numerous water features and picturesque, landscaped surroundings. The interior of the facility has a modern look with energizing earth tones of espresso and blue. Natural light from the complex’s many windows further sets the tone throughout the facility, while dim overhead lighting is used in the spa area to set a serene, calming mood.

Boca West’s fitness center has 80 cardiovascular machines with individual LCD screens, and eight 50-inch flat screens overlook the free weight and selectorized machine area. Different flooring is used throughout the fitness facility, customized to the needs of different activities and dividing up the space visually. The majority of the space has beige carpeting, with dark maple flooring for some of the core training machines and a black and silver, thick rubberized surface in the free weight area.

The sports center is an active amenity, with the club scheduling more than 42,000 sessions of personal training, spa and salon appointments per year, along with group exercise classes for close to 8,000 members. All of the many amenities within the sports center have made it a strong sales tool.

“The sports center and spa has become our most important real estate tool for prospective buyers,” says Barone.

The furniture at Cheyenne Mountain Resort provides comfort and rustic flair for this mountain retreat. 

Guests of Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs, Colo., are greeted by floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the Cheyenne Mountain range, commencing their “true Colorado experience.”

“Our interior design team created a natural mountain range theme throughout the entire property,” says Todd Felsen, General Manager. “They looked at the colors outside and brought those elements in. The resort has a cozy, lodge-like feel to it.”

While the earth-toned color palate, native paintings and luxurious throw blankets certainly set a bucolic tone, the property’s custom-made furnishings establish a sense of down-home comfort. The lobby’s maple flooring and high ceiling with wood beams frame the large stone fireplace with an oversized hearth. Surrounding the fireplace is a welcoming seating area with a soft, caramel-toned leather couch, leather armchairs with vibrant rust-colored cushions, and a glass coffee table.

Cheyenne Mountain ResortColorado Springs, Colo. Opened: October 1985 Renovation: A $24 million renovation was completed in April 2010, including all guest rooms and public areas, that incorporated redesigned furniture, fixtures and equipment, wall coverings, carpeting and lighting. Indoor Furniture: Custom-made, builder unknown Outdoor Furniture: Tropitone and New River Interior Design: Ricca Newmark Design Number of Guest Rooms: 316

The guest rooms highlight the beauty of the mountainous surroundings. The rooms have richly decorated silk and wood headboards adorned in shades of beige, rust and brown, and the beds are dressed with oversized throw blankets and plush duvets. Some of the larger suites have leather couches, cushioned brown wicker armchairs, wooden dining tables and distressed wooden trunks acting as coffee tables.

“Our guest rooms have a rustic, country home feeling,” says Felsen. “Our guests immediately fall in love with the look of their rooms. We have many guests ask where they can buy the fabrics and colors we used to decorate them.”

The Colorado living motif comes alive in the resort’s indoor and outdoor dining venues as well. The restaurants have wooden dining tables and brown leather chairs with fabric backs embossed with a leaf design.

Throughout the property are small gathering areas with leather couches, reading chairs and cocktail tables. “These seating vignettes face huge, rounded windows that overlook the mountains,” says Felsen. “People like to sit in these areas reading a book, enjoying a bottle of wine or having a small private meeting. They are very cozy and relaxing areas.”

The resort also has popular patio areas that are furnished to complement and maximize the magnificent mountain views. The outdoor dining room is set up with glass-topped, wrought-iron dining tables, and chairs with bright, colorful cushions. Another patio space offers wooden rocking chairs, fire pits and outdoor couches and armchairs.

“Furniture creates a theme, sets an ambiance and establishes comfort,” says Felsen. “The type of furniture you have sets the mood for guests. When they come here and see the furniture, they either like it or they don’t. Making a good first impression is very important.”

Bighorn Golf Club, Palm Desert, Calif.

Well-conceived patio areas can help properties take full advantage of their real estate and extend members’ stays well into the evening hours.

No longer relegated to a solo spot off the 18th hole, outdoor patios are popping up all over club and resort properties: alongside the pool, just off the bar, and outside restaurants. Through a total design concept, patios are serving to help integrate the clubhouse and golf course and maximize use of the entire facility.

“All of our patios have a residential feel, mimicking what most of our members have in their own homes: a continual flow of indoor and outdoor space,” says Steve Cenicola, General Manager of the Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif.

Patio additions, expansions or renovations call for careful consideration of how these outdoor additions will fit into a club’s existing layout. And when done correctly, patio projects can be profitable ventures that help to greatly expand a property’s versatility and boost overall business.

A Room With a View
When your club is surrounded by a 3,500-ft. mountain range nestled inside desert terrain, it would be a crime not to take advantage of such a picturesque backdrop. For the SunRidge Canyon Golf Club in Fountain Hills, Ariz., an existing outdoor space—complete with a five-foot-high wall and fireplace—hindered what General Manager Jeff Lessig describes as an “all-world view of distant mountains, the golf course and the canyon that gives the course its name.”

Last June, the club underwent a major renovation to address this design concern. Replacing the existing wall and fireplace with a two-foot-high accent wall, plus a fire pit, outdoor bar and extra seating, would “encourage golfers to stay after they played and provide the community of Fountain Hills with a venue for social affairs,” notes Lessig.

Capitalizing on the SunRidge Canyon’s finishing six holes—dubbed the “Wicked 6”—a design theme was born. A fire pit and adjoining wall were erected in the shape of a “6,” with the center of the fire pit featuring a sundial with a gnomon indicating true north. Because of the mild Southwestern climate, heating and lighting were both moot points for SunRidge Canyon’s patio redesign. “Winter afternoons and evenings are ideal for an outdoor Arizona lifestyle,” Lessig notes, providing sufficient warmth and illumination.

Entertainment amenities are also part of the patio experience. A high-tech control system was installed to allow four TV monitors and audio to be managed remotely—coming in especially handy on Friday evenings, when the patio features live music.

SunRidge Canyon Golf Club, Fountain Hills, Ariz.

The patio addition has also allowed SunRidge Canyon to expand its bar menu offerings. Prior to the renovation, only breakfast and lunch options were available. But beginning in January 2013, small plates were set to be added to the outdoor menu, directed at two distinct audiences.

“The idea is to offer some traditional, as well as some eclectic, after-golf fare, to keep people around following their rounds,” explains Lessig, “and [at the same time] to entice local, non-golf patrons who simply want an attractive venue for late afternoon and evening socializing.”

Because SunRidge Canyon’s new patio was completed in October 2012, it’s still a bit too soon to tell just how much of an impact the redesign stands to have on overall business. But judging from the amount of member fraternizing he’s already seen, Lessig is confident the project will pay off.  “This renovation has turned what was an underutilized space into a real conversation piece and hangout,” he says.

Embracing the Outdoors…Times Four
Much like SunRidge Canyon’s temperate climate, warm weather plays a key role in the near year-round outdoor appeal of the Bighorn Golf Club. “The desert has arguably the best weather in the country six months out of the year, making functional, attractive outdoor space a necessity more than an amenity,” explains Cenicola.

Bighorn Golf Club, Palm Desert, Calif.

The desire to capitalize on its seasonal surroundings led the club to add four new outdoor patios over the past five years. These back-to-back projects included two add-on patios for Bighorn’s restaurant, The Pour House (each costing $100,000), in the summers of 2010 and 2011; a patio for the club’s Starbucks Marketplace in the summer of 2009 (priced at $25,000), and a patio for its steakhouse (part of a $10 million budget reserved for this specific facility) in the summer of 2007.

Creating a uniform design ensured seamless integration between Bighorn’s widespread facility, which is comprised of two golf courses, two restaurants, a marketplace, the Starbucks and a spa/fitness center.

“Our campus-based layout lends itself to making each outlet a destination,” says Cenicola. “We look for ways to keep members in the outlets after they arrive. That’s why all of our outlets have indoor and outdoor space, meeting the demands of membership for comfort and view, along with convenience.”

While the majority of Bighorn’s outdoor patios are used primarily during daylight hours—and are already bolstered by natural lighting and heating—additional lighting was essential for the steakhouse patio. “We did not want to take away from the Coachella Valley view, but we did want members to be able to see their menus and the food in front of them,” notes Cenicola. Extremely low-lit overhead lights were installed, complemented by backlit menus and table lamps, which diffuses light downward and changes it to an amber color suitable for the dining experience.

SunRidge Canyon Golf Club, Fountain Hills, Ariz. Taking a Seat Enjoying the view in outdoor settings still requires taking a load off—but not all seats are created equal. In more relaxed venues like patios, traditional, formal dining chairs are traded in for more casual seating. At SunRidge Canyon Club in Fountain Hills, Ariz., members can opt for one of eight rocking chairs (see photo above) to relax after a round of golf. Or, they can pull up a bar stool and enjoy a cocktail in the cozy setting. Meanwhile, at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho, soft seating of sofas and chairs allow for up to 72 patrons, balanced out by a stained concrete floor. At Bighorn Golf Club in Palm Desert, Calif., comfortable seating was essential at each of its outdoor restaurant patios, especially “for those who want to stay after the dining experience and enjoy a glass of wine and a great view,” notes General Manager Steve Cenicola. Outdoor wicker chairs with full backs and seat cushions fit the bill. “We don’t get a lot of rain here, but the sun, especially in the summer, destroys the fabric,” Cenicola adds. For more casual diners at the Starbucks marketplace, standard tables and chairs were upgraded with soft seating.

Heating was also a critical component for the steakhouse patio redesign. Individually controlled overhead heaters were balanced out by portable propane space heaters that could be moved as needed. Outdoor fire pits not only provided extra heating, but added lighting and atmosphere to the space.

Despite the extensive duration of these multiple renovations, the obstacles were minimal. “We spent many hours determining what space was needed,” Cenicola recalls, adding that the approach was to create a patio that could meet demand, but didn’t look full. “No one likes to sit in an empty restaurant or too large a space,” he notes. “It needed to be intimate, yet functional.”

A well thought-out design paid off in the end for Bighorn, with its new outdoor space adding tremendous value to the club’s overall business. Cenicola reports a record number of weddings and private member events at the steakhouse—and the allure of the increased business proved enticing enough that another project, to add three fire pits to the steakhouse’s patio space, is scheduled to begin this summer.

“It will offer members a stunning location to have a cocktail before or after dinner,” Cenicola says.

Bridging the Gap
When your outdoor patio adjoins your club’s two main facilities, its renovation takes on even greater functionality. Like many older clubs, Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho, has been remodeled and expanded a number of times over the course of its more than 70-year history. Its layout consists of two main facilities: a social building, containing the clubhouse, main kitchen, dining rooms, offices and adjacent pool complex; and an athletic building, which houses the golf shop, locker room, 19th Hole and a small satellite kitchen—all located directly across the patio.

“Because of the distance from the main kitchen [more than 250 feet], the patio was only used for special occasions,” says General Manager Norris Sturgeon. “In effect, it had very little usage.”

Following a strategic planning process in 2005, member surveys indicated that a number of new additions, including an outdoor dining area, were high on the list of requests. “Our location is on a rise that allows a spectacular view of the golf course and Boise,” notes Sturgeon. The intent was to take advantage of that desirable setting, while uniting the two main buildings. After a design firm presented plans to Hillcrest’s membership in 2008, construction began in September 2009.

Hillcrest Country Club, Boise, Idaho

Lighting was a key component in Hillcrest’s patio design. Hanging fixtures are enhanced by natural light from windows in the top cupola, which can be opened electronically to improve air flow on hot days without air conditioning. Heating and cooling were supplied by a complete HVAC system, while a fireplace provided extra warmth and ambiance. Full overhead coverage on the patio was also essential. “With our climate, we wanted the shade without disrupting the view with umbrellas or canopies,” adds Sturgeon.

With such an extensive total renovation, the project was divided into two stages, each with its own challenges. In the first phase, which included not only a new patio, but an expanded athletic building, new golf shop, locker rooms, fitness area, 19th hole and kitchen, all dining was moved to the main clubhouse, and a trailer served as the golf shop.

The second phase of construction, dedicated to the main clubhouse, temporarily displaced all dining, which was handled by the club’s satellite kitchen. “We did not have any banquets during this phase, reducing food and beverage revenue by 30 percent,” notes Sturgeon.

Today, patio food operations are handled by the club’s 19th Hole kitchen—which, at 500 sq. ft., does not allow for an extensive menu. During the summer, members can opt for a casual, bistro-style menu in the courtyard, or a full-service menu at the main clubhouse. While operating two kitchens with two menus simultaneously may not be the most efficient operation, Sturgeon admits, it does provide members with options that did not exist before the remodel.

In fact, Hillcrest has seen an increase in the patio’s covers and overall usage. “It’s a great place to relax after a round of golf or tennis, meet friends and enjoy our spectacular view,” says Sturgeon. Member feedback indicates how much the casual nature of the area is being enjoyed, and how it allows members to better entertain guests and show off their club.

Town & Country Club in Saint Paul, Minn.

While stunning views and rolling fairways have long been selling points for golf courses, maintenance facilities serve as the heart of the greens—and clubs are now making sure they get the respect they deserve.

Of all the renovation and redesign projects that can be presented to club members or owners for funding approval, the golf course maintenance facility might have the toughest case to make. Those outside the grounds department don’t often appreciate, or even think about, the need for efficient and updated turf care centers, storage areas and environmental stations—until the effects of a dysfunctional maintenance space reverberate throughout the golf course and property.

More properties, however, are now recognizing the value of well-designed course maintenance facilities, not only to protect costly equipment from the elements and provide more productive working conditions for staff, but also to showcase “green” technology, provide additional meeting space, and even extend new amenities to members and guests.

Everyone’s Invited
After years of being “on the books,” the members of Town & Country Club (TCC) finally approved a new $2.5 million Turf Center for the Saint Paul, Minn., property in 2004. Reshaping the project to provide tangible benefits for the membership, says General Manager Vincent Tracy, CCM, CCE, was the key to getting it off the ground.

“We designed the break room to also be a meeting room, complete with a built-in projector and smart screen,” Tracy says. “We talked from the start about offering the space to members and committees to use—we felt members needed to touch [the Turf Center] to make it more palatable for them to finance.”

Open-forum “town hall” meetings that presented the project to members, communicated the financial commitment and even included “eye-opening” tours of existing maintenance facility conditions proved to be a successful approach, adds Kenneth Powell, a member of TCC’s Board of Directors and Building Committee. “Keeping membership informed through the meetings made the process much easier and mitigated contention,” says Powell.

Less is Much More
Once approved, TCC’s Certified Golf Course Superintendent, William Larson, worked closely with architects to design the new maintenance facility. With function, efficiency and maintainability established as the main design criteria, what had morphed into a sprawling, six-building maintenance complex was relocated to a different part of the property that was selected because it would not cause any disruption to the golf course during construction and offered easy access to service vehicles. As an added bonus, the new location was closer to TCC’s clubhouse.

Town & Country Club in Saint Paul, Minn.

Most impressively, though, while the new area for the maintenance facility would now take up a smaller footprint on the property, the new design created a more efficient, two-building complex that would provide nearly double the usable square footage, to 18,000 sq. ft.

In designing how the new buildings would look (see photo, above), a conscious decision was also made not to replicate the architectural style of TCC’s clubhouse or new pool building that was also coming on stream (“Getting Back in the Swim at Town & Country Club,” C&RB, August 2006). Instead, a simple pre-cast structure with a flat roof was drawn up that would give the buildings a low profile on the golf course. The precast concrete walls also offered a cost-effective solution that could stand up to abuse and allow ivy to climb up and eventually cover the facility.

With so much extra square footage to work with, Larson could now make sure the various functions of the facility would be segmented logically. Offices, locker and break rooms would be kept near the employee parking lot. The mechanics’ area, including a paint booth and welding room, would be located away from the traffic flow of regular staff activity. And the pesticide filling station and equipment wash area would be kept far away from the offices. A separate building was also created for housing harder-to-store materials such as different soils, winter greens covers and fencing.

An outdoor patio was added to further enhance the break room, both for staff and for when it would be used by members.

Because the space would serve that dual purpose, TCC also decided to spring for upgrades such as porcelain tile floors, stainless steel appliances and nicer bathrooms.

For food and beverage functions held in the Turf Center area, food is brought from the main kitchen in hot boxes and also cooked fresh on grills on the patio. The cafeteria/conference room has room for 30, with a stove, microwave, refrigerator, microwave oven and a dishwasher.

“By having the facility open for member use, it forces us to keep it clean and tidy at all times, which is nice,” notes Larson. “Our staff is very proud of the facility, and it is not an inconvenience for us when members come up and use it.”

TCC’s course-and-grounds crew moved into the new facility in the spring of 2009, and the staff—as well as the club and its members—have been demonstrating its benefits from day one. “We are much more efficient in our day-to-day operation now,” says Larson. “We are more organized, mainly because we have much more space. The attitude of the crew is at an all-time high, because everything is new and more professional.”

Making “Green” a Priority
Some clubs manage to get it right the first time around.

Completed in April 2004, the Natural Resource Maintenance Center is the first and only shop on site at Old Greenwood, one of three golf courses at Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, Calif.

The 15,000-sq. ft. facility is LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)-certified, thanks to waterless urinals, motion-censored lights throughout the shop, massive skylights to provide natural light during the day to save money on utilities, and more energy-saving features. Additionally, building materials containing more than 10 percent of post-consumer recycled content were used to construct the building, and more than 94 percent of construction waste was diverted away from the landfill by recycling and reuse.

“Having a LEED-certified building shows the town of Truckee that we are ‘green’ and environmentally aware of our beautiful surroundings,” says Jason DeHerrera, Head Golf Course Superintendent. But its beginnings were far more humble; the maintenance staff previously worked out of large metal storage crates in an unpaved yard, where sunlight, rain and dust were free to inflict damage on the equipment and reduce its longevity.

So it’s no surprise the club also sought a highly functional space when designing the facility. The equipment storage area was designed for smooth transition in and out of the shop, while a separate mechanics area ensures adequate space for all service-related tasks. A fuel/wash island makes washing and fueling equipment more efficient, and bulk storage bins located on the opposite side of the maintenance yard help provide adequate space for delivery and loading.

Tahoe Mountain Club in Truckee, Calif.

“Technology played a big role in the design,” says DeHerrera. An overhead lube/air center provides all oil, grease and compressed air for the shop, and a closed exhaust system allows equipment services to be performed indoors during inclement weather.

Keeping the Peace
Black Hall Club’s sprawling and spacious four-building maintenance facility wasn’t always so impressive. But five years ago, an insurance company’s dour safety report provided the impetus to renovate the Old Lyme, Conn., club’s then-6,000-sq. ft. maintenance facility.

“It was pretty bad,” recalls Superintendent Phil Neaton with a laugh. “It was once part of a larger farm and my office is where they used to keep the bulls; the cows were down the street.”

But the insurance report, noting inadequate wiring, trip hazards, and poor ventilation and lighting, served as fodder for what Neaton calls “years of political wrangling” to get the club to save money for the project. Improvements finally commenced in September 2008 and were completed in April 2009—and the result has been a mix of comfort and pride.

“The big choke point for taking the club to a higher level was maintenance,” Neaton says. “We only had a gas heater and wood stoves, so we wanted to make it comfortable for staff.”

Neaton worked with a firm specializing in golf-property structures to design an efficient maintenance facility while also ensuring that everything was up to code. “The services they offered were worth it,” Neaton says. “Get an architect that does this kind of thing for a living, and they can save you a world of trouble. They caught a lot of things I would have missed, like eye-wash stations, room configurations and traffic flow.”

Black Hall Club in Old Lyme, Conn.

Black Hall’s main turf care building now measures 12,000 sq. ft. and is half-heated with a wood-fired boiler for a meeting/break room, administrative offices and lockers, while the other half is used for equipment and parts storage.
Separately, a 2,400-sq. ft. environmental management center with pitched floors assures that waste oil and runoff stay within the building, where they’re run through a microbial wastewater recycling system.

“One of the big things we had in mind for the new facility was where we washed off,” Neaton says. “Regulations mandate that runoff all has to go into one spot, and it can’t go into the environment. We needed an environmentally correct place to wash our equipment and store our chemicals.”

The fuel and wash building also houses a spill-recycling tank and fireproof fertilizer and chemical storage area. Five bays with cement floors are devoted to bulk material storage.

Sectioning off the various parts of the maintenance facility now allows painting to be done in a separate building with exhaust fans, and keeps computer-aided grinders secluded to a room that doesn’t subject staff to their dust.

Black Hall purposely decided to put its new buildings in a highly visible area of the property, Neaton notes. “You drive by it on the way in, so it’s the first thing you see,” he says. “We had to keep it neat. We built berms and planted shrubs. It doesn’t really jump out at you, but we added foundation plants, so it wasn’t just a stark rectangular box.”

That location, and the efficient and spacious layout of the new facility, now cultivates a sense of pride that prompts staff members to take the initiative in maintaining equipment and keeping the grounds pristine, he adds. And when everything is kept in its proper place and is easily accessible, the little jobs stay “little,” he notes.

The course maintenance area is also a much more peaceful place at Black Hall. “We’re spread out now,” Neaton says. “One of the things about this business is the guys like to be outside and have a lot of space around them. You put them in a small space with six other guys in the winter, and tempers flare.”

The walkway to the Tent Pavilion at Bradford CC in Haverhill, Mass.

The Tent Pavilion at Bradford Country Club in Haverhill, Mass., is a casually elegant space that is easily customized for events from golf outings to weddings.

When the Murphy family purchased Bradford Country Club in Haverhill, Mass., two years ago, one of its goals was to improve the club’s event business. After two seasons, the club has seen its food-and-beverage revenue increase by 28%, with some of that increase attributed to events.

The club’s Tent Pavilion is one of the top draws for functions. The 50-by-100-foot, three-season tent is an aluminum structure with white vinyl walls, windows, glass doors and concrete flooring covered in indoor-outdoor carpeting. While it is most often used for golf events, the tent is also a popular wedding venue.

“People love the Tent Pavilion because they like to be outside,” says owner Kristin Murphy. “They can sit in the tent, feel the fresh breeze and look at the beautiful landscape.”

Located adjacent to the clubhouse and the first tee, the tent overlooks the golf course and is next to a raised patio. The tent is accessible through a canopied, cobblestone walkway that leads into the clubhouse. “We put the tent in this location so people could access the indoor restrooms, and it is close to our kitchen so the food stays warm,” says Murphy.

The tent has a casual, yet elegant garden-style design. Its neutral décor allows for plenty of versatility to personalize the venue. “It is a really flexible space,” says Murphy. “For weddings, I allow brides to create their own space, based on color, lighting and décor. Nothing is limited.”

The tent’s 25-foot ceiling has metal beams and a custom-built magnetic hanging system that offers a unique opportunity to decorate the space from the top down. “Hanging paper lanterns from the ceiling is a great and inexpensive way to make the tent look fantastic,” says Murphy. “We also partner with a lighting firm that can transform the tent with up-lighting and other ceiling décor.”

The Tent Pavilion at Bradford CC in Haverhill, Mass.

The tent is illuminated by interior perimeter lighting along the top of the walls and lighted ficus trees. The tent’s ceiling fans also have lighting fixtures that are on dimmers.

Inside the tent is a parquet dance floor and a raised stage with a black skirt. Events are set up with white folding garden chairs, and the club uses stocked portable bars as needed.

One of the biggest challenges of any tent space is temperature control. Murphy addresses this issue with air-conditioning units in warmer months and heating units in cooler weather. However, warm weather poses a bigger challenge. “When it is really warm, it is hard to air-condition,” says Murphy. “We have to bring in an AC unit or two, and it can be cost-prohibitive for some. But we do have the ceiling fans and plenty of stand fans. And we can open the sides of the tent to get the breeze.”

Heating the tent during cooler weather, however, is less expensive and often more effective, with the choice of a propane unit that is powerful and a diesel unit that offers a clean-air option, plus space heaters.

Bradford CC’s Tent Pavilion continues to be a popular venue, thanks to its versatile décor and outdoor appeal. “The trend I’m seeing is that people are looking to spend less on weddings, and our tent offers a great value and casual elegance in a tented pavilion,” says Murphy.

Mountain Ridge CC’s living room after the renovation.

Mountain Ridge CC took everything back to the drawing board, to dress up its classic clubhouse for a milestone year and get its second century off to an exciting start.

It took years before the members of Mountain Ridge Country Club moved to make up for lost time—but once they did, it was only a matter of months before the West Caldwell, N.J., club had not only fully recaptured its glorious past, but taken important strides into its future as well.

Mountain Ridge was founded in 1912 and its Tudor-style clubhouse, built in 1929, still stands as a solid example of the iconic structures created by famed architect Clifford Charles Wendehack, who also designed buildings for Winged Foot Golf Club and other prestigious clubs in New York and New Jersey during a golden era of the industry’s growth.

But while the clubhouse’s exterior remained impressive as Mountain Ridge approached its 100th year, what was behind its stone walls had lost much of its luster—and also its connection with how clubs have evolved.

PROJECT SUMMARY Mountain Ridge Country Club, West Caldwell, N.J. Club: Mountain Ridge CC Location: West Caldwell, N.J. Founded: 1912 Members: 250 sustaining members (total member population: 1,000) Clubhouse Size: 15,000 sq. ft. Project Cost: $4M (includes $1.5M in golf course renovations at same time) Construction Dates: Dec. 15, 2011-April 15, 2012 Architect: F. J. Rawding, AIA, Morristown, N.J. Interior Design: Judd Brown Designs, Inc., Pawtucket, R.I. Construction Management: Donnelly Construction, Wayne, N.J. Project Highlights: Interior of historically significant building completely upgraded to restore traditional character while improving appeal and functionality. Popular new sports bar created from largely unused card room/storage space and connected to main grill. Food-and-beverage revenues increased 25% in first year of operation after renovation.

“What had happened historically was that, like many clubs, [Mountain Ridge] had done a series of capital projects [for the clubhouse] in bits and pieces,” says Bruce Schonbraun. When Schonbraun began a four-year term as the club’s President in 2008, he and his Board decided it was time for a “fresh look” and a more effective approach.

“We had a grand club with a unique feel, but doing things piecemeal wasn’t doing the members justice,” says Schonbraun. “We decided a total renovation of the interior was needed, not only for aesthetics, but also for how it was being used.”

Taking a closer look at how the 15,000 sq. ft. within the clubhouse were arranged shined a harsh spotlight on several areas that were long overdue for change. “There was a lot of wasted and underutilized dead space,” says Stephen Wolsky, who has been Mountain Ridge’s General Manager for the past 15 years. “It was clear that a thorough repurposing of the clubhouse was needed, especially for an area like the men’s card room, which was in a prime location just off our main grill, but was now hardly being used even for card playing, and had become a storage area as much as anything else.”

As discussions began, both internally and with outside professionals, on how a full renovation could bring the clubhouse up with the times (the card room was eyed as the perfect spot for a new sports pub), areas with still-viable purposes were also targeted for overhauls. In these cases, restoring what had been lost from earlier times would be just as important as updating their current and future functionality.

“[The Mountain Ridge clubhouse] is a very significant architectural building, but years of use had attacked the historical appeal of what was still within its shell,” says Judd Brown, President of Judd Brown Designs, Inc., Pawtucket, R.I. “In addition to creating more appropriate use for some of the space in the building, the renovation offered the opportunity to upgrade all finishes and make them period-correct again [with the Wendehack era], to reinforce the club’s high-end brand.”

A comprehensive book, complete with detailed renderings of how all of the various rooms in the clubhouse would be upgraded, was prepared and distributed to Mountain Ridge’s 250 members. The $4 million capital project (which would include $1.5 million in golf course renovations, to prepare for hosting the 2012 USGA Senior Amateur Championship) would need to be funded in part by a $2,700 member assessment. But putting it all on paper created excitement and support among the membership, Schonbraun says, by clearly showing how “we would make very measurable and massive renovations while also enhancing the character and grandeur of the club.”

Shifting Into High Gear
Once the decision to proceed with a full renovation was made, the project got on a fast track, and not only because of the desire to complete everything in time for 2012’s 100th anniversary celebration and the Senior Amateur tournament. Six months before construction was to begin in December 2011 (with a must-hit completion date set for the following April), a special, temporary renovation committee was formed.

Mountain Ridge’s new sports pub represented a breakthrough, literally and figuratively, for the club—it was created by breaking down a wall that had separated it from the main grill, and has had immediate appeal to members desiring a more casual venue.

“We kept the committee small and made sure it would be action-oriented,” says Schonbraun. “We put members on it who would be able to quickly and expertly answer questions as our contractors brought them up, such as Meg Jacobs, who is an interior designer. And we put Joe Bier in charge of the committee, because he knows how to run projects.”

Bier, President of an electrical manufacturing company,  cites three keys to running the project efficiently: being accessible, being responsive, and then getting out of the way. “The committee was empowered to make decisions on the fly, so the professionals we had hired wouldn’t have to wait three days for answers,” he says. “But our job was not to impart our own tastes, just to provide answers expediently and then let the experts do their jobs. This was also important for fighting the ‘scope creep’ that occurs when too many people try to make their own imprints and add their own preferences.”

With the leadership provided by Schonbraun and John Fanburg, who succeeded him as President in 2011, and the on-point direction from Bier’s committee as well as Wolsky, who provided knowledge of how the club needed to function in both the front and back of the house (the renovations also included a complete overhaul of the kitchen), the project was completed in time for members’ return for the 2012 season.

The Big Reveal
From the moment they came back, walked past the building’s familiar stone facade and through the same front doors, members found a breathtaking new, contemporary-yet-classic look within a clubhouse that had been transformed from top to bottom of each room—starting with the entrance lobby, moving into the members’ lounge, with its distinctive vaulted-beam ceiling that can also be easily rearranged for functions, and extending through several dining venues and the locker room areas.

In addition to the physical upgrades made in each room, the project included a start-to-finish makeover of furnishings, tabletop settings and other aspects of decor for all of Mountain Ridge’s dining venues.

The most dramatic change was seen in the new sports pub, which represented a breakthrough for the club, literally and figuratively. The wall that had separated the old card-and-storage room from the main grill and bar had been blown out, and the two rooms, originally created on different levels as a result of the piecemeal approach, were now connected with a small flight of steps.

“Our average age has been going down a lot, and [the pub] has been a great use of the space that’s being enjoyed by all members, but especially younger members,” Wolsky says. “We had already relaxed our rules to allow jeans on Friday nights, and now our decor caught up with that trend.”

Other dining options in the clubhouse also received significant transformations. A more formal dining area adjacent to the lounge now boasts banquette seating, a new restaurant market-style wine display and an upscale coffee station. Just outside the grill room, half of an expanded patio that can now accommodate 120 people is reserved as a place where children under 10 can be seated with their families.

The small dining room reflected how the project helped Mountain Ridge recapture its grand traditions while taking important steps into today’s, and tomorrow’s, club world. Like many clubs, the walls of the room had displayed hand-painted, but now badly faded, listings of club and tournament champions. As part of the room’s upgrade, these signs were lovingly recreated, using the same historical colors and fonts, and put back in the same position.

Mountain Ridge CC has restored its grandeur while updating its appeal and functionality.

The makeover of each dining area also included start-to-finish rethinking of every aspect of their decor. “We changed silverware, plates, menus, linens—even staff uniforms,” says Wolsky.  The changes, in total, offered enough new eye appeal on their own to allow windows to remain “fairly uncovered,” notes Judd Brown, providing the added bonuses of natural lighting and enjoyable views throughout the building.

The renovation also prompted Mountain Ridge to create a position for a Food & Beverage Director and hire Ruan Silva, previously with the Sea Island resort in Georgia and the Ritz-Carlton organization, to help take all aspects of its F&B operation to a new level. The added focus and investment has already paid off—Wolsky says the club has seen a 25% increase in F&B revenues this year. That business, currently totaling $1.6 million annually, is split equally between a la carte and member-sponsored events—and “both areas are going up” as a result of the changes that have been made, Wolsky says.

“It’s amazing what you can get used to with how a club looks—and how much of a lift you can get by upgrading everything to provide comfortable dining venues that fit with the times,” Wolsky adds. “It was an action-packed year, but we definitely hit a home run, all the way around.”

Cold Spring Country Club in Huntington, N.Y.

Designing a dynamic locker room that’s more than just a way station requires a blend of comfort, service and style.

The locker room is the place where members and guests can let their guard down and be 100 percent comfortable while transitioning from workout mode to waking life. It is a personal space that often sets the social tone for the entire property. Although many clubhouses and resort properties are moving toward a more casual atmosphere overall, putting comfort first within the locker room goes a long way.

“We want our members to enjoy the locker room; we want them to feel like they can come in here any time and feel like it is theirs,” says Terry Leibowitz, Director of Marketing at The Clubs of Kingwood in Kingwood, Texas.

Wide-Open Space
The locker room at the Lansing (Mich.) Country Club has evolved through the years. “The original idea for the locker room was for it to be a place to change your shoes after a round,” says John Lindert, Director of Golf. “But with the advent of soft spikes and more tennis shoe-like shoes for golf, people can travel easier. The use of the locker room was starting to wane a bit because of that. So the locker room had to take on a different function.”

Lansing CC’s locker room regained its relevance when the club transformed the men’s card room and bar area within the locker room into a 900-sq. ft. fitness facility for both men and women. “Fitness facilities are an up-and-coming necessity of country clubs, and this area was very accessible for our members,” says Lindert. “We decided this was a better utilization of that space.”

The fitness facility has helped breathe new life into the men’s locker room. “With the fitness facility, the locker room has regained its functionality and usefulness,” says Lindert. “Now, people are using it before and after a workout during their lunch hour.”

Although the new fitness area replaced the more social areas of the locker room, it is still a lively space thanks to its open design. The locker room has a 30-foot cathedral ceiling with wooden beams that are about 20 feet above the floor. Two oversized round skylights on either side of the ceiling draw natural light into the locker room from both sides.

“When you have a locker room with low ceilings, it feels more cramped,” says Lindert. “With high ceilings, you can still have lockers side by side, without feeling like sardines. A lot of times clubs don’t take into account the amount of space needed in a golf locker room; people are bringing gym bags, suits, golf attire and so on. Once it all starts spreading out, members need space.”

Luckily, the men at Lansing CC have that room. The aisles within the locker banks are six feet wide, offering members plenty of space to move around and change comfortably. The lockers all have benches in front of them for either sitting on or holding their belongings. The benches are carpeted on top and have solid wood legs that match the wooden lockers. There are also stand-alone vanities at the end of the locker banks.

A loveseat and a handicap computer set up in the front of the locker room provide a sort of gathering area. The club posts event promotions and sign-ups in this area as well.

“The locker room is still a social area,” says Lindert. “There are groups of friends in different locker banks because the guys want their lockers by their friends.”

Men’s Locker Room at Lansing (Mich.) Country Club

Ladies First
To offer its female members a more fulfilling club experience, Cold Spring Country Club in Huntington, N.Y., invested $1.1 million into a ladies’ locker room renovation. “We didn’t just want to renovate the space, we wanted to take it to the next level,” says Tucker Burns, General Manager. “If you are going to bring a country club to a certain level of service, your clubhouse and the amenities, like the locker room, have to go along with that.”

The former locker room space was gutted to the core. The old locker room’s dusty, rose-colored metal lockers were replaced with 24-inch walnut-colored wooden lockers, all personalized with the club member’s name. Each locker has double doors and two sliding drawers for shoes.

The wet areas of the locker room—including the restrooms, showers, sinks and vanities—were updated with the highest-quality finishes. The shower area has radiant heat flooring and the luxurious showers have glass tiles and quartz and crystal walls. The club even imported granite from Italy for all the countertops and vanities.

The new locker room is bedecked in soothing earth tones of blue and yellow. Along with natural light that flows into the locker room through windows near the ceiling, there are also sconces on the walls and built-in lighting above the lockers. Fresh white orchids and modern artwork add to the soothing tone within the space.

The Clubs of Kingwood (Texas)

One of the goals of the new ladies’ locker room was to transform the space into a special place for women to connect with one another and pamper themselves. A massage and facial room was added to the locker room, and the ladies’ card room and sitting area were both updated. The tables in the card room were refinished and stained with a walnut tone, to match the new lockers. The existing soft seating was reupholstered in earth tones that complement the locker room’s overall color scheme.

Since opening in April 2012, the club has seen an increase in overall usage among women—and the locker room is the top draw. “They want to move in! They are ecstatic about it and want to show it off to all of their guests,” says Burns. “Before the renovation, women would not even shower here. Now, they are spending more time in the locker room and are using the facility more.”

Contemporary Man Cave
When the movie “Tin Cup” was filmed at The Clubs of Kingwood in the mid-1990s, the club embraced the notoriety that came with being featured on the big screen. In fact, its men’s locker room was named the Tin Cup, to pay homage to the film. The locker room was decorated with movie memorabilia including still images from the film, cardboard cutouts of the cast led by Kevin Costner, and autographed flags and hats.

During a recent clubhouse renovation, however, the club decided it wanted to update the locker room with a more contemporary look, while still honoring the history and nostalgia of “Tin Cup.” The new locker room has marble flooring in the foyer and an updated wet area with marble countertops and modern finishes and fixtures.

Cold Spring Country Club in Huntington, N.Y.

“We still call the locker room the Tin Cup, but we reworked all the film images by putting them in frames that complement the more contemporary design work done in the space,” says Leibowitz. “The locker room still has the heritage and history from ‘Tin Cup’; it is now more tasteful, but still fun.”

One of the biggest goals for the locker room renovation was to boost the social aspect of the space. “It is important that the guys feel comfortable in their club,” says Leibowitz. “The new locker room is a ‘man cave.’ ”

Creating a dynamic bar space helped bring this goal to life. A warm color palette creates a homey and inviting feel throughout the bar area, with beige walls and deep mahogany wood trim. An L-shaped, chocolate-toned wood bar has a granite top; seating is provided by beige, high-back leather bar stools. High-top and round tables are also set up throughout the bar, providing the men with plenty of places to sit back to dine, drink and play cards. The bar also has flat-screen televisions mounted on the walls, and pool and shuffleboard tables are provided for in-room recreation.

“The guys are having a ball with it,” says Leibowitz. “They are even bringing in their laptops and doing fantasy football in there. They are spending more time in there overall.”

OKCGCC’s recently renovated kitchen

For club kitchens, a functional space that allows the culinary staff to perform to the best of its ability is a priority. So a good kitchen renovation must address common issues that arise day to day, like traffic flow for both wait staff and cooks.

But a great renovation also considers what members and guests want from their culinary experiences. As the backbone of food-and-beverage operations, club kitchens must be practical—but as shown by the following renovation examples (some complete, and some still in progress), it’s also OK to follow function with stellar form that you needn’t be embarrassed to show off.

Transparency, Through and Through
As a rule, back-of-house operations generally go unseen by the public. But the staff at Oklahoma City Golf & Country Club is so proud of its pristine, newly renovated culinary quarters, the Membership Director makes sure prospective members now get to see the kitchen on their tour of the property.

“We are very upfront about what we do,” says Oliver Boudin, CCM, CCE, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer for the Nichols Hills, Okla., club. “Our culinary team is engaged with the membership on a daily basis, so we wanted to make sure our members felt comfortable going into the kitchen, by opening a door to an area that a lot of people don’t usually get to see.”

With a banquet kitchen that dated back to 1954, Oklahoma City G&CC embarked on a renovation in January 2011 that would ease traffic-flow problems and handle increased volume, especially if two functions are going on simultaneously. With an investment of $2.5 million, the renovation was completed in June 2011 and immediately began to yield all anticipated benefits.

Because an aesthetically appealing kitchen was important to the club, it was redone with “subway tile” walls with green octagon accents and “evening lighting” that dials back the fluorescent glare. LED hood-system lights were also added, to provide an ethereal red effect.

The club can now host dinners of up to 30 at the chef’s table inside the kitchen, for those who want to be on the scene for a live culinary performance. But for those who can’t stand the heat (and thus might want to stay out of the kitchen), a camera system allows members from all over the club to see in during prep, adding to the complete transparency of the operation.

“Our members love seeing how clean and clear and organized everything is,” Boudin says. “We made it elegant, interesting and appealing to the eye.”

Employees put the audiovisual system to use as well. From within the kitchen, workers can see what’s going on in the club’s two other kitchens, as well as its main receiving and storage areas, on a 70-inch screen. They can even zoom in to see the preparation process via a Wi-Fi connection, and visual access to the kitchen is also made possible through virtual tours on the club’s website.

The slick layout of Oklahoma City G&CC’s newly renovated kitchen doesn’t just help everything look good; it ensures that it functions efficiently as well. To keep the kitchen fluid and able to handle dining functions of any size, volume or configuration, the equipment and tables are on wheels, so everything is moveable and adjustable. This flexibility also allows easier cleaning, as do three power-wash stations embedded into the walls and sloping floors angled toward drains that allow the kitchen to take on as much as four inches of water without damaging the flooring below.

One of the biggest issues the kitchen faced before the renovation was crossover from wait staff. The club is capable of hosting multiple banquet functions, so avoiding traffic jams by keeping the dish room easily accessible and increasing the number of plating lines helps to make sure employees move about the space effortlessly.

OKCGCC’s recently renovated kitchen

Though the renovation did not add space (the kitchen is about 4,500 sq. ft., and the receiving area remains 3,000 sq. ft.), it made better use of what space was available, including the addition of walk-in refrigerators that allow plates to be put on a racking system and rolled in for chilling or holding.

Now that the new kitchen has been in use for more than a year, Boudin would still like to have more space, especially in the dish room. But he and his staff are extremely proud of what’s been accomplished. He attributes the success of the project to the “crucial” planning process that produced a detailed agenda before demolition started.

“We like what we have,” Boudin says. “We might increase the size of it, but we’re very pleased with the end product.”

Open and Airy
As part of the second phase of a $27 million expansion project, Broken Sound Club in Boca Raton, Fla., seeks to “bring Disney World” to the club with a swimming pool complex now under construction. The project includes a casual Bistro restaurant, designed from scratch, that will be partially indoors, with an outdoor portion under cover, a pool deck and additional outdoor dining that covers almost an acre of land.

Construction of Broken Sound Club’s pool bistro

Taking into account the tremendous success of the chef’s table in its main clubhouse kitchen and the desire to make the pool area as open as possible, Broken Sound designed an open-kitchen concept for its Pool Bistro, where members and guests can have full viewing access to how the staff functions, from food prep to table service.

“It gives a feeling that you’re involved in the process and people can see what’s going on,” says General Manager John Crean, CCM, CEE. “People want to see the inner workings of an organization. So it’s educating members about what it takes to run a kitchen, and they can get a better understanding of what’s going on.”

From the buffet counter, customers will be able to see the largest back-of-house area, the display kitchen. The smaller, main prep kitchen will sit behind the display area. Both the indoor and outdoor snack bar walk-up windows, with self-serve yogurt and ice cream machines, will give members a view of the snack bar kitchen.

“Functionality is very important,” Crean says. “The less movement the chef has to do for prepping a course or product, the better. We don’t want him to have to run from one end of kitchen to the other—time is of the essence.”

Layout of Broken Sound club’s pool terrace (click to enlarge)

The driving factor in the design and construction of the new complex has been member usage. The club staff realized that a snack bar in the pool area wasn’t enough for a younger membership base that valued the club’s resort, fitness and swimming amenities. Crean acknowledges that this shortcoming helped to shape the design of the new Bistro, as Broken Sound now seeks to offer a well-rounded approach for both casual and formal dining to all segments of its membership.

The Bistro’s 30-foot, pie-shaped ceiling, with its beachy, Cape Cod feel, flows into the open kitchen, to keep the entire pool area and terrace open and airy. Broken Sound retrofitted equipment from its former Center Court Café to create the new pool eatery, and is also developing an upscale, Starbucks-style coffee shop offering juices, wheatgrass and health foods.
When complete, the bistro kitchen will measure about 3,400 sq. ft. Before construction, indoor, outdoor and terrace dining seated 66; now it will seat 205 with a wide variety of options, including indoor and outdoor “eat-at” bars, an indoor dining room, outdoor table dining and umbrella dining.

From a management standpoint, Crean says, having the kitchen on display allows employees to feel proud  of what they’re doing. “It introduces a level of pride to produce and perform work while being watched,” Crean says. “We have 350 employees, and the back of house is not always seen by members.”

Construction of the pool area began in mid-April; the goal is to have everything up and running in the week before Thanksgiving, to break in equipment and continue adjusting and shaping the menu in time for the arrival of vacation customers. For now, Crean is optimistic that all of the correct decisions have been made.

“Looking back, there’s nothing I would have changed,” he says. “When we get it up and running, we’ll have a better idea of what we could have or should have done. Everyone is comfortable with how things are going.”

Crean then offers “some words of wisdom” for the success of any such project:  “The input of anybody involved should be solicited.”

Rush-Hour Traffic
Necessity is the mother of renovation. For many clubs looking to redesign their kitchens, that necessity is creating efficient traffic flow with a thoughtful layout, particularly when a la carte and banquet service must co-exist.

On May 15, Shadow Wood Country Club in Bonita Springs, Fla., began construction to renovate its 12-year-old kitchen, which General Manager Bill Wagner described as “worn out.” The redesign was part of a $4.8 million renovation of Shadow Wood’s main clubhouse, which receives considerably more volume from its 1,100 members than its second clubhouse, nearly 7 miles away.

Shadow Wood CC’s ongoing kitchen renovation

While the rest of the clubhouse is set to be completed on November 7, the Shadow Wood kitchen staff is trying out its new digs ahead of schedule, testing ovens, training employees and loading storage areas.

The kitchen redesign incorporated standard upgrades, such as duct work, enlarging drains and updating floors according to ever-changing codes. But it also reconfigured the kitchen’s layout,  using a practical method.

“We put chalk lines on the floor to feel where pieces of equipment were going and to see if the traffic flow worked for the staff,” Wagner says. Throughout the pre-renovation process, Wagner called in the culinary team to get their input on the appropriate layout.

The result was to separate the a la carte and banquet kitchens, even though they remain under the same hood, by shifting a la carte to the front, closest to the dining room, and adding banquet preparation to the prep area in the back. Square footage for the space was increased by only 300 sq. ft. after switching out a wall, but that space is now being used more efficiently.

“[We] basically had a combination a la carte line and banquet line, and we couldn’t separate the functions,” Wagner says. “If we had an event going and a lot of diners came all of a sudden, there was a traffic jam in the kitchen, and the a la carte suffered.”

Bill Wagner, General Manager, Shadow Wood CC

The club also added two outdoor bars and a patio that seats over 100 people. Wagner anticipates a 20% bump in cover revenue because members will now have more choices. The club is also adding a small pastry area to devote more time to desserts. Other new features include a high-BTU steakhouse broiler and stainless-steel serving tables, while additional drawers and refrigerator space also help minimize movement for the cooks.

The best advice Wagner has to offer a club looking into a kitchen renovation is to hire a qualified kitchen designer. “In our case, [we found one] that designed and spec’d all the equipment [from their fabrication house] and came with a price for all equipment and installation,” he says. “It’s much easier and if there’s a problem, you can just switch it out.”

Still, Shadow Wood’s kitchen is brand new, so it’s difficult to determine what problems—if any—will arise. “As far as the kitchen layout goes, it looks like we did everything right. But the first person to tell me will be the executive chef,” Wagner says with a laugh.

Modern features complement the atmosphere created by an abundance of floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the club.

When you’ve run a club for 40 years, you get pretty good at recognizing and anticipating when a reality check is needed—and then moving quickly to identify and implement the best response.

Patrick Hebrard-Bopp, who has been the General Manager of the Petroleum Club of Fort Worth (PCFW) for two-thirds of the club’s existence, started to sense that his club was approaching another critical crossroads well before it was scheduled to renew its lease in the Carter-Burgess Tower in downtown Fort Worth. PCFW had occupied the top two (39th and 40th) floors of that Texas skyscraper (Fort Worth’s third-tallest building) for nearly 30 years. But Hebrard-Bopp knew that much had changed in the club world and that the end of the current lease would signal a time for a serious reassessment of PCFW’s spacial requirements and how it could best serve the needs of its members.

PROJECT SUMMARYClub: Petroleum Club of Fort Worth Location: Fort Worth, Texas Founded: 1953 Members: 1,200 Clubhouse Size: 20,000 sq. ft. Renovation Cost: $6 million Construction Dates: September 2010-April 2011 Architect: CCI Club Design Interior Design: CCI Club Design Project Highlights: Club operations were consolidated from two floors of high-rise building to one, with 95% of existing business retained. Unique 40th-floor patio space, with fireplace, flat-screen TV and exterior lounge furnishings, created by carving into high-rise building and constructing “curtain wall” for weather protection. Large functions can still be accommodated through state-of-the-art audio-visual system that allows speakers and programs to be transmitted to all club dining rooms.

“When we started in the building in 1982, we had 3,000 members and had a great lease, and having 40,000 sq. ft. on two floors was perfect,” Hebrard-Bopp says. “But now we were down to 1,200 members, and were looking at a drastic cost increase for when the lease would be renewed.

“I went to our Board and said we needed to look at all of our options,” he continues. “We had been in other buildings before, and we could look at moving again. But it was important for us as a city club, and as one that’s tied to the oil industry that’s a big part of this city’s business, to not only be downtown, but to be in one of the city’s most prominent buildings.

“We liked the parking arrangement we had here, and we liked the views we could offer from here. Everything about the space we had was comfortable—except there was too much of it, and it was going to get much more expensive.”

That’s when Hebrard-Bopp and the PCFW Board had an “aha” moment. Why not find a way to keep the club where it was, but only use—and pay for—the space it really needed?

This thought inspired Hebrard-Bopp to take a hard, objective look at how the club was currently configured. The more he looked, the more he realized that spreading out an operation over two floors, when it was now only about a third as large as when PCFW moved into the building, was really just wasting a lot of space. What’s more, most of that waste resided on the lower level, now largely devoted to storage, function rooms that weren’t fully used, and administrative areas.

We can stay here, he realized, and even keep our best floor, by just figuring out how to fit the club into half the space.

Putting It All in One Place
To help put that idea on paper, Hebrard-Bopp turned to a friendly and familiar source: CCI Club Design of Irving, Texas, which had designed the original layout over two floors when the club first moved to the Carter-Burgess Tower, and had later helped PCFW complete a major, $1.5 million refurbishing of selected portions in 1997.

The wine room at PCFW

In addition to comfortably and attractively accommodating what was still a sizable club operation in half the square footage, Hebrard-Bopp also told CCI he would want the change to include another major upgrade of decor and amenities, to ensure the club would appeal to the next generation of members. The new design would also have to be creative and flexible enough to still properly solicit and serve all the functions PCFW was used to having—some of which involved as many as 500 people.

“I told [CCI] that I wanted to keep the club aspect in how the space looked and felt, with rich woods and other touches and tones,” says Hebrard-Bopp. “But this was also a chance to transition to something completely different from what we’ve ever had, for a more contemporary look that wouldn’t have any suggestion of a drab place with your grandmother’s drapes.”

CCI helped to draw up plans for how all of these goals could be accomplished. But as the idea took shape, another reality hit home: Keeping PCFW in its present location, and positioning it to make an important transition to the next generation of membership, would not come cheaply, even for a project that would leave it with half as much space. The project priced out at $6 million, including new furnishings. “We had $3 million in the bank, but didn’t want to assess members or take on debt,” says Hebrard-Bopp. “Fortunately, the plans generated enough excitement that another $3 million was raised through voluntary contributions.”

Going Out with a Bang
With assurance that the needed funds would be available, the next challenge was to funnel the club operation upwards and into half the space, with minimal disruption. “We always strive to keep clubs open and advise they never be shut down completely during renovations, so members are never fully deprived of club amenities,” says Patrick Hazard, AIA, CCI’s VP Architect who served as Project Manager.

General Manager Patrick Hebrard-Bopp has directed PCFW’s operations for 40 years—and can now keep up with it all in half the steps.

In this case, however, the club’s kitchen was on the upper floor, which would have to be completely demolished before it could be redone. As a result, some important final purposes were conceived for the lower floor, before it and PCFW would go their separate ways. During the rebuilding of the “new” 40th floor, the 39th floor was kept open, and a temporary kitchen was constructed out of storage space.

“This actually worked out well because it gave us a chance to bring in, test out and get experience with some of the new kitchen equipment that was being ordered, by putting it to use in the temporary kitchen first,” says Hazard.
Construction at PCFW—which in this case involved equal amounts of deconstruction—began in September 2010. Seven months later, the streamlined, one-floor version of the club was unveiled. And for an organization that was pushing 60 years old, it was now looking pretty youthful and up with the times.

Keeping Everyone Connected
New spaces that were created for the club through the renovation included a main dining room with an arched ceiling that seats 120; a bar lounge with a unique oval ceiling and glowing, backlit amber back bar; two smaller dining/function rooms, the Permian and Derrick  rooms, that seat 36 and 30; a wine room, surrounded by conditioned wine cabinets and an adjacent cellar, with seating for 12; and the Wildcatters Room, with banquet space for up to 300.

While the new Wildcatters Room does not have enough capacity by itself to always accommodate groups wanting to use PCFW for their functions, the club is now equipped to handle even larger meetings, thanks to “virtual banquet” capabilities. Made possible by state-of-the-art audio-visual equipment, including telephones, cameras, projectors and drop-down screens, speakers’ programs in the Wildcatters Room (or other parts of the club) can now be transmitted to the main dining room and other dining/function spaces.

Floor plan of post-renovation PCFW (click to enlarge)

Other new features that came with the renovation included a dance floor with a DJ station, and a large built-in buffet that can be accessed from every dining room on the floor.

The fact that the club is 400 feet above the ground also didn’t keep the PCFW renovation from getting in on the “indoor/outdoor connectivity” trend that marks many of today’s country club and golf course design and redesign projects.

Upon returning to their re-imagined club, PCFW members found the delightful surprise of a new open-air patio off the main dining room, with a glass and steel guardrail where windows once were. The exterior space is less than 200 sq. ft., but includes an outdoor fireplace, flat-screen TV and inviting exterior lounge furnishings, and can accommodate “a dozen or so” people comfortably, according to John Herron, FIIDA, CCI’s Senior VP, Interior Design.

Creating the patio was “quite the engineering feat,” Herron adds. The exterior space literally had to be carved out of the building and a “curtain wall” was erected to create a non-structural, independent exterior that provides weather protection. This aspect of the project needed special permitting and was subjected to extra scrutiny during the design review—but all of the effort proved well worth it, as soon as members discovered and enjoyed even more spectacular views of the Fort Worth skyline and surrounding area than can be seen through the abundance of floor-to-ceiling picture windows in the rest of the club.

“We keep the patio open every day,” says Hebrard-Bopp. “It’s not for parties, it’s just for people and small groups to be able to go out and use whenever they’d like. We’ll serve breakfast and lunch out there if requested. When it gets to be 100 degrees in the summer, it doesn’t get used that much, but all of the rest of the time, it’s been very popular.”

Winning Everyone’s Vote of Approval
In the year and a half since the Petroleum Club of Fort Worth started its new lease on life, “popular” has been the operative word for how a one-floor operation has been received by existing members, prospective ones, and the club’s staff.

PCFW’s new patio, off the main dining room, is less than 200 sq. ft., but has opened up a vast new world to the club and its members.

“We’ve had an increase in membership and [the new look] is really helping to attract younger members,” says Sandy Drake, the club’s Membership and Private Events Director. The ability to spread functions through a variety of rooms and connect them via the new A/V system is proving to be another plus, she adds. “Many of our [function] clients like the flexibility of not having to put everyone in one big banquet room, and the intimacy this can offer for all or part of their group,” she says. “Some companies are now having many more regular functions with us than they did before, because of what we can now offer.”

From an operations standpoint, Hebrard-Bopp says, service is now “infinitely more efficient” with everything concentrated on one floor. “Something is ready in the kitchen and zoom, we take it to the right dining room,” he says. “No more carts up and down between the floors.”

Adding the dance floor and hiring a DJ to make full use of the new sound system, instead of bringing in live bands as the club used to do three nights a week, has proved to be another win-win example of the benefits of taking the club to a (single) new level, Hebrard-Bopp adds. “It’s way less expensive, much easier to set up, and most importantly, gives the members and guests exactly what they want for their entertainment,” he says. “If you want cha-cha or Lady Gaga, the DJ can provide it.”

All of the new PCFW dining and function rooms are connected through a state-of-the-art audio-visual system that allows the club to still accommodate groups as large as 500 through “virtual banquet” capabilities.

There are some things about the way the Petroleum Club of Fort Worth used to be structured, Hebrard-Bopp admits, that he, and members, still miss. “We did have a beautiful staircase that connected the two floors that of course had to go,” he says. “But it was clear that we just couldn’t keep that much space; we  would have had to raise dues too much.

“It’s a different time in the club industry; we can see that from how some of the clubs we have reciprocity with have been struggling,” he says. “If you don’t stay up with the times, you can’t survive.

“We’ve kept 95% of the business we had before while now being on one floor, with a smaller staff and less operating expense, and while offering better service and amenities to our members,” Hebrard-Bopp says. “I think it’s clear this was what we needed to do to keep our status and tradition, while also positioning ourselves properly for the future.”

Patio at Hawthorn Woods (Ill.) Country Club

One of the biggest draws at clubs and resorts is the lush scenery and grounds. Well-appointed patios are the perfect way to offer members and guests a chance to enjoy their surroundings, while also increasing food and beverage revenue and activity at the property.

When the leadership at Hawthorn Woods (Ill.) Country Club sought a way to improve amenities and increase club use, they looked outside. The club expanded its patio space to create a dynamic outdoor dining venue with resort-inspired style.

“More people are opting to stay close to home with ‘staycations’ these days,” says Terry Hanley, General Manager of the suburban Chicago club. “We knew that if we added resort-like amenities to our club, it would go a long way.”

The club’s former patio was a standard cement slab located just outside the dining room that had 12 tables with umbrellas and chairs. While the patio was popular in warm months, expanding it would take it to the next level. “Our concept for the patio expansion was to build it like a residential backyard, so members would be comfortable and want to spend time at the club for a while,” says Hanley.

To make this concept a reality, the club built additional patio spaces on either side of the existing patio. The new south-side addition is located just outside the men’s locker room, and is typically used for casual, after-golf cocktails. A small lawn area separates this patio space from the expanded north side, which  is connected to the casual dining room and is typically utilized for al fresco dining and drinks. The entire patio area overlooks the putting green, chipping area and driving range.

Patio at Hawthorn Woods (Ill.) Country Club

The expanded patios were built with the same cement flooring and red brick paver border as the original patio. “We wanted to make sure it looked like all the patio areas tied together,” says Hanley. “It looks as if the new patios have been there since day one.”

In addition to the existing dining tables and chairs, the club added 18 seats with oversized, cushioned chairs, loveseats and coffee tables set up in conversation areas. An outdoor sound system with four speakers pipes music through the patio at all times. The lawn area between the north and south patios is sometimes used as a stage area for live music.

The club added three gas fire pits—one in the south patio and two in the north patio—to extend the time that members could enjoy the outdoors as the weather cools. Grounds staff built the remaining parts of the fire pits with natural stones that match the stone detailing on the clubhouse.

“[Our members] often meet outside by the fire pits and then stay for the evening,” says Hanley. “Fire and music are amazing elements to bring people together.”

Patio at Hawthorn Woods (Ill.) Country Club

To establish lively and comfortable ambiance, the club planted native plants and shrubbery along the border of the patio. Copper tiki torches are also set up throughout the entire patio, while indirect lighting from the clubhouse provides a warm glow to the area after sundown.

In its first season, the improved patio is a hit. “The patio has become an extension of our dining room and has increased our cover count,” says Hanley. “We thought we would see [a return on the investment] in a year or two. But I believe we’ve already had the return with the incremental revenues it has generated. It is definitely one of the best investments we’ve made.”

Dining at Porter’s Pub at Bowes Creek Country Club

Porter’s Pub at Bowes Creek Country Club offers patrons an authentic English experience while immersed in a picturesque golf setting.

Porter’s Pub at Bowes Creek Country Club in Elgin, Ill., is an English-style pub that offers more than a few pints. As a versatile and stylish casual bar and restaurant, Porter’s Pub is a top draw at the club. The pub is divided into four different areas: the bar, the dining room, the private dining room and the patio.

Large windows provide views of the club’s lush golf course and grounds from all three areas, creating an open and inviting feel as the natural light flowing through the pub complements the breezy vibe and lively crowd. The windows are dressed in wooden blinds that are left open all day, with the exception of sunset, when they are adjusted. The pub has adjustable can lighting, along with tan lantern-like chandeliers that provide both style and function.

Porter’s Pub Bowes Creek Country Club Elgin, Ill. Opened: September 2009 Dining Option: Bar, traditional dining, outdoor dining, private dining Capacity: Bar: 70; restaurant: 140; private dining: 30 Menu: Steak, salmon, meatloaf, pot pie, sandwiches and burgers Architect: Dan Nicholas, PHN Architects Designer: Jerome Eastman Suppliers: Custom-made interior furnishings per Jerome Eastman; Tropitone patio furniture Fixtures: Various Cooper supplies with some light fixtures designed by Jerome Eastman

Porter’s Pub was designed as a traditional English public house. This motif is brought to life with a wide range of materials and textures, from rich woods and stone to tin and brass. Two large stone fireplaces—one in the bar and one in the dining room—warm up the space. The bar area’s tin ceiling with wooden beams creates a unique environment. The bar floor is made of small yellow, tan and white tiles, while the dining area has medium wood flooring. The English pub style is further expressed through oversized tap handles on the bar and medium-wood window casing and crown molding.

Upon entering the pub, members and guests are welcomed by the oversized horseshoe-shaped wooden bar, complemented from behind by sparkling glass shelves and mirrors.

“The bar is very important. You need to make it friendly and approachable,” says Heather Weaver, the pub’s Manager (Porter’s Pub is run for Bowes Creek CC by Carlucci Hospitality Group).

The bar area is a lively, casual space that’s popular among golfers. Eight flat-screen televisions are mounted on the walls, making it the perfect venue for watching sporting events. Along with bar seating for 15, high tops are set up throughout the bar area with the same round, wood, leather and brass bar stools. Comfortable black leather armchairs and coffee tables along the windows provide patrons with a relaxed seating option that highlights the club’s scenic surroundings.

Porter’s Pub also offers more traditional dining in the adjacent room. Round and square dining tables are set up in the middle of the room, while family-friendly booth seating lines the perimeter. Off the dining room, a patio area is set up with cast-iron tables with green umbrellas and wicker chairs that overlook the course and the club’s Great Lawn, which is often used for outdoor events and entertainment.

“We have the public coming in here, so it was important for golfers to have a place to come in and enjoy food and drinks, and it was important to have a dining room for families,” says Weaver.