New Albany (Ohio) Country Club

Through active communication among staff and with the membership, New Albany Country Club makes recreational program coordination look easy.

On either side of its U-shaped driveway, New Albany (Ohio) Country Club (NACC) is divided into two parts: the clubhouse and dining on the right, with the Bath and Tennis building on the left. Joining the two sides are meandering brick sidewalks set among blooming trees.

While these two parts of the campus are physically separate, the staff on both sides creates one mission to help members relax, rejuvenate and enjoy themselves. This united front is aided by consistent interdepartmental communication that has a singular focus: maintaining a meaningful dialogue with members.

A Resort in Your Backyard
“Our work always counts toward our members—we care and it shows,” says Tony Shill, General Manager of the private, 1,300-member club located in a suburb of the Ohio state capital, Columbus. Shill, whose background is in resorts, likens the club to a “resort where the guests don’t check out.” But he acknowledges the added complexities of maintaining a core membership, rather than a revolving door of guests.

Recreation Profile New Albany Country Club New Albany (Ohio) Country Club Location: New Albany, Ohio Year Opened: 1992 No. of members: 1,300 Facilities: Pools (family—6,378 sq. ft.; adult—1,898 sq. ft.; slide—1,400 sq. ft.; baby—448 sq. ft.; indoor—2,145 sq. ft.); fitness (strength and cardio room—4,500 sq. ft., renovated April 2012; two public group fitness rooms and one private); tennis (12 clay courts, 4 hard courts, 2 grass courts); youth (junior lounge, playroom, outdoor camp hut for summer)

“A lot of clubs live and die by membership,” he notes. “We live and die by usage and satisfaction, and that’s where our efforts are.”

Those efforts are apparent not only in the physical layout of the club’s campus—which gives equal, if not additional, space to recreational programs—but in the ongoing evolution of the fitness, tennis, aquatics and youth departments. But without dedicated, passionate staff, that “internal growth,” as Wendy Fraley, Fitness and Aquatics Director, calls it, would not be possible.

“We have people who are passionate about hospitality,” Fraley says. “Degrees don’t matter—it’s all about finding the right individuals. If you provide great service, the revenue comes.”

In nearly every communication with members, the NACC staff spreads the word about new events and programs,  striving to find new ways to bring more people to the property. And with 50% of members joining the club through referrals, it’s not a bad method.

The NACC staff aims to keep the entire family at the club all day whenever possible. The aquatics and tennis programs coordinate clinic and lesson schedules, so any child interested in both can participate in both. Further, youth events like sand art and tie-dyeing will be frequently scheduled poolside, to combine amenities and keep kids engaged throughout the day.

And after a parent calls Youth Activities Supervisor Erin DeWalt to reserve a spot for his or her child for a cooking class, laser tag outing, or meet-and-greet with popular musicians like Hot Chelle Rae, DeWalt will then offer to transfer the call to the clubhouse, for parents-only dinner reservations.

Beyond Word of Mouth
Certainly, the value of word-of-mouth marketing cannot be understated at NACC, with DeWalt reporting that personal invitations are the most effective way to bring in members for new events.

However, members whose participation has waned, or those who are a bit shy, could find themselves out of the loop. As a result, technology-based marketing efforts have been implemented at the club to reach out through laptops, cell phones, iPads—and even to “tease” potential members.

The club’s marketing team developed a smartphone app for members that’s updated daily, with group fitness class schedules and details about spa offerings, as well as dining menus. Ashley Rumschlag, Membership and Marketing Director, estimates that 20% of members have downloaded the app. Further, interactive touch-screen monitors are placed throughout the club’s campus that display the same information, allowing members to coordinate their schedules.

NACC’s fitness center offers 75 group fitness classes a week, including fusion classes like cy-ga, which combines cycling and yoga into a one-hour workout.

Non-members can catch a glimpse of the club’s amenities and robust activities schedule by flicking through the digital “Happenings” document on NACC’s website. All of these digital efforts work toward increasing activity at the club.

While the staff generates plenty of ideas for entertaining members, getting members to the facility in the first place inevitably results in more ideas and usage. One well-executed pirate-themed birthday party for a child, for example, can also yield a luxurious spa party for his satisfied mother. “We’re starting to get repeating members for parties,” DeWalt explains, “and it’s so wonderful when they trust you with that celebration.”

Though the club has no member-based governing body or committees, open forums give the staff the opportunity to hear what the largely young, family-based membership hopes to find at their club.

One of the most surprisingly successful events for the youth department came through a Pokemon club party, per a member suggestion. “Twenty-five kids came with their stacks of cards,” DeWalt reports. “We just opened the door and let them enjoy their niche.”

“We’re a business, but we’re not always right,” Fraley adds. “We connect with parents, read, and keep growing.”

Little of This, Little of That
To give members the chance to try something outside their wheelhouse, the fitness and youth departments both hold “marathon” events, in which members can sample and experience other activities within the department. To help build awareness of all that’s offered, the youth program offers a mix of tae kwon do, gymnastics and tennis lessons.

Fitness and Aquatics Director Wendy Fraley shows off the interactive touch-screen monitors that give members quick access to fitness class schedules, events, and dining menus.

“We also worked on branding and developed the name Club Lane Kidz for the summer camp,” DeWalt explains. “By giving it a name, we’re zeroing in on a resort feel, so kids can feel like they’re a part of something.”

The method of creating a community is even more important for enticing the most stubborn demographic: teens. “It’s the toughest group to get,” DeWalt says. “Once you get them, though, they flock in with their friends.”

The fitness department’s marathon is a series of four introductory classes, held back-to-back at 25 minutes each. In addition to showcasing offerings to curious members, it’s also useful for advanced members who just want two hours of exercise, explains Jeffrey Stack, Fitness and Aquatics Manager.

“We know every member,” Stack says, referring to the advantage the club has over big-box retail gyms. “Our front-line staff greets and takes care of members. We know if they want to be approached, or if they just want personal time.”

That knowledge also lets staff know if members are interested in expanding involvement into group fitness classes, which incorporate the social component, or personal training sessions, which include a complimentary initial consultation in a more private setting. A core group of fitness enthusiasts attends the fitness center’s monthly wellness seminars, where a dietician speaks about various topics, ranging from sleep patterns, juicing, cooking with herbs, and the benefits of wine.

“There’s always a new fitness craze,” Stack explains, “and we keep up on the pulse of the industry.” The program offers a four-month rotation schedule of group classes, with about 75 classes offered per week. The staff has even worked to combine different fitness methods through fusion classes, such as cy-ga (cycling and yoga), and spin & sculpt.

NACC’s aquatics program offers clinics, swim and dive teams, and group lessons through which beginners can climb the “Penguin Learn-to-Swim Ladder.”

“We have a talented team, and members are always looking for the best one-hour fitness bang for their buck,” Stack says.

Fuel for Fitness
With a goal of keeping members on the property all day, the club needed to develop a method to keep them energized in a healthy way. When NACC opened in 1992, the Sports Café served as an outlet for the kitchen, but two years ago, with the nudging of members, it evolved into a multi-purpose nutritious food center.

Under the advisement of Manager Maureen Newton, who is also a holistic health coach, the Sports Café offers options for members with food sensitivities and allergies, while featuring “super foods” extensively on the menu. Cleansing programs, smoothies, to-go dining options seven days a week, and poolside service round out the offerings.

Conveniently located in the Bath and Tennis building, members can take a breather in the café, between swimming lessons or personal training sessions, for healthy refueling. With plans to develop healthy cooking classes for gluten- and allergy-free eating at home, the café is continuing to grow in step with demand.

Post-workout relaxation can also be achieved through the club’s spa offerings, including Swedish massage, deep-tissue, sports massage, pregnancy massage, and rolfing, a specialized form of massage that’s not immediately pleasant but provides extensive long-term benefits. A full-service barber and salon is  also available in the Bath and Tennis building.

Upping the Game
With many program coordinators and managers joining the club staff within the past five years, NACC’s management is inherently forward-thinking and brimming with ideas. But with plenty of other options in the community for tennis players, the club had to up its game.

New Albany (Ohio) Country Club

“You need talent to fill up 18 courts,” Fraley says, nodding to Steve Miller, Junior Tennis Pro. “We have two major competitors within a mile each way. The challenge is to keep kids here because they can leave any second, especially if their friends aren’t members.”

Now in his third season with the club, Miller was brought in to help rejuvenate the program. Since his arrival, participation in the indoor tennis program has doubled (the addition of a tennis bubble hasn’t hurt, either), and the winter program is at capacity. During the summer, Miller notes, he easily puts in 70 hours a week to keep the kids happy and help them continue to improve.

The tennis staff meets frequently to assess issues and analyze the program as a team. They work together to keep what’s good and get rid of what’s fading, while staying mindful that they are running a business.

But for Miller, regardless of numbers and statistics, it seems that the simplest moments end up being the best reward. “My happiest moment came during the Junior Tennis Academy,” he explains. “The courts were full, the kids were having fun and getting better, and the parents were watching from the sidelines, happy with the progress.”

The Club at Admirals Cove, Jupiter, Fla.

Fitness professionals at clubs are challenged to find the proper balance between trendy and practical equipment for their facilities—without tipping the scales.

Like any industry that incorporates technology, trends can be fickle in the fitness business. Constantly changing announcements of the “next big thing” create a cycle of all-the-rage crazes that fizzle out just as quickly when their effectiveness is debunked.

While commercial gyms get caught up in all the latest crazes, fitness facilities at clubs tend to take a more conservative approach, to ensure a worthwhile investment in fitness equipment. Clubs must strike the proper balance between meeting members’ desires to have the latest equipment on hand, and purchasing equipment that will continue to be used for years, rather than gather dust.

Pam Thrailkill, Director of Fitness at West Lake Country Club in Augusta, Ga., stays aware of trends through a judicious mix of listening to member requests and attending yearly fitness conferences.

“I get introduced to all the new toys,” Thrailkill says. “But I don’t consider buying a new piece of equipment until I see it a few times at [major shows] and hear other professionals and peers talk about it. We put any member request on our wish list, but we don’t run out and buy it.”

In addition to considering member requests, some clubs, such as Round Hill Country Club in Alamo, Calif., have members help with the research.

“We try to avoid purchasing trendy equipment; however, something could be ‘trendy’ yet effective,” says Shannon Anastasio, Fitness Director. “That said, before purchasing a piece of equipment that may fall into this category, we will demo the piece to get member feedback. We take member requests and feedback into consideration, and seek to educate them as to why a piece of equipment may or may not be the best fit.

“Ultimately, we want to provide what members want and will use, while also considering the fitness center’s mission and vision,” Anastasio says.

Making Due
Just six months after West Lake CC invested in 55 pieces of fitness equipment, the manufacturer went out of business. Fortunately, the club has a maintenance engineer on staff to keep the equipment in good shape. “Before it all hit the fan, our engineer was able to take training classes with [the company] to maintain and work on the equipment,” Thrailkill explains.

The facility is designed to be unsupervised, apart from group classes, and a true extension of home. Her staff keeps an eye on members when they use the facility, Thrailkill says, but she finds that the population is “pretty educated” and “fitness savvy,” so misuse is not common.

“We’ve added little things to make it more ‘unsupervised friendly’ on a 24/7 basis, like TVs in the studio, both for entertainment and so a member can plug in a DVD for P90, and they can use equipment they may not have at home,” Thrailkill says.

The Club at Admirals Cove implemented a simple system for members in a walk-in closet to be sure every ball, mat, blanket or block is in its designated place.

Though the club bought its fitness equipment through what Thrailkill calls a “screamin’ good deal” nearly six years ago, equipment problems have been few and far between. The only piece of equipment that has been replaced was an elliptical in favor of a rowing machine—and that was just a few weeks ago.

“We had huge demand from members for something different for a total-body cardio experience,” Thrailkill says. “The timing was right and we found a good deal. Through good relationships with businesses in town, we heard about one willing to turn [a rowing machine] loose for half the price.”

The free area of the facility, which resembles a personal training studio with functional rather than static equipment, is the most active, Thrailkill says. Last year, she convinced the club’s Board, GM and golf pro to purchase a True Stretch stretching station. Now, she says, it’s one of the most popular pieces of equipment.

“Personally, I want to train to support my lifestyle,” Thrailkill says. “So my goal for everyone here is to improve their ‘game of life’ as well as their golf or tennis games, so they come back in the fitness center.”

Suitable Space
Food-and-beverage programs aren’t the only way clubs can cater offerings to members. The Club at Admirals Cove in Jupiter, Fla., altered its previously standardized fitness program to suit the needs of its members, some of whom suffer from poor cardiac health, diabetes and other age-related maladies.

“Because of the clientele we have and the fact that they’re not all apparently healthy, our main goal was to transition from standard offerings into a combination of balance training, coordination and agility, to keep members injury-free and active,” says Pamela Caldwell, Director of Spa, Salon & Fitness.

The layout of the fitness facility is especially mindful of safety, Caldwell notes. With four feet of space behind each treadmill and three feet between them, members have more space to maneuver around the 10,000-plus sq. ft. facility.

The club’s new fitness facility opened in November 2012. To keep members informed about how to operate the new equipment, the Admirals Cove staff created a booklet that listed all of the equipment, its features and guidelines for proper use, and offered 20 orientation sessions a week for members. The equipment manufacturer trained with the club’s staff for more than a week, to be sure they knew the ins and outs.

The club’s General Manager, John Herring, pushed for the fitness facility to offer treadmills that are recessed into the floor, not only to create a clean and stylish look with hidden wires and cords, but also to minimize accidents from tripping or stepping off the equipment.

“By nature, a country club [fitness center] will provide more open space versus a commercial club,” Caldwell says. “We took a look at the need to do functional training with our members, and we did a lot of research and met with a lot of fitness companies to make the decision about what was best.”

The Storage Challenge
For small equipment, Admirals Cove has a separate walk-in closet, where every mat, ball or band has a designated spot. The simple system encourages members to clean up after themselves. “It always looks very neat and keeps the aerobics room clutter-free,” Caldwell says.

Though it took some convincing, the True Stretch proved to be a worthwhile investment for West Lake CC, with some golfers and tennis players coming to the facility just to use it.

At Round Hill CC, space is a challenge. With strength equipment grouped together and cardio equipment situated to give users easier access from the back, there is little room for storage. Most of the smaller equipment is placed in the Functional Fitness Room for easy access, Anastasio explains.

“Our facility is unique in that most, if not all, of the equipment is fully utilized either by personal trainers and their clients or members themselves,” Anastasio says. “The challenge for us is not in finding fitness equipment—it’s finding the space to place it in the facility.”
However, it seems that one non-fitness-related item—TV—is the glue that holds most club fitness facilities together.

“Back in the day, they didn’t have TVs on equipment,” laughs Caldwell of Admirals Cove. “Now, when the TV goes down, it’s like World War III—anything to distract them from exercise.”

The Club at Admirals Cove’s fitness center equipment overview pamphlet

Ten bodies of water can be found on the CC of Colorado’s property, including a slew of indoor and outdoor pools, a 35-acre lake, and a new splash park.

The Country Club of Colorado cultivates a healthy, positive environment for its active members—and applies the same collaborative philosophy to the management styles of each of its recreation departments.

Conceived as the private gem of 216 acres that would become Cheyenne Mountain Resort, the Country Club of Colorado has promoted healthy activity from day one.

In 1973, the Colorado Springs, Colo., property made its first stride toward active recreation, when the Gates Land Company selected Pete Dye Sr. to design and build its 9-hole golf course around a spring-fed lake known as Curr Reservoir.

Since then, the club’s golf, aquatics, tennis and fitness programs have grown so popular, the word “overflow” is frequently used to describe member events and activities. Keeping members motivated and involved is a result of a club-wide commitment to exemplary customer service.

Water, Water Everywhere
With ten bodies of water on the CC of Colorado property, including a slew of indoor and outdoor pools, a new splash park for the young ones, and a 35-acre lake, an efficient, organized aquatics program that incorporates classes, lessons and events to entice new members is a necessity.

Aquatics Operations Manager Cody M. Pope ensures the program is polished and seamless in all aspects, from the front-line staff to the clarity of all the water on the property.

“Our overall goal is to continue providing an experience for our members that they and their guests will remember,” Pope explains. “If they are coming for exercise or a relaxing day by the water’s edge to soak up some sun, they are to feel as though they are at home—comfortable and at peace.”

CC of Colorado’s aquatics program has partnered with Cheyenne Mountain Aquatics to bring a swim-team element to the club, which Pope says saw a significant increase in participation in 2012. Paddle boats, kayaks, sail boats and bumper boats on the private lake have proved to be a big hit as well, and water-based aerobic classes overflow—there’s that word again—the adult pool.

For those who prefer to stay dry, sand volleyball courts, horse shoes, bocce—and of course, a pool snack bar—surround the glimmering lake for beach lovers.

Through a partnership with Pikes Peak Athletics, the club offers swim lessons and camps for club members and the surrounding community, to help develop confidence in the water. For this summer’s camp, a swimming competition concept is being planned that would be taught by high-level swimmers and use video to capture the participants in action and help them, and their coaches, visually assess their performance.

Pope’s coaching style follows the three F’s—friendly, firm and fair—and his management style doesn’t deviate far from those principles. He works to motivate staff through positive feedback and by instilling a sense of pride in their work.

“The one event that brings the team together the most is having a potluck meeting now and then,” Pope says. “Good food and a friendly environment help keep this staff focused on the goals ahead.

“The gears are always turning, as we pride ourselves on keeping the aquatics facility the place to be and be seen,” he adds.

Other recreation departments use similar staff-motivation techniques. Mark Bishop, Head Tennis Professional, employs a “pride and praise” approach, encouraging tennis pros and court workers to be vigilant about the facility’s appearance and to always recognize the success of various programs.

Bishop must be doing something right—he’s been on the staff at the CC of Colorado since 1976 and has seen the program expand from one tennis pro and one court maintenance worker when he started to now have four pros, two court workers, a seasonal worker and an independent contractor (to handle lessons overflow) today. In total, the tennis club now has 6 indoor hard courts (3 in a permanent structure, 3 in a bubble) and 12 outdoor courts (10 hard and 2 clay). Four courts are lined for QuickStart, and two are lined for pickleball.

In addition to treadmills, stair machines, and recumbent bikes, the fitness center at CC of Colorado offers yoga, spin and Zumba classes.

“Many of our tennis programs allow non-members to participate,” Bishop says. “As a result, we have generated new members through their initial involvement in our various lesson programs. I believe our members stay with us because we offer a wide range of instructional programs, in addition to the social events that are scheduled throughout the year.”

Ebb and Flow
The CC of Colorado’s tennis department puts a premium on making members feel welcome and appreciated, and its emphasis on a well-rounded junior instructional program has led to the satisfaction of seeing several of the club’s star players contribute to numerous state titles for the local high school.

“Some programs seem to ebb and flow,” Bishop explains. “They are popular for a while and then drop off a bit. Our challenge is to keep the ideas fresh and perhaps tweak events so that they stay popular.”

That approach has even worked for a core department like golf. When Head Golf Professional Matt Cohen joined CC of Colorado in 2007, golf was clearly at an ebb. “Members were not pleased with service levels, offerings in the golf shop, or golf department programming in general,” Cohen explains.

To address those issues, the department implemented regimented customer service training for employees and cultivated a fun, healthy and energetic environment. “This starts with the head professional, and the attitude has successfully filtered down through the entire staff, so members and guests feel a palpable sense of positive energy when they enter the golf shop or arrive at the property,” Cohen says.

A 4-Ball Match Play tournament, couples offerings and new activities have injected life into the program as well, including a social event called “Dewars and Divots,” where staff and members go on the course, enjoy a few drinks, and care for the grounds by filling divots, fixing ball marks on greens and patrolling for tee litter. “Glow Putting” on the main clubhouse’s putting green also generates activity and interest—and investing $3.5 million in an ongoing golf course renovation hasn’t hurt either.

CC of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colo.

With a personal management philosophy of mutual respect to promote loyalty, Cohen believes that the more involvement, ownership and buy-in the department has from its staff, the more successful the business will be. He values the high percentage of staff members who return for the club’s seasonal operation, which leads to better customer service and member recognition, he notes.

“For new ideas, initiatives or programs to be supported by our clientele, the staff must be fully engaged and have buy-in to whatever we are proposing or executing,” Cohen says. “To that end, involving the staff is crucial to our success, to come up with programs that may add value to our member and guest experience.”

Putting Members First
Similarly, the fitness center staff at the CC of Colorado also makes customer service a priority, as just one of the ways it strives to separate itself from any run-of-the-mill gym.

“Recruiting members is not hard,” says Fitness Center Manager Francine Kayton. “If we can get them in the door, we just do what we do with our customer service. We are friendly and will help them and work with them—and we let them know this as soon as they come through the door.”

Personal attention, along with desired amenities, leads to membership longevity, Kayton believes. The staff maintains a constant presence in the facilities and makes adjustments to schedules and accommodations as members need them, such as changing class times and re-working child care hours.

Fitness center offerings include yoga, spin and Zumba classes; junior fitness programs (including “Junior Endorsed,” which teaches children ages 12-15 to use equipment safely before being certified); personal training; and post-workout wind-down with Shiatsu, Swedish, and other types of massage.

CC of Colorado, Colorado Springs, Colo.

“The club wants to foster an environment and culture that our members and guests can immerse themselves in,” notes Matt Cohen. “Our goals are to have our members and guests think about the club as their first option for dining, entertainment, meetings and parties—and, of course, recreation.”

The CC of Colorado’s recreation membership, which includes full access to the fitness center, tennis facilities and aquatics center, also nets a 20% discount at dining venues, catered events and lodging at Cheyenne Mountain Resort. (The comforting, lodge-like décor of the resort was featured by C&RB, “High Style.”)

“The membership is vibrant, active and strong,” says Cohen. “The management and core staff is superb. The club has weathered the economic downturn of the previous five years extremely well in comparison to most private facilities, and we believe we’re positioned for excellence in every way for 2013 and well into the future.”

“We have more ‘face time’ with our clients beyond their actual sessions each week, and that really helps from an accountability standpoint,” Andy Pfefferkorn (above), Fitness Director at Dominion Valley CC, says.

The American Council on Exercise estimated in September 2012 that there were 29,365 health and fitness clubs across the country, tucked into strip malls, filling out enormous open spaces at universities, and popping up in droves under corporate monikers.

Most of these gyms and fitness clubs emphasize convenience and a reasonable price, leaving gym-goers to their own devices. Responding to the impersonal nature of this fitness-from-a-distance approach, clubs have seized the opportunity to develop a promising niche, by offering extensive personal-training programs for members of all ages that seek to exercise not just their bodies, but also their minds and souls.

Club properties, where the membership is tightly knit and comfortable with staff, are proving to be ideal settings for these enhanced programs. With club fitness professionals tailoring daily exercise regimens to individual members’ needs and limitations, training has never been so personal.

Tapping Pent-Up Demand
When Andy Pfefferkorn joined Dominion Valley Country Club in Haymarket, Va., as Fitness Director two years ago, the personal training element was virtually non-existent. He knew he had his work cut out for him, so he jumped in with a two-part plan: 1) meet the members and take each of them through a personalized workout to see the benefits, and 2) offer a complimentary workout during his first six months at the club.

“Right away we had a steady weekly flow of these sessions,” Pfefferkorn says. “Through my interactions with the members, I found there was a definite demand for professional training services.”

From a paltry two to three sessions per week, the Toll Golf property jumped to averaging 30 to 35 sessions a week, with 15% of the membership taking part in paid personal training services. Incentives such as rewarding long-term, consistent members with discounts and a complimentary session for client referrals keep members coming back.

“In the fitness industry right now, ‘niche’ training is making a comeback,” Pfefferkorn says. “We are seeing more and more small personal training studios, Crossfit gyms and yoga centers. The one-on-one attention we give to our clients is seldom interrupted or disturbed, like it would be in those large fitness clubs. ”

Making sure members are held accountable for their own health progress is another advantage of working out in a community where everyone knows your name.

“We see our clients at the pool, over at the clubhouse, at special events, etc.,” Pfefferkorn says. “We have more ‘face time’ with our clients beyond their actual sessions each week, and that really helps from an accountability standpoint.

“What’s also nice about personal training at a country club rather than a gym is that it’s much more convenient,” he adds. “For example, they say you should eat right after a workout, because you are still burning fat. Members can finish a workout and get a bite to eat a lot quicker here than driving out of the parking lot and ten minutes down the road to a restaurant.”

From its base of personal training clients, Dominion Valley has branched out to offer specialized training for events such as triathlons and Tough Mudder, as well as paid boot camps. The staff takes member feedback and integrates health and wellness services into other departments as well, from healthy menu offerings at the clubhouse restaurant to wellness seminars that promote community education.

Dominion Valley incorporates a mix of employees and independent contractors for its fitness program, which includes five fitness professionals and a registered dietitian.

“[Instructors] need to offer types of training that are not available at every club,” says Jennifer Ramsey (above), Fitness Coordinator at The Houstonian G&CC.

The club is currently in the final stages of a renovation project that will bring a brand new cardio hall and mind-body complex with cardiovascular machines and top-of-the-line equipment. The Mind & Body Studio, full of serene colors, soft lighting, and ample room for yoga mats, will be an outlet for members to melt away stress.

“You can’t put a price on health, and every person at some point will come to realize that,” Pfefferkorn says.

The Young Crowd
Management at Midland (Mich.) Country Club knew in 2010 that members wanted a personal training program to go along with a new 5,000-sq. ft. fitness center and spa, simply because they asked: The membership received a survey about what services they would prefer to see, and one of the top requested services was personal training.

At Midland, personal training is offered at an additional cost in individual sessions or as a package of four. About 225 of 720 eligible members have taken advantage of the program, which follows the protocols set forth by the American College of Sports Medicine.

“There is also a dynamic with the country club environment where members are drawn to learn the science behind their program and thoroughly enjoy continuous change and/or challenges with their routines,” says Jeff Simmons, Midland’s Youth Fitness, Athletics and Health Promotion Coordinator.

Midland (Mich.) CC fitness center

Being aware of what your region offers in the way of competing gyms and fitness centers is valuable for determining what the membership needs, Simmons adds. One way Midland CC is fulfilling a need is through its formal youth training program, which acknowledges both the club’s growing family population and the serious issue of childhood obesity.

Youth personal training sessions help cultivate a healthy attitude toward overall fitness and daily exercise that goes beyond physical education classes in school. The club’s YouthFit Ranking system gives kids goals to work toward, similar to a karate belt system, to motivate young members and instill a sense of accomplishment as progress is made. Rankings start at Rookie and work up to Pro, All-Star, MVP and Legend.

To create a more balanced workout, Midland staff encourages members to take part in yoga or pilates classes, in addition to personal training, to help “achieve a mind-body connection.” A partnership with the Dietetics Department at MidMichigan Medical Center-Midland, the area hospital, gives the staff a place to refer members who are interested in nutritional counseling from a registered dietitian.

As of now, Midland’s personal training program services 30 appointments a week and is not yet at full capacity. The club is looking to add a 30-minute session option for members.

Andy Pfefferkorn, Fitness Director at Dominion Valley CC, instructs a client.

“Thirty-minute sessions are nice for those members who are on a time crunch, would like an intense workout but for whom more than 30 minutes would be too strenuous, or are new to exercise and need to ease into the lifestyle,” Simmons says.

Ditching the Cookie Cutter
The Houstonian Golf & Country Club in Richmond, Texas, has worked to create a personal training program that’s proved to be anything but ordinary since it was introduced in 2009.

“The only standard fitness offerings we offer are a basic ‘weight room orientation’ that we do for our new members if they’d like, and group exercise,” says Jennifer Ramsey, the club’s Fitness Coordinator whose duties also extend to tennis, aquatics and the Kids Clubhouse.

The Houstonian G&CC services about 80 personal training appointments a month, with varying rates depending on trainers, type of training, length of appointments and the number of people in small group training.

To acknowledge the importance of total health, the club’s fitness center and spa are linked. “The spa offers treatments that many of our fitness people use, and because we’re in the same building, many take advantage of both services,” Ramsey says. “We also have a trainer who specializes in Fascial Stretch Therapy, which improves flexibility, posture, functional ability and decreases pain in muscles and joints.”

Fitness space at The Houstonian, as for many clubs, can be a precious commodity (the club’s fitness center is 2,400 sq. ft.). And with seven trainers on staff, things can get a little crowded in the weight room.

“Our weight room is small, so [personal training] does affect space,” Ramsey says. “We have a small personal training space that a few of our trainers utilize just to stay out of the way of members who are working out. It works out fine, but sometimes we have three training sessions going on at a time and then we’re spread out and rotating around the fitness center.”

Since its inception, the personal training program at The Houstonian G&CC has experimented with various incentives and changes in the offerings. “Members like ‘free stuff,’ so the training specials that have been ‘buy X and get one free,’ or something like that, are good,” Ramsey says.

Jennifer Ramsey, Fitness Coordinator at The Houstonian G&CC, instructs a client.

The program is marketed through seasonal specials and member referrals, but Ramsey adds that hiring trainers who will take the initiative is key to generating high interest.

“[You need trainers who are] not waiting for people to just ‘come along,’ ” she notes. “They need to offer types of training that are not available at every club. They need to have results-based training and have their clients change what they do—maybe it’s aesthetic, or it could be positive mental, emotional or internal health-related changes.”

To further set the Houstonian apart from typical gyms, Ramsey is working on a monthly curriculum in which members can come to the club and learn a new workout tool and incorporate it into their workout.

“It is two-fold,” Ramsey says. “1) Get them using more of the tools in our fitness center with confidence and 2) pique their interest to possibly begin a program with a trainer to get the most out of those tools and taking their workout to the next level.”

Reynolds Plantation

By stepping up emphasis on its non-golfing amenities, the new ownership of Reynolds Plantation, with a big assist from Ritz-Carlton, seeks to broaden its appeal as a popular resort destination.

When Reynolds Plantation, located between Atlanta and Augusta in east-central Georgia, opened in 1988, it put itself on the club and resort—and real estate—maps primarily through its ambitious plan to become a golf destination and haven. With a portfolio that included six distinctive golf courses designed by notables such as Rees Jones, Tom Fazio, Jack Nicklaus, Jim Engh and Bob Cupp, Reynolds received deserved acclaim in its first 20 years. The opening of a 251-room Ritz-Carlton Lodge on the site in 2002 only added to the property’s appeal (“Growing a Rich Variety of Attractions at Reynolds Plantation,” C&RB, July 2008).

Plans to build more golf courses by other designers, including Pete Dye, were in the works, but then things came to a screeching halt with the collapse of the real estate market. The resort’s parent company, Linger Longer Development Co., went into receivership under a $105 million debt burden, and Reynolds Plantation, a 10,000-acre golf and lakefront community, was put up for sale.

Recreation Profile Reynolds Plantation Reynolds Plantation Opened: 1988 Members: About 3,200, including full-time and second-home residents Lake Oconee: 19,000 acres and 374 total miles of shoreline; swimming, canoeing, kayaking, waterskiing, wakeboarding, kneeboarding, paddleboarding, pontoon rentals, jet ski rentals, fishing; four full-service marinas Lake Club Tennis Center: Four clay and four hard-surface tennis courts, all lighted; full-service pro shop; lessons, clinics, camps, leagues Heritage & Nature Center: Opened 2006; education center focuses on history, culture and wildlife of Lake Oconee area Other amenities: Five 18-hole golf courses; one 27-hole golf course; Reynolds Golf Academy, featuring TaylorMade Performance Lab; multiple clubhouses; swimming pools; trails; fitness and wellness centers; access to Ritz-Carlton Lodge facilities

This led to the property’s purchase earlier this year by MetLife Inc., and an immediate revival in the marketing of Reynolds Plantation. This time, however, the resort is placing a heightened emphasis on the broad range of activities available to homeowners and guests throughout the vast acreage and more than 80 miles of shoreline along Lake Oconee, the state’s second-largest lake that was created by a Georgia Power dam project.

Ritz-Carlton is continuing to run the hotel under its long-term management agreement, but Daniel Corporation, a real estate services company based in Birmingham, Ala., with a regional office in Atlanta, now oversees day-to-day operations of Reynolds Plantation. The company’s portfolio includes high-end golf and resort communities, and other recreational amenities at Reynolds Plantation include swimming pools, pedestrian trails, marinas, a tennis center and a wellness center.

“The team at Daniel is looking forward to working with MetLife to enhance Reynolds Plantation and position it for future generations,” says Charlie Tickle, Daniel Corporation’s Chairman and CEO. “We will bring a business approach to the operations to enhance [Reynolds’] economic viability and sustainability, which is key to preserving and improving property values and attracting new residents and members.”

Fireworks and Ice
While Reynolds Plantation still has a deserved reputation as a golfing mecca, members of the new management team are brainstorming about additional recreational opportunities to bring to the resort as part of the long-term investment strategy.

“They’ve been very accommodating, and they want to know what we think,” says Shona Blair Yaws, Reynolds Plantation’s Recreation Director. “They’ve been receptive to hearing some of our ideas.”

Expanding recreational offerings for guests and Reynolds Plantation members, who must own property in the resort, has actually been an ongoing endeavor. Last year, the resort started a Sunday night concert series from Memorial Day to Labor Day. The concerts, featuring regional bands, are followed by a fireworks show over Lake Oconee.

Reynolds Plantation

“It gives our guests a reason to stay an additional night, and the membership can come over with their lawn chairs. A lot of the members also come over on their boats,” reports Ralph Vick, the Ritz-Carlton General Manager.

To attract guests during the winter, the property has added a 5,500-sq. ft. ice skating rink that operates from late November until mid-February.

“It has driven occupancy, and the membership loves it. Their kids and grandkids just have a ball,” notes Vick.

Shore Thing
Appealing to multiple generations is another key element in the property’s marketing strategy. “We’re trying to expand the resort with more family amenities. Most are water-related,” Vick says.

No wonder. With its 19,000 acres and 374 total miles of shoreline, Lake Oconee offers a vast pool of recreational activities for Reynolds Plantation members and guests to enjoy.

With four full-service marinas, Reynolds Plantation provides lake access to members and cottage guests throughout the community. Adventurers can dive into a number of water activities, including swimming, canoeing, kayaking, waterskiing, wakeboarding, kneeboarding, paddleboarding and pontoon rentals.

Recreation Profile Ritz-Carlton Lodge Train at Ritz-Carlton Lodge Opened: 2002 Fitness Facility: 1,700 sq. ft.; includes cardiovascular and strength training equipment and 700-sq. ft. movement center with roster of exercise classes; open 24 hours Spa: 26,000 sq. ft.; features 19 private treatment rooms, a couples suite, four wet treatment rooms, indoor lap pool, saunas, steam rooms, whirlpools, lockers and changing facilities, full-service salon, relaxation terrace, and boutique Ice skating rink: 5,500 sq. ft.; open from late November until mid-February; three sessions daily – 9 a.m.-11 a.m., 2 p.m.-4 p.m., 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Pools: Heated infinity waterfront pool and indoor lap pool, open daily Other amenities: 25,000 sq. ft. of meeting space, including 8,000-sq. ft. ballroom; six dining venues; summertime lakeside concerts Sundays at 7:30 p.m., followed by fireworks at 9:30 p.m.; access to Reynolds Plantation facilities

In a partnership with Lake Oconee Outfitters, Reynolds Plantation members or guests can book a private day of waterskiing, tubing or wakeboarding with certified instructors on competition ski boats. Lessons are also available for the inexperienced to learn these skills.

Lake Oconee, one of the best locations in the state for largemouth bass, is also a paradise for novice or avid anglers. With an estimated 433 pounds of fish per acre, the lake holds nearly double the weight typically found in other central-Georgia bodies of water. The volume of largemouth bass is estimated at 36 pounds per acre in Lake Oconee, compared to 12 to 15 pounds in other local lakes.

Other fish populations include white bass, bream, crappie and catfish. Guides can help fishermen find the hot spots on the lake, and all of the necessary equipment for anglers of all skill levels is available at the marinas. Reynolds Plantation is also the site of several fishing tournaments, including the bi-annual Member/Guest Bass Tournament.

To Infinity and Beyond
For those who prefer to swim without the fishes, the resort features an indoor lap pool, which is open daily, and a heated infinity waterfront pool.

“When you’re standing on the side of the infinity pool closest to the hotel, it looks like the pool is running off into the lake,” says Vick. “It makes a dramatic visual impression.”

Other clubhouses on the property feature a variety of swimming pools as well. The members-only Lake Club includes a heated indoor pool that accommodates the Reynolds Plantation’s swim team and master swimming programs; an outdoor family pool with a water slide; and an adults-only infinity pool that overlooks Lake Oconee.

The Great Waters swimming complex boasts a 60-foot lap pool, children’s wading pool and Jacuzzi-type spa. The Plantation, the community’s first clubhouse, offers a junior Olympic-size pool, children’s wading pool, and whirlpool spa.

The Reynolds staff can also arrange plenty of activities for those who prefer to get their entertainment on dry land, including camping, picnicking, making s’mores at a lakeside campfire, nature hikes, bike riding, Segway tours, horseback riding, and skeet, trap and clay shooting at a gun club.

Raising a Racquet
Members and guests can also have a ball at Reynolds Plantation’s tennis facilities, which are run by Peter Burwash International. Dave Neuhart, who has served as Reynolds Plantation’s Director of Tennis for eight years, says the property has seen steady growth in tennis activity over his tenure. With the invaluable help of Tennis Concierge Barbara Voyles, Neuhart now oversees an active, nearly year-round program that attracts players of all ages (nearly 30% juniors) and abilities, and  extends beyond the property’s boundaries to include regular trips to tennis-centric venues such as Hilton Head, Amelia Island and the U.S. Open in New York.

Ritz-Carlton Lodge General Manager Ralph Vick

Neuhart is excited about the possibilities he sees under the new ownership for stepping up the marketing of tennis as a reason to make Reynolds a destination in its own right. “We don’t feel you’ve really experienced all that Reynolds has to offer if you haven’t had a racquet in your hand while here,” he says. “I think there’s going to be a bigger push to include  [tennis] as a major part of future promotion of the property.”

Ritz Appeal
Treating guests like residents, and vice versa, is a hallmark of Reynolds Plantation, and as part of its mutually beneficial relationship with the community, the Ritz-Carlton offers its guests access to the tennis facilities.

Rabun Neal, President of Reynolds Plantation, says the addition of the Ritz-Carlton Lodge, with its six dining venues and other amenities, was a major factor in putting the resort on the map. (For the hotel company, the lodge represented its first foray into such a rural, outdoors-oriented operation.)

Neal says Ritz-Carlton didn’t miss a beat when taking on the challenge of such a new type of location. “It’s been great to have a resort here that has been managed so well,” he says. “They work well with our members, so they are engaged with the property.”

As part of that connection, Reynolds Plantation members have access to hotel amenities such as its 26,000-sq. ft. spa, which consistently is ranked in the Top 10 of the Condé Nast Traveler Annual Readers Poll. Through a full complement of facilities, the spa also offers more than 90 health and wellness treatments, many featuring indigenous ingredients such as rosemary, pine, fir and geranium, as well as extracts from gemstones such as smithsonite and malachite.

About 50 percent of the hotel’s business is made up of corporate groups, Vick says, while the other half consists of leisure guests. Families make up about 40 to 50 percent of the leisure group, and “that amount is growing all the time,” he adds.

Peeks of Nature
Outdoor entertainment is one of the resort’s chief objectives, and the Heritage & Nature Center, which opened in 2006, features educational programs that highlight the local history, culture and wildlife. The Center features many exhibits and displays and is home to live animals such as fish, frogs, turtles and snakes. “We have a lot of wildlife that is native to Georgia that has been preserved there,” says Neal.

Reynolds Plantation

Some 15 miles of trails wind through forests and along the lake, and the staff leads nature walks and stargazing events.
While the Center sponsors outings for young and old alike, Reynolds Plantation places a premium on fun for its littlest members and guests. The hotel’s Ritz Kids Camp offers supervised activities for children ages 5 to 12. Spending the day with camp counselors, they can participate in ventures such as nature hikes, scavenger hunts, canoeing and craft making. The themed Ritz “Kids Night Out” program, held Friday and Saturday evenings, includes dinner and refreshments. Other offerings for the younger set include a jungle gym, horseshoe pits, swings, hammocks and lawn games.

Reynolds Plantation also offers summer and winter Kids’ Vacation Camps and Junior Golf Camp, as well as participation on the Reynolds Rapids Swim Team and other special seasonal programming.

The opening of Lake Oconee Academy, a public charter school, has changed the Reynolds Plantation demographics. “We’ve seen a greater influx of younger families,” Yaws notes.

As a result, she has ramped up activities for the younger set through programs such as Reynolds Adventurers, a summer day camp for members’ children ages 5 to 12, and Kids’ Night Out, held one Saturday a month from 4:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.

“We might do it more often; it’s been very well-received,” Yaws says. She’s also seen a greater interest in Lake Club fitness and wellness classes, such as tai chi and Zumba, and hopes to create more programs for young adults who have found Reynolds Plantation to be a good place to raise their families. “It’s a great lifestyle experience,” Vick confirms.

Rancho Viejo (Texas) Resort & Country Club

Clubs aren’t just for golfing dads anymore—they’re appealing to the whole family through social memberships, fitness centers and swimming instruction. But with school out of session and gorgeous weather creeping in, summertime is kid time all over the country.

Clubs are not only giving kids a place to hang out during the dog days of summer, they’re keeping them active and healthy in the process, by establishing positive habits in a welcoming environment.

Just for Kids
Some clubs, like Blacksburg (Va.) Country Club, now hire staff solely to handle youth programs. Danielle Williams, Youth and Recreation Director, spearheaded the club’s summer camp program five years ago. From the beginning, she never had trouble getting kids to show up.

“The first thing we learned was how popular it was,” Williams says. “It filled so quickly, we didn’t know what to do. We only had so many tennis courts, so we had to add weeks.”

The private, member-owned club prides itself on being young and family-oriented. Located near Virginia Tech University, it takes its role in the community so seriously, it started its annual summer camp a week early this year, to accommodate an early end to the school year due to a lack of snow.

The central location for the aquatics, art, golf and tennis programs is a multipurpose room in the pool house, where Williams keeps kids engaged by breaking up the day into 30-minute segments. “If you try to do anything, even playing in the pool, for 2 ½ hours, they’ll get bored,” Williams adds.

Because Williams is a registered dietician, helping kids make healthy choices is part of the program, with sides of fruits, vegetables and yogurt parfaits always available. The club also offers a kids’ gourmet menu, consisting of smaller portions of adult fare.

Blacksburg (Va.) Country Club

“They can make choices, but there are really only healthy choices,” Williams says.

Though keeping kids active and busy is important to maintain interest, Williams says the vitality of the program relies on paying attention to what kids want—and being flexible.

“Over the years, we’ve learned what kids enjoy and what they don’t,” she says. “By the end of the day, the kids are fried, and they just want to play.”

At the end of each season, Williams’ team of 25 examines what efforts worked and what didn’t, to prepare for the following summer. Ultimately, a dedicated staff makes all the difference in creating a summer camp program that members want. “Having me here full-time was huge,” Williams says. “Not everyone has that luxury, but hiring someone even just for the summer is very important.”

Healthy Fuel
Part of keeping camps flexible is knowing when an overhaul is necessary. Cheyenne Kidz Camp at the Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs relaunched its summer camp program two years ago to incorporate healthier options, more structure and more activities.

Country Club of Colorado in Colorado Springs

CC of Colorado offers camps for golf, aquatics and tennis, as well as the newly created day camp. This year, the program merged four different camps; after meeting in the morning in a big tent, kids split off into their niche groups.
Cheyenne Day Camp starts each day with exercise with a certified instructor, such as boot camp, yoga or sand volleyball, before moving on to art projects, woodworking, science experiments and team building.

On Mondays, the club incorporates culinary activities to create homemade granola bars, smoothies with fruit and yogurt, healthy pizza, trail mix, fresh fruit kabobs and healthy cookies. The kids also learn how to read food labels and discuss healthy snack options.

“Everyone is more health-oriented now,” says Mickey Walters, Lead Manager for Cheyenne Kidz Camp. “[Parents] want the kids to be outside and active rather than inside with TVs, so we’ve geared [the program] towards that.”

Wendy Werley Bullock began working with Rancho Viejo (Texas) Resort &  Country Club’s summer camp this year and has jumped in with both feet by employing the nutrition plan of Dr. Bill Sears. Werley Bullock, Director of Sports and Wellness, became a certified LEAN (Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitude & Nutrition) coach in 2008 and uses that curriculum, developed by Sears.

Rancho Viejo (Texas) Resort & Country Club

“To my knowledge, there’s nobody in the country doing what I’m doing in terms of integrating nutrition and hitting all these areas,” says Werley Bullock. “We’re teaching the whole child, versus just teaching mechanics.”

For example, Werley Bullock teaches kids about “traffic light eating” and portion control; “green light” foods include fruits and vegetables, “yellow light” foods are whole grains, lean meat and low-fat cheese, and “red light” foods are sugar and fast food.

“What’s so exciting to hear is when parents come in and are impressed with kids reading food labels and they know high-fructose corn syrup is bad,” Werley Bullock says. “When you involve them, they’re pretty engaged.”

Campers receive three hours of golf and tennis instruction, a healthy lunch, nutrition segments and fitness classes. Each camper is assessed to determine their level of fitness, so activities can be catered to individual needs.

River Place Country Club in Austin, Texas

Werley Bullock, an LPGA Golf Professional, says distractions are not a problem during golf lessons because she uses visual teaching aids, such as a hula hoop standing up in a base filled with sand for chipping practice.

“It’s all about kids having fun, learning through play and games that are appropriate to them and a lot of fundamental movement—throwing balls, tossing games,” Werley Bullock says.

Year-Round Payoffs
Successful summer programming can often help position clubs as go-to places for kids throughout the year. That’s certainly been the experience of River Place Country Club in Austin, Texas, which now offers year-round programs that are proving to be a constant draw for kids.

River Place still has plenty of camp options, too. Campers can now stay engaged, in fact, with “combined camps,” where the day is divided into two parts,  with different offerings for the morning and afternoon. A camper can choose to focus on tennis or golf in the morning and then attend teen boot camp or hip hop camp in the afternoon.

When River Place started its camp in 2005, the club offered traditional golf and tennis programming. But the brochure has expanded and evolved over the years to accommodate members’ requests and abilities. For example, one of the club’s members is a former Texas Longhorns cheerleader who offered to run the cheerleading camp.

“We want [kids of all ages] to be here with their families and active,” says Jackie Mohr, Fitness Director. “For kids who were four years old when we began our camps, we need to offer the same experience when they’re 12.”

Kevin Chance, River Place’s General Manager, heads the Outdoor Adventure Camp, which incorporates hiking, outdoor games, scavenger hunts and fishing. Moving around outdoors in the Texas summer heat is a great time to teach nutrition lessons, Chance says.

“With the drought and heat, we integrate hydration and snacks that aren’t just sugary treats,” he notes. “I had 15 kids hiking three miles, and we had fresh fruit along the trail, talked about fueling our bodies the night before, eating a healthy breakfast, all about proteins and carbs.”

Like many clubs, River Place gives out prizes and awards at the end of every summer camp season—and sometimes every week—to reward campers for learning as much as possible outside of the classroom.

Farmington has stretched its annual events calendar at both ends with a New Year’s Day Polar Bear Plunge and laser tag.

Creating a genuine, year-round family atmosphere for a club and expanding its range of recreational amenities brings a responsibility to also seek to extend what can be offered to members and guests beyond the traditional operating seasons.

Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, Va. has always been a leader in finding inventive ways to bring nontypical country club sports and events to its members in all age groups—and only added to that momentum with two new events that proved to be instant hits and will now be permanent parts of the club’s annual calendar.

That calendar will now always kick off with the New Year’s Day Polar Bear Plunge, which was introduced this year after being conceived as a way to help generate excitement for a new social calendar in an otherwise slow time of year, while also creating a new Farmington tradition.

Success was achieved on both counts. Marketed by word-of-mouth through Farmington’s swim club members and social committee, as well as by posters and e-mail blasts to the membership at large, the first-ever Plunge drew 130 members of all ages. Priced at $12 to provide a sense of value and also a good jump-start for a new event, many of those in attendance took advantage of the opportunity to have the fee waived by running into the unheated, 47-degree pool. For their brave (brazen?) behavior, they were also rewarded with bragging rights, immortalized with their names on a photo plaque that will be hung permanently by the pool.

THE GOAL: Extend the annual events calendar and create new traditions at Farmington Country Club with fun and affordable new family-oriented events. THE PLAN: Kick off the new year and generate excitement for upcoming social events with a Polar Bear Plunge into the unheated (47-degree) pool. Set up a laser-tag course on the club lawn for an evening in the fall. THE PAYOFF: One hundred and thirty members gathered on New Year’s Day and many took the plunge to earn bragging rights (and have their event fee waived). Many have already expressed an intention to continue the tradition each year. The laser-tag games drew 90 members and was another instant hit that will now be a permanent part of the club’s event schedule. It was also profitable the first year out.

Those who didn’t dive in still got into the spirit by coming in costume and enjoying a bar that was set up, along with casual seating, around fire pits and heaters. Sliders and other grill snacks were provided, and outdoor music added to the festive mood. Farmington also made sure that two lifeguards and all necessary first-aid equipment were on hand.

The response was overwhelmingly positive, the club reports, with many members already talking about next year’s plunge almost as soon (but after first grabbing towels and robes) as they emerged from their “refreshing” dip.

For a new fall event, held in the evening starting at 5 p.m.,  Farmington contracted with a laser-tag company to provide equipment for games on the property’s North Lawn. The club’s maintenance staff also got into the spirit, helping to set up hay forts to be used as “pop up” bunkers.

The event was billed as a family event—and 90 members, ranging from ages 5 to 45, came out to participate in 15-minute laser tag games on the North Lawn. The cost was set at $17 for two 15-minute games and light snacks. Enough light was provided from tree lights and the clubhouse to provide a safe and fun atmosphere for play until 9 p.m.

The “Camo at the Clubhouse” event proved to be another low-cost family affair that got “everybody outside for exercise disguised as fun,” says Clubhouse Manager Tyler Pickens. It was also profitable, because it proved to be “very social for the adult members, who enjoyed cocktails and small talk at a member-signed bar while their children played laser tag. Then many of the members went to the Grill restaurant for dinner after the event, which further increased club revenue.”

What started as a “small get-together” in the fall among members with vintage vehicles has grown into the club’s seasonal kickoff.

After a modest start four years ago, Westwood Country Club’s popular Annual Car Show and Family Picnic is the Austin, Texas club’s seasonal kickoff event that now attracts over 150 members.

The mark of good club management is to be able to recognize, and run with, a good idea, no matter where it might have come from.

The management of Westwood Country Club in Austin, Texas has certainly demonstrated the payoffs that can come from having this ability, through the remarkable growth and evolution, over just four years, of its Annual Car Show and Family Picnic, which now serves as the club’s much-anticipated seasonal kickoff event.

But it didn’t start out that way—in fact, it didn’t start out as a picnic at all, and calling it a “car show” was also a bit of a stretch. It began in the fall with what is now described as “a small get-together for some members who own vintage vehicles.” But buzz about the cars that were part of the gathering quickly grew, to the point where the club saw an opportunity to build a great season-opening event around the concept—and to have that opening earlier than usual.

Now, the Annual Car Show and Family Picnic, held on the last Saturday of March, is entrenched as an event the Westwood membership looks forward to each year.  From 40 people and 18 cars four years ago, the event now attracts over 150 members who come to look at more than 65 vehicles. Those in attendance also enjoy free food, and drink, thanks to a sponsorship that was secured three years ago from Ferrari of Austin (which also adds to the appeal of the car-show component by bringing three of its sexiest models, including the new FF this year).

By transforming the event into a clubwide family picnic, Westwood has been able to open its pool and seasonal restaurant, the Lakeview Cafe, a week ahead of what the previous schedule called for. The club also opens its renovated basketball courts for play, and provides a popular children’s moonwalk.

“Our members are always amazed at the quality of the show,” says Dan Smith, Westwood’s Assistant General Manager. “Their reactions [as it has grown] have always been positive and encouraging, because it reminds them of what a neighborhood club is all about—a place for family and friends.”

Fitness center additions at Old Hawthorne have proven to be a win-win: The club has seen a boost in membership, and current members have more options that add value to their overall membership package.

When Billy Sapp saw the tranquil areas neighboring his Columbia, Mo. home being turned into strip malls and housing projects, he knew it was time to do something with the land on which he lived.

Out of that, The Club at Old Hawthorne emerged.

“I felt development of this area was imminent and my wife and I didn’t want to see this property turned into just another subdivision,” says Sapp, who runs a Missouri-based construction company. “We thought we’d do something for the community, and university, at the same time.”

The nearby University of Missouri benefited by way of the 18-hole championship golf course, designed by St. Louis-based Arthur Schaupeter, which serves as the anchor to the new private residential community, and club, that the Sapps created.

While other clubs in the area offered swimming pools, Travis McCubbin, PGA, General Manager and Head Professional, knew a fitness center would separate Old Hawthorne from its competitors.

Opened in 2007, Old Hawthorne was quickly received as one of the state’s best new courses. But Sapp wanted more for his members. For those who didn’t golf, he thought a pool and fitness center would provide added reason to spend time at the club.

If You Build It…
Before determining what the non-golf additions to his club would entail, Sapp and his management team toured similar facilities in Texas, Oklahoma and South Carolina, looking for ideas.

“We visited some other courses and three or four clubs that were involved with university-related projects,” says Sapp. “Then we got the architects involved.”

Travis McCubbin, PGA, General Manager and Head Professional at Old Hawthorne, knew a pool and fitness center would fit in nicely with the club’s overall growth plan. “Having opened in 2007, we were expanding our amenities to our growing membership,” says McCubbin. “Like most clubs, we knew a swimming pool was a necessity, but we thought we could differentiate our club greatly with a first-class fitness facility.”

With an overall budget of $2 million, the four-lane, 77×75-foot pool and 4,800-sq. ft. fitness facility opened in 2009. McCubbin estimates the club will see a return on investment in approximately 10 years.

The fitness facility's size, along with other amenities the club offers to members, make it more attractive than other area gyms. Fitness Profile The Club at Old Hawthorne • Fitness Facility Opened: 2009 • Facility Size: Fitness: 4,800 sq. ft.; Pool: 9,200 sq. ft. • Facility Hours: Fitness: 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week. Pool:11 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week (Memorial Day to Labor Day) • Equipment: treadmills, elliptical machines, leg press, leg curl bench, ab-crunch bench, chest press, pulley trainer, free weights, medicine balls, stability balls • Other Property Amenities: 18-hole championship golf course, bar and grille with patio, dining room, meeting rooms, banquet facilities

Annual maintenance for the pool, where there is no lifeguard on duty, is $11,000; staffing and maintaining the fitness center costs $48,000. After figuring in revenue generated, the club is looking at net yearly expense of $26,000.

Being Different
While other clubs in the area offer a pool, Old Hawthorne stands alone with its fitness center. According to McCubbin, this has helped to grow business.

“In addition to our championship golf course and clubhouse, the fitness facility has helped to attract many types of members,” he says. “We have many large commercial fitness facilities in Columbia for people to choose from, but our smaller size and more personal service level, along with the other amenities they receive, make our club an easy choice.

“Also, being a part of a growing housing community encourages a lot of our residents to become members here, instead of driving 10 to 15 minutes into town to work out,” McCubbin adds.

What’s more, members certainly aren’t missing any of the amenities they’d find at a larger gym. Equipment in Old Hawthorne’s fitness facility includes treadmills, elliptical machines, a leg press, leg curl bench, ab-crunch bench, chest press, pulley trainer, free weights, medicine balls, stability balls and a 1,000-sq. ft. classroom.

Aniz Mora, Fitness Director at Old Hawthorne, offers personal training options for members.

Fitness Director Aniz Mora offers personal training, and the club also hires independent contractors from local businesses in Columbia to provide personalized classes for members, which generally last between four and six weeks. The classes include Yoga, Pilates, Quigong, Zumba, self-defense, boot camps and a version of Biggest Loser.

There’s also a certified Titleist Performance Institute trainer on staff to help with golf-specific programs and an on-site massage therapist.

Mora sees the fitness center additions as a win-win: The club has seen a boost in membership, and current members have more options that add value to their overall membership package.

“It is such an added bonus for our members and their families,” she says. “It is nice for the women and children, especially if the women do not like to play golf. They can use the fitness center and participate in the classes and personal training options, and they can take their kids to the pool, too.”

In addition to personal training by Fitness Director Aniz Mora, the club hires independent contractors from local businesses in Columbia to provide personalized classes for members.

Bringing in the College Kids

In addition to local and regional memberships, which include all the amenities the club has to offer—golf, fitness, pool, clubhouse and social—and a national membership program, Old Hawthorne now offers athletic memberships, too. A one-time initiation fee (none for property owners) and monthly dues provide access to the fitness center, pool, clubhouse and a full schedule of social events.

As a result, Old Hawthorne has been attracting a much-coveted demographic to its membership ranks: young adults, who are often drawn to clubs with multiple activities options.

McCubbin points to the affordable dues structure and proximity to three colleges/universities in Columbia, which provide a younger, more vibrant pool of prospects. But there’s more.

“Lifestyle living,” notes McCubbin. “As the most recent private golf course development in central Missouri in more than 35 years, families are drawn to Old Hawthorne to build their first homes and lead active lifestyles.

“Other private clubs in the Columbia area have much more mature membership bases,” he adds. “We have been able to attract a different, younger membership demographic.”

Making Everyone Happy
Adding members, both young and old, is critical to success, but the new and varied activities options at Old Hawthorne are going a long way toward retaining existing members, too.

“First and foremost, we want to provide as many reasons to our current members to come and utilize the club as often as possible,” says McCubbin. “Whether it is socializing, dining, golf, swimming, working out, conducting business meetings or any other reason, we try daily to provide a reason for them to come out and see us.

“We have created incentives for current members who help us recruit new members,” he adds. “In addition, we have conveyed that in order for this club to succeed, we must have an active and growing membership. We can achieve that goal by enlisting our members to work with the club’s staff to take ownership of the future of their club.”

Will the addition of the pool and fitness center sell more lots in the housing component? They certainly accentuate the offerings.

“It allows us to sell the lifestyle of Old Hawthorne,” says McCubbin. “Live, play, work. Obviously we have the living part down. With our golf course and pool facilities, we provide plenty of options to play. The working part takes place in our fitness center.”

All told, The Club at Old Hawthorne ownership and staff are convinced that adding pool and fitness facilities help to promote a healthier environment, which in turn leads to healthy, happy members who will not only live longer, but also belong to the club
longer.

Through well-managed expectations and thoughtful program implementation, Royal Oaks CC has built its new fitness center for the long haul.

Expecting instant and dramatic results from weight-loss or bodybuilding programs inevitably leads to disappointment, after those initial, full-of-anticipation looks in the mirror reveal that all of the extra pounds haven’t magically vanished, or the biceps haven’t turned into anti-aircraft guns overnight.

It’s no different when building a new fitness center for a private club—a scenario where, in fact, expectations may often be the most unrealistic of all, among members who approve major expenditures for a new facility and then look for activity of Bally’s-like proportions as soon its doors are opened.

So when a new two-story addition was planned to create a new fitness facility, as part of a $16 million clubhouse remodeling and expansion project at Royal Oaks Country Club (ROCC) in Dallas, the club’s General Manager/COO, Dave Stuckey, CCM, and its Fitness Director, Gina Raybourn, knew that much of their energy needed to be spent from the start on creating a realistic rollout plan and properly managing expectations for what they were confident could eventually become one of the finest fitness structures, and programs, in the club business.

“We had to make it clear this was never going to be an LA Fitness operation,” Stuckey told fellow club managers during a Design & Renovation Insights seminar, sponsored by Club & Resort Business and CCI Club Design, that was held at Royal Oaks last November.

“We had to continually stress that establishing a fitness operation in a family club culture is very different, and that making it work was a five- to seven-year proposition,” Stuckey explained. “We needed to prepare everyone for the fact that the new fitness facility would not be a profit center, and probably even lose money, in its first years.

“We knew we had a significant core of existing members who would use it right away and regularly, but it’s a mistake to think you’ll get all 1,200 members to change their habits and leave their fitness clubs overnight,” he added. “The real payoff would come from the added value and attraction the new fitness center, and its related programming, could have long-term, not only through relationships that our staff would develop with a broader segment of our existing membership, but also for how it would help to attract the prospective new members of the future, who won’t even consider clubs that don’t have top-of-the-line fitness facilities and programs.”

Confidence Factors

Even with management’s emphasis on long-range expectations, the new ROCC fitness center, and team, has already seen more activity, and produced better results, than budgeted for its first year and a half of operation. Front row: Fitness Director Gina Raybourn, Kyle Osteen, Megan Roberts and Eric Brown. Back row: Ted Brown and John Normil. (Not pictured: Lauren Dawson.)

Stuckey drew the courage to state, and stick to, his convictions about these realities of building new club fitness facilities from three sources:

-He’d gained enough assurance, while being recruited from Austin Country Club in 2007 to become ROCC’s new GM/COO shortly before the clubhouse renovation and expansion was submitted to the membership for approval, that this long-range approach to fitness would be supported.

-He knew that other parts of the project, such as creation of a new casual grill and lounge, and a remodeling of the club’s pro shop, would prove to be very popular out of the gate, thus  further diffusing the pressure that might otherwise be brought to bear on the fitness facility to yield immediate results.

-Most of all, he knew that while he didn’t yet have an adequate fitness structure, he already had the right team in place to make sure it would work, led by Director of Fitness Gina Raybourn, who already had a devoted following among the ROCC membership, despite having limited facilities to work with since coming to the club in 1989.

Once the project was approved, Stuckey pretty much turned all aspects of developing the new facility over to Raybourn. At the Design & Renovation Insights seminar, she outlined key considerations for properly creating a new club fitness center, and then building an effective—and enduring—program around it:

• Emphasize variety, both in programming and equipment: Club fitness departments must provide programs to support the wellness and performance of golfers and tennis players, and provide an equally high level of service for twenty-somethings as well as seniors. Selecting the right equipment calls for offering a wide range of cardiovascular and strength-training machines and related peripheral “tools” that can serve the greatest scope of the membership population. At ROCC, as at many clubs, this meant providing equipment for members who climb mountains, as well as those who need to use it for orthopedic and cardiac rehab. Data from past usage at ROCC, as well as peer-researched projections from similar clubs, helped Raybourn make the final equipment selections.
• Give the groups what they need. Creating the best group exercise experience in a club setting calls for not only providing members with an inviting and safe space, but also for creating group exercise rooms that will attract the best instructors. So Raybourn was adamant about installing a solid maple floor with shock absorption layers below it. “This type of flooring reduces the risk of compression injuries to members and instructors,” she notes. A ballet barre and mirrors were also must-haves. “A year and a half later, word has gotten out among local instructors that our 1,200-sq. ft. aerobics room and 400-sq. ft. studio are great spaces to teach classes,” Raybourn reports.
• Extra touches. “Some often-forgotten additions to your building design will go a long way in creating a first-class fitness facility, by giving your desk staff and instructors extra tools they need to provide members with the expected level of service,” Raybourn says. These include a washer and dryer in a room with extra storage, and an instructor’s office, which Raybourn cites as “a key element in enhancing the relationships with your personal trainers and group exercise staff.” Providing designated space where instructors can develop member routines, study, and stow their belongings lets them know the club values their efforts, Raybourn notes.
• Be first-class all the way. “All first-class facilities must provide first-class creature comforts to their members,” Raybourn says. “The men’s and ladies locker rooms must accommodate your particular membership’s expectations and needs. Attention to detail is critical when designing your locker rooms.

  “For example,” she notes, “lockers must accommodate hanging dresses as well as suits. Benches need to be set at logical and strategic places. Full-length mirrors are a must. A first-class facility should provide an offering of toiletries specific to men and women.

  “The main feature of any locker room is the shower,” she adds, “and extra time spent on shower design will be time well spent. Two showers per locker room should be your goal.

  “A common thought is that one shower in a women’s locker room will be sufficient in providing needed facilities to your ladies. However, experience shows this not to be the case. All possible adjustments to your plan need to be explored, so each of your locker rooms can accommodate two showers.

  “Additionally, if you have the luxury of installing multiple showers in your locker rooms, design the spaces so that each shower is a separate entity,” Raybourn adds. “Although ADA compliance and local codes are a reality when designing public buildings, every effort should be made to separate the showers and create the personal space that showering requires. Keeping each shower and drying area self-contained offers the needed privacy for your members.

• Spare nothing on the spa. “If a construction budget allows for the inclusion of some level of spa amenities, their addition helps you to provide a first-class facility for your members,” says Raybourn. 
“Massage rooms are the most cost-effective addition to your plan. When designing these spaces, provide cabinet storage for sheets and supplies. Including plumbing to the room for a sink, which will be a bonus for masseuse and member. Adjustable lighting is a must, for creating atmosphere.

  “When planning for your massage rooms, the old saying about retail success rings true: ‘Location, location, location!’ “ Raybourn adds. “Space permitting, the massage rooms must be placed where they will receive the least bit of outside and inside noise. Be very deliberate on the placement of these rooms.  For example, massage rooms need to be placed as far away form toilet plumbing as possible. Nothing disturbs a massage faster than a flushing toilet!

  “Additionally, take the extra time to study your floor plan and project the eventual traffic flow for that particular layout,” she says. “To the best of your knowledge, identify what will be the least-busy part of the building. This is the ideal place for your massage rooms.  Ultimately, an integral part of massage is silence. The noise of opening and closing doors, the muffled voices of members just outside the treatment room, or the rush of water through plumbing disrupts this essential element.

  “We all understand that the reality of any building plan is that you only have the space to work with that you are given,” Raybourn notes. “If your physical space is 1,000 square feet, you can’t plan for things that would require 1,500 square feet, and expect it all to fit. Although all that you want in a facility may not fit within the confines of the physical space and budget, be deliberate when prioritizing needs versus wants. Remember, your fitness facility is ‘behind-the-scenes’ support service that enhances your member’s club experience.

• Go with the pros—and leave the “muscle-headed narcissists” behind. “You can offer a first-class facility with all the bells and whistles that your budget can provide, but it will not benefit your members if your fitness director does not also bring together a top-notch fitness staff,” says Raybourn. “From the hourly support staff to your personal trainers, each member of the fitness team has to have the heart and willingness to serve others. Several current motivational speakers call this ‘having the heart of a teacher.’

  “An often forgotten fact of the fitness industry is that fitness is a very personal matter,” she adds. “Keep in mind that as your fitness director develops the fitness staff, he or she should look for professionals who will respect the fact that they will be privy to the often private health issues of your members. To provide effective and safe programming, personal trainers and group exercise instructors have to know all medical conditions.

  “All instructors must be certified by a recognized and creditable association in their field,” Raybourn says. “For example, our personal trainers at Royal Oaks must be certified through the American Council on Exercise, American College of Sports Medicine, National Strength Training Association, Cooper Clinic or International Dance and Exercise Association. Group Exercise must have a certification from one of the above agencies or a recognized leader in their particular discipline, such as Power Yoga, Zumba or Classic Barre.

  Raybourn also adds this caution: “Some professionals may have all the required degrees and certifications, but they may not be a fit for your club. Unfortunately for the fitness industry, we fight the stereotype of the ‘muscle-headed narcissist.’ But while the fitness industry does indeed have its share of those personalities. I strongly advise you to not bring that personality into your private club.

  “First, these instructors do not have ‘a heart of a teacher,’ “ she explains. “Secondly, their personalities will lend themselves to creating disunity among your staff for personal gain. Honestly, neither you nor your fitness director has time to deal with the trouble this can cause. Your members expect a staff that they can trust with their health. They are expecting positive personal attention—and they are not using the fitness facility to participate in a soap opera.”

• All On the Same (Personal) Page. “Providing a positive personal experience is at the heart of your fitness facility,” Raybourn concludes. “Personal trainers develop individualized programs for their clients. Group exercise instructors offer modifications to their classes as needed. Your desk staff should know the members’ names and greet them every time they see them.

  “In this vein, we utilize club-wide fitness challenges to provide positive experiences, develop member unity and encourage participation,” Raybourn adds. “We offer four to five club-wide fitness challenges a year. Each challenge has its own set of guidelines and goals. For the entry fee, the members receive a challenge tee shirt and, if they complete the contest, any other premium that is specific to that challenge.

  “Additionally, private country club fitness directors have a unique opportunity to network with the other department heads and create a symbiotic network that adds value to the country club membership,” she notes. “For example, being able to have fitness staff order a heart-healthy meal for a member and have it delivered to the fitness center certainly adds value to that member’s club experience. Extending the team concept beyond the fitness walls not only creates opportunities to enhance fitness offerings, but also creates opportunities for extended services throughout the club.

  “Overall,” Raybourn concludes, “the layout of your fitness facility should provided the best plan for your staff and membership to create the sense of community, provide the best environment possible for wellness/fitness gains, and create a valued-added destination for your club.”

View Royal Oaks CC’s full equipment list here.

Maximizing profits while keeping clients and employees happy can be a challenge. Here’s how your spa can operate more smoothly.

Spas may offer members and guests an oasis of serenity and calm—but operationally, running a spa can be anything but relaxing.

Like many client service-based businesses, spas can easily find themselves struggling, in both their busiest and slowest times, to coordinate appointment scheduling, staffing and other administrative tasks. And spas, perhaps more than any other club department, are especially susceptible to the ins and outs of fads and trends.

Without diligent attention to continually evaluating their appeal and value to clients, the “hot” treatments, products and practices of today can quickly throw nothing but cold water on tomorrow’s bottom line.

How can your spa exfoliate away ineffective practices and continually rejuvenate its revenue streams? Here are some proven tips and practices that can help smooth out the rough patches often associated with spa management:

1. Know Your Audience—And How To Reach Them

Spas located inside private clubs where clients must either be a member or the guest of a member to book an appointment, such as the Spa and Salon at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., have the built-in advantage of a dedicated client base to actively use the facility and its services. At the same time, this can also make it harder to attract new clients during slower periods.

“The challenges are a little different to get people into the spa,” says Becky Cota, Spa Supervisor at Mission Hills CC. “We have to be a little more creative with our marketing efforts and specials.”

It’s not always about getting a bargain, though. When marketing spa services, it’s important to make the right pitch to the right people, by knowing what motivates them.

“Our morning appointments are our busiest part of the day,” reports Cota. “We make sure that we’re well-staffed during this period, so our members have lots of options.”

Equally important is knowing what—or who—your audience wants, what problems they want to solve, and how you can be a part of their solution.
Once members become regular spa-goers, Mission Hills seeks to make using the spa easier by taking member preferences into account when creating weekly or monthly staff schedules.

“Because we’re a country club, a lot of therapists have specific repeat clientele,” Cota says. “It’s important that these staff members are available for our members, so we schedule them accordingly.”

2. Enable And Encourage Employees

Training is an essential part of ensuring that your spa employs staff members who will connect with customers and offer the best possible experience—and improve the chances of creating repeat customers—each and every time.

“Too often, management rushes to get people to work without proper training,” says Veronica DeMarti, Wellness Manager at Three Springs Spa at Barton Creek Resort in Austin, Texas, which offers uncommon body and skin therapies, expert fitness instruction, guided stretching, meditation and fresh spa cuisine to its guests. “Training and clear communication are keys to successful performance, productivity and consistency.”

Therapists, in particular, should be trained to use the spa’s preferred method of draping, performing wraps, and other types of services.

“If it’s a particular service, like a Swedish massage, the staff members should incorporate their own techniques, but the overall process should be standardized so the spa can recreate a similar experience each and every time,” says DeMarti.

Once you’ve got a solid, well-trained staff in place, adding extra enticements can help motivate and retain employees.

In addition to job benefits such as medical coverage for full-time employees and a 401(k) plan option, Barton Creek (where a 2010 renovation added a pre-service relaxation area) offers incentives for selling spa products. Employees also get discounts on hotel stays within the parent company’s (KSL Resorts) family of properties.

Some extras don’t have to cost the spa a cent—but can pay big dividends in employee satisfaction. Barton Creek, for example, has opted not to include a set gratuity in its treatment prices, to enhance employees’ opportunity to earn more for exceptional service. “We’ve found that not including a set gratuity benefits the staff more,” DeMarti says.

3. Create Specials That Offer Value

When the economy struggles, attracting clients for luxury services can be a challenge.

“Everybody right now is looking for the best value,” says Jennie Comer, Assistant Spa Director at Golden Door Spa at The Boulders resort in Carefree, Ariz.

Golden Door emphasizes creating spa packages that offer more bang for your relaxation buck, such as its “Beat the Heat” and “Beat the Chill” seasonal specials, which include three 50-minute treatments and lunch for $350.

Specials that involve other parts of the property require strong communication. Each morning, the Golden Door staff tells the café that is managed by the resort’s culinary department how many packages it has sold for the day, so the café can prep accordingly.

Golden Door spa guests are asked to chose their lunch menu when they first arrive. “Then, when they come to the café, the food is ready and they don’t have to feel rushed to try to figure out what to order,” Comer says.

Barton Creek offers a $99 day package, featuring an all-day pool pass, designed to attract locals. According to Kelly Clarke, Director of Marketing Communications, the package was created to help distinguish Barton Creek’s offerings from other area spas.

“With our child-care facility, Hill Country surroundings and culinary capabilities, there is more for the local day spa guest than just a massage or a facial,” Clarke says.

To develop spa specials and packages, first determine what vision or concept you want to portray, and to whom.

“Specials can be determined by many things: holidays; wellness programs; or even promoting other parts of the property,” says Barton Creek’s DeMarti.

4. Encourage Staff To Spread The Word

Having an almost exclusive, member-based clientele can also help a spa effectively target its marketing efforts. At Mission Hills CC, upcoming promotions and new services are advertised through member e-mail blasts, signs posted in public areas of the club, and flyers given out at the front desk.

If the spa is open to the public, a property’s marketing department can handle traditional marketing efforts such as promotional e-mails, print mailings and other forms of advertising.  But everyone on the spa staff can also help to spread the word about new services, packages and promotions—particularly if they have genuine enthusiasm about offering them.

Currently, Comer and her staff are excitedly touting the premiere of a new aromatherapy line in November at Golden Door, which offers a nature-themed spa experience that includes a Japanese bath and desert views.

“Make sure the product lines you use for facials and body treatments are ones the staff is happy to work with,” she advises. “Research the different products out there. Make sure yours are unique and that they really represent your spa and your vision. Then get the staff excited about these products, and encourage them to help with your marketing efforts.”

5. Outsourcing Spa Management

If a club or resort’s spa staff is small—or if the spa is looking to revamp its business to increase profitability—hiring a spa management company or consultant may help to improve operations.

Companies that specialize in spa management can provide resources and support that include:

• Updated technology. Some spas may use outdated booking systems and could benefit from IT assistance that can help them purchase and maintain new systems, as well as train staff, at a significant savings, while also enhancing technological benefits.
• Business boost. An outside consultant can objectively help a spa analyze and manage its expenses, to produce a more favorable bottom line.
• A more effective business plan. Consultants shouldn’t demand that you make every suggested change. According to the president of a Maryland-based spa management company, a strong consultant will listen to a spa’s reasons for wanting to hold on to certain clients or services, and  incorporate valid concerns into future plans.

Everyone on the management team was called on to help with the successful launch of the much-anticipated Family Fitness Center at Palo Alto Hills G&CC.

As has been the case with pretty much every new fitness and recreational facility that’s come on stream in today’s family- and health-oriented club business, the success of the new Family Fitness Center at California’s Palo Alto Hills (PAH) Golf & Country Club was really just a matter of time.

PAH’s gleaming new 30,000-sq. ft. building and related recreational facilities, including a new pool, kids playground and tennis courts, opened to immediate acclaim last fall. A year later, enthusiasm for, and use of, the new facilities is exceeding expectations in all aspects, including related operations such as a wildly popular new pool snack bar. The outlook for how the Family Fitness Center—and some especially energetic youth-oriented programming that has been built around it—will contribute to the club’s future growth is also especially bright.

But in this case, the time and effort needed to get the facility to where it is today, and where it promises to be for many years to come, involved as strenuous a workout for the club’s directors and management team as anything its members might be putting themselves through, now that it’s finally open.

Long Time Coming

The vision for the Family Fitness Center first began to form in 2006, as part of a $14.5 million Master Plan renovation devised by PAH’s Long-Range Planning Committee. The club had just completed a successful kitchen and ballroom makeover; the next step was to expand its clubhouse with a new bar and casual grill area, and also get serious about adding family-oriented fitness and recreational facilities that would match the club’s already well-established reputation for great golf.

The club’s membership approved the project in November 2006, and plans were submitted to the city of Palo Alto at the end of that year. In its February 2007 issue, Club & Resort Business included renderings, as part of a cover feature on PAH (“Turning Plans Into Action at Palo Alto Hills G&CC”), of what at the time truly stood as cutting-edge concepts for a private-club fitness facility, along with an equally revolutionary quote from then-General Manager, Christian Thon: “It will be a true fitness center—not just a room with equipment.”

Those same renderings were also included in the club’s 50-year anniversary book, which came out at the end of 2008, along with the written hope that construction “will have commenced by the time this book is published.” By that time, the club had a new General Manager, Dirk Zander, who came to PAH after Thon took an opportunity at the nearby Menlo Circus Club in Atherton, Calif.

Not long after Zander started to marshall the project, the economy collapsed into full-out bust. But PAH persevered with all aspects of an expansion that it felt was critical to its long-term success. After needed approvals were finally secured (which required compliance with midstream adjustments that included dropping the height of the entire planned pool deck by 3 1/2 feet), and construction could at last begin in earnest, Zander says the PAH project stood “as one of the largest in the Silicon Valley” at the time.

Hanging in through the height of the downturn, he notes, brought the benefit that “people were hungry;” many materials and services could be obtained “basically at cost.”  This was no small consideration for an undertaking that involved efforts such as moving 41,000 cubic yards of dirt from where the new fitness facility was being built to PAH’s driving range, which was then rebuilt, lowered and extended 30 yards.

The effects of the recession, however, had also clearly become evident on PAH’s own membership and operations. “The number of memberships that were up for sale more than doubled, and the price dropped to an all-time low,” Zander reports. “Our banquet business took a huge hit, too—understandably, since for the better part of two years, it looked like a bomb went off here.”

The new Family Fitness Center and pool have opened a world of varied activities for PAH families, including kids’ camps.

All Parts of the Whole

But PAH stayed the full course and resisted any major cutbacks in the project’s scope, because of its strong belief in its overall value for the property. “Everything was part of a full rebranding of the club,” says Zander. “The new [fitness center] would certainly be the most noticeable addition, because it would double our physical footprint. But how the club was changing would also be seen in how we were renovating and upgrading the pool and adding a snack bar, building a new playground, adding tennis courts, expanding the driving range, creating a new bar and casual grill with an outside terrace, and even building a new underground parking garage. As part of the changes, we also introduced consistent new signage and fixtures everywhere, including throughout the golf course.”

This integrated approach also meant that every member of the PAH management team was fully engaged with the project. “All of my team was truly part of making the opening and operation [of the Family Fitness Center] a success,” Zander says. “For example, our Golf Course Superintendent, Andrew Morgan, built our new grass tennis court; his knowledge of USGA specs for greens proved to be very valuable.” To source laundry equipment for the new fitness center, Morgan also helped with a barter deal, through which some of PAH’s mowers were swapped for a neighboring club’s washers and dryers.

“You only shortchange yourself if you don’t get everyone involved,” Zander says. “You have to have the people who work throughout the club look at all of the changes you’re making, even if it may seem to be out of their area.”

Rebel with a Cause

Front row, from left: PAH General Manager Dirk Zander, Kathy Sanders, Membership Director; Courtney Rebel, Youth Director/Building Supervisor; and Andrew Morgan, Golf Course Superintendent. Back row, from left: Orlin Marcus, Executive Chef; Mark Sivara, Head Golf Professional; and Kamron Memor, Clubhouse Manager.

At the same time, the opening of the Family Fitness Center created a whole new area of management at PAH. While the new facility would now match up with any club in what it offered for fitness-related purposes, it was also intended to serve as home base for a full line of family-oriented activities and programming—and as such, needed a different type of manager than someone who just knew how to run a fitness operation.

That led to the finding and hiring (via a Craigslist posting and Skype interview) of Courtney Rebel, who arrived last September to fill the new position of Youth Director/Building Supervisor. As her title suggests, Rebel’s duties are focused as much on the “who” and the “what” of PAH’s new Family Fitness Center as on the “where.” With a background of directing a variety of athletic activities at a Colorado ski resort and also as a swim coach at Horseshoe Bend Country Club in her native Georgia, Rebel sees her mission as helping to make PAH “the most family-friendly club in Northern California.” One key to achieving that, she adds, will be to find ways to “take youth fitness and activities to the next level.”

After her first year, Rebel feels, the foundation for reaching those goals has been set through two key areas: 1) hiring a versatile staff who serve as activity instructors while also handling day-to-day operational duties for the facility, and 2) launching an ambitious schedule of new programs and events.

The introduction to the club’s Family Guide 2011 captures  how these initiatives have come together. “We have turned a new page at [PAH],” it reads. “Our new renovations, including the spa and fitness center, the fun youth room and awesome pool, are just some of the exciting features we now offer. We have all been thinking creatively to provide new and exciting programs here at the club. This year, kids, teens and family can participate in unique summer camps, fun teen events, dive-in movies, family yoga, Kool Kidz events and more.”

Every age group and member profile gets ample brainstorming consideration from Rebel’s team (which will be expanded in the coming year to add a fitness director, personal trainers, class instructors, massage therapists, and an esthetician). There are classes for adults who have never learned to swim (kept purposely small and intentionally underpriced, to provide the proper level of sensitivity and encourage participation). There are special activities like laser tag, paintball or baseball-game trips for “teen-dults.” For younger kids, parent-free privileges can be earned through a Kool Kidz orientation about the new facility; nearly 90 youngsters have already qualified.

“If we think we have a good idea for a new program, we’ll always go through with it, even if the first round of signups might not meet expectations,” Rebel says. “Usually, once the word gets out, the second time around gets good response.”

The new Family Fitness Center and pool has helped to foster a new sense of club pride by creating a great new home base for year-round swim teams.

Winning the Numbers Game

“Good response” is very much the rule now for all aspects of post-renovation life at PAH. The club’s swim team has enjoyed a year-round resurgence, taking advantage of the new heated pool and a full-time injection of energy and expertise from Rebel’s staff. “We’re up to 150 participants, from 60,” she reports. “Excitement has built up significantly. On swim meet days, we can now have 300 people on the property.”

Overall, Rebel says, the new facilities are now routinely used by well over 100 members and guests in a given day. These numbers have also spawned a tremendous spillover effect throughout the club at places like the pool snack bar, which has become a go-to spot for pizza and smoothies.

The effect on membership numbers and inquiries has been equally significant, adds Membership Director Kathy Sanders. “There’s been quite a buzz created, most of it by word-of-mouth,” Sanders says. “Members are proud of what we’ve accomplished, and proud to bring people to the pool and fitness center.”

In addition to its 416 proprietary members, PAH is now fast approaching the cap (175) for its social membership category.  “We’ve exceeded our goal [for adding social memberships in the past year] and expect to [reach the cap] by the end of next summer,” Sanders says.

“The family-oriented aspect is really attracting younger families with children,” she adds. “They see how all of the new facilities, plus the youth programs that assure them their kids will be properly supervised and engaged, adds up to an incredible value. Having an experienced staff like Courtney’s team and the great, youth-oriented programs they’re building has really changed the dynamic of the club.”

After the ribbon-cutting last fall, PAH members eagerly tried out all that the new Family Fitness Center has to offer.

Fitting Ending

For his part, Dirk Zander can now finally breathe a bit easier, after all the heavy lifting that led up to the Family Fitness Center’s opening. “We heard a lot of  ‘this is not the right time’ [about the project], especially after the economy went bad,” he says.”But after people saw what was coming, we went from a large [membership] for-sale list to almost zero, and the price of our stock has doubled.”

Operationally, he adds, things have quickly gone from an “uptick” to a “rolling wave.”

“The pool’s a madhouse; the new bar is packed on Wednesday and Friday nights,” he says. “Weddings, golf outings and banquets are back strong; overall, food-and-beverage numbers have far exceeded expectations. Everything’s blending well.

“Soon, we expect to have wait room-only, for both full membership and social,” Zander affirms. “So yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Even a tunnel that takes four years to get through, and runs through some very dark stretches.

With the support of its management company, Savannah Quarters CC can implement new fitness initiatives more smoothly.

In its 10-year history, Georgia’s Savannah Quarters Country Club (SQCC) has grown and evolved. One constant since the beginning, however, has been its management company: Troon Golf, based in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The relationship between Troon and SQCC has been a resoundingly positive one, notes Heather Gordon, Marketing Director for the club.

Although Troon is renowned for how it manages golf programs, its management prowess extends to every part of club operations. Gordon points, for example, to the growth in SQCC’s tennis programming, fitness offerings and pool operations for men, women, youth and groups, and to how Troon provides resources and expertise so that the learning curve is shortened. This support allows the SQCC team to develop and implement new initiatives including competitive tennis teams, fitness classes and enhanced pool services more smoothly.

Best of all, Gordon says, these programs were added based on SQCC’s needs, not as any corporate mandate. Take, for example, the club’s newly added “Shape Shifter” fitness class.

“Our members expressed interest in growing our fitness programs, and specifically offering classes,” Gordon explains. “Troon helped spearhead growing this program by working with the club team to gather member feedback through surveys, and to help select qualified instructors. With the leadership from our members, we have also been able to offer water aerobics classes, too.”

And whether it’s a need of extra equipment or combining efforts for staff training, SQCC is able to reach out to other Troon properties to request—or lend—a helping hand.

Marketing Muscle

Gordon notes that Troon’s corporate support for the club is vast, from its marketing expertise and advertising templates to the databases made available to SQCC.

Troon helps not only with sales and marketing, but also provides in-depth support for agronomy, operations, accounting, food and beverage, legal/risk, construction/design and procurement, she says.

“The behind-the-scenes support that Troon provides, from safety standards to human resources, enables our staff to focus on the service and quality our club can offer,” she points out.

In addition, SQCC’s golf members benefit from such perks as reciprocal privileges at other Troon properties with Troon Advantage, and Troon Privé, through which members receive preferred golf rates.

“Troon also emphasizes family activities, and has developed a popular junior golf initiative,” Gordon says. That in turn has helped strengthen the relationship the club has with the next generation of members, she adds.

People First

To ensure the continued success of a program’s rollout, Gordon says, Troon supports SQCC in continuous training that helps get all associates on board.

“Helping our recreation staff have the tools and understanding of Troon’s service culture allows us to provide high-quality service,” she explains. “Troon has developed operational standards to help the club manage its services and amenities, and maintain their quality. Those guidelines are essential as we implement our day-to-day operations.”

While Troon is the guiding hand of management, General Manager Philip Linaugh emphasizes the importance of the club-level team, which is leading its services. “SQCC has established a staff that engages our members. Our department heads, such as Recreation Director Matthew Tyson and Director of Golf Robert Stevenson, are enthusiastic and make the club fun,” says Linaugh. “Having the right people interacting with members and taking pride in what they do makes our club successful.”

Linaugh points to the changing demands and conditions SQCC’s operations have experienced over the last 10 years, such as adapting pool hours, seasonal events and class offerings. Each of those factors is reviewed by the SQCC team annually, in anticipation of evolving member interest.

“Troon helps provide the resources that a club needs to be successful,” Gordon concludes. “But in the end, the program development and implementation rests with SQCC, to make it appropriate for our membership.”

How do you determine what equipment to add to your club’s fitness center—and what to do with it once members are using it?

When Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Md., renovated its fitness center three years ago, the gym added more than just new equipment—it also added new members.

After the new 1,700-sq. ft. gym and 1,500-sq. ft. class studio opened, Director of Fitness Richard Hollins says he began to see senior members, who hadn’t frequented the fitness facility before, stop by to work out.

“What I think used to happen was our ‘silver sneaker’ members, who are more mature, were intimidated to come into the fitness center,” Hollins says.

However, bringing in new equipment prompted the fitness center staff to offer frequent equipment orientations and other incentives to celebrate, and become more comfortable with, the upgraded fitness center—such as seniors-only exercise classes where mature members were personally introduced to the instructor.

“We also offer a week of free classes, and that really pumped seniors to get in,” Hollins says. “Some think they can’t do spinning or another class because it might be too challenging, but this gave them the chance to test it out and have fun with the new experience. Now many more members feel comfortable popping into any class they want.”

More Than Just A Gym

Freshening up its fitness center can help a club better meet member needs —and attract new members, who may find it easier to justify joining the club if they can eliminate outside gym fees.

Before opening its renovated facility, Congressional held its workout classes, including Pilates and yoga, in its banquet room during off-hours.

Quail Creek’s fitness center features 6 treadmills, 8 ellipticals, 4 recumbent bikes, 1 NuStep, 1 Airdyne bike, 1 rower, 25 pieces of strength equipment, free weights and stretching benches. Body sculpting, abs and glutes classes, zumba, gold and tone, and mat Pilates are also available.

“We did all we could do,” Hollins says. “But once we opened that studio, with the wood floor, and turned the lights down, a lot of ladies who previously had outside gym memberships have since canceled those memberships and now work out with us exclusively.”

New—and old—members want a functional, fun fitness center. Naples, Fla.’s Quail Creek Country Club, which includes fitness center use with its membership dues, found through a recent member survey that almost 50 percent of both its social and golf memberships were working out at the fitness center.

“Fitness center use has definitely grown,” says Director of Fitness Kate Kerwin. “And it’s continuing to be something our new members are looking to us for.”

Planning a new fitness center or rehabbing part of a club gym requires careful planning, research and execution, however. Adding new equipment or updating existing machines and other workout aids isn’t as simple as just plugging in a few new treadmills. Clubs also need to determine whether it makes more sense to lease or buy equipment; which workout machines will best suit the needs of an often multi-aged membership; where those machines should go—and much more.

If your club is considering a major fitness center overhaul, here are some key considerations to keep in mind from the start to the finish of the process.

Test-Drive the Equipment

When Quail Creek decided to update its fitness center equipment two years ago, Kerwin had help from a volunteer fitness committee comprised of club members.

To research potential new lines and machines, Kerwin also went to several other gyms in the Naples, Fla. area, did online research and went to trade shows to evaluate if certain fitness trends would work within Quail Creek’s membership.

“The trade shows also give you networking access to see what other clubs in other parts of the country are doing, so you can share best practices and get the most for your money,” she says.

The club’s equipment additions included six treadmills, eight ellipticals, four recumbent bikes and a recumbent cross-trainer machine that’s proved helpful to members doing post-cardiac rehab or recovering from a stroke.

When Congressional created its new fitness center, the club added six treadmills, seven stationary bikes (four upright and three recumbent), five elliptical machines, four arch trainers, two rowing machines, 15 spinning bikes—and other workout items.

When Congressional CC opened its new fitness center, complete with a dedicated exercise studio for spinning and other classes, many members who held outside gym memberships canceled them and began using the club exclusively for their fitness needs.

The machines feature built-in TVs, but Hollins says the club didn’t feel a need to invest in cutting-edge technology options that can record member workouts.

“Our members weren’t looking for those options,” he says. “It’s fine, and it’s fancy, but it comes down to whether or not your members are going to use it. Plus, you’d likely need someone on hand at all times to explain to members how to use those options if you had them.”

Members at Ferncroft Country Club in Middleton, Mass., haven’t requested much new, trendy workout equipment, according to General Manager Toby Ahern.

However, when the club purchased 15 machines during its 2007 fitness center buildout, as part of a $3 million, 5-year capital improvement plan, the goal was to couple quality with simplicity.

“We wanted something low-maintenance that was easy to use and very safe,” Ahern says.

Sort Through the Lease-vs.-Buy Issue

Although the decision whether to lease or buy new gym equipment may be based on a club’s budgetary constraints (or lack thereof), some clubs opt to purchase some new equipment while renting other items.

Congressional, for example, purchased its weight-related equipment and leased its cardio machines. The club’s cardio equipment is on a three-year lease.

“We purchased our strength equipment because you’re going to push and pull that equipment,” Hollins says.

The cardio machines, however, tend to inspire a little more excitement.

“We rarely get members who say, ‘I want to get the new leg press machine,’” he says. “They see something new with treadmills and bikes and want it.”

Quail Creek’s 4,000-sq. ft. fitness center features cardiovascular, strength and balance equipment, as well as a knowledgeable staff.

Organize Your Exercise Space

At Congressional, Hollins determined how equipment would be laid out in his club’s renovated facility with advice from the reps who leased the club its cardio equipment.

The fitness center was designed so there is enough space in between machines to allow someone in a wheelchair to comfortably maneuver around the center.

“People say, if you move these cardio machines down, you can get more equipment in here,” Hollins says. “My goal is to have people be able to get around the left and the right side of our equipment. If someone has a bad hip, why would you force them to one side? Our trainers should be able to walk up on the side of each machine, too.”

Space is a common constraint at many clubs, including Ferncroft.

“At this point, we are kind of at capacity,” Ahern says. “We really couldn’t add anything, we’d have to substitute it for something else. We’ve utilized the space to the fullest—every nook and cranny is being used.”

Give Members What You Think They Want—And More

Performing routine preventative maintenance can aid in providing safe, trouble-free operation of equipment.

Because exercise centers can become one of a club’s most frequented areas, Hollins suggests allowing for extra space during large-scale renovations.

“Build the center as big as you physically can,” Hollins says. “It’s going to fill up so fast, and of all things at the club, fitness is going to continue to build.” (And chances are, you’ll want to add more equipment as it does.)

Quail Creek, where the average member age is 68-70, may not purchase every piece of equipment a member requests—but it has structured its fitness center  around general membership needs.

“Our members are in their prime, living the lifestyle they want to live,” Kerwin says. “And it is our job to help them stay as healthy as possible.”

As your fitness center—and member-ship—grows and ages over time, adjustments may need to be made. Creating a successful club fitness center, after all, involves catering to the workout needs of a variety of ages.

As Hollins points out, more mature members may not use your free weights. However, if you don’t have any, younger members might be prompted to work out somewhere else—which he thinks would be a shame.

“I like seeing 16-year-olds and 60- and 70-year-olds doing Pilates and loading weights next to each other,” Hollins says. “It makes a really nice blend. That’s what fitness is about—there should be something for everybody.”

Ocean Reef Club built a synthetic ice rink during the holiday season to help ease the pressure on other parts of the operation.

At the end of December, most Floridians aren’t strapping on a pair of ice skates to practice their figure eights at the local outdoor ice rink. After all, Florida’s temperatures hover around 72°F during that time of year. But last year, during its busy holiday season, members of the Ocean Reef Club in Key Largo, Fla., had the unique opportunity to practice their triple axels under the palm trees.

The Ocean Reef Club offers an array of recreation choices that give families the chance to relax and have fun together. And during the holidays, a high percentage of its equity members spend time at the club with their children, grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. It’s also the time when a large number of non-local social members enjoy their time with extended families while staying in both Ocean Reef’s Inn and vacation rental homes on the property.

It all combines to make Ocean Reef’s population grow during the holidays to the point of maximizing almost all available services and activities. To help ease the pressure and keep things fresh, the club’s staff constantly brainstorms for new ideas that can be implemented easily, at a reasonable cost, and would offer unique new attractions that keep in theme with other club activities.

During one of these sessions, General Manager Paul M.G. Astbury thought it might be cool—literally—to construct a synthetic ice rink.

“Our first goal is always to deliver something new and different, and if we can couple that with a ‘wow’ that will have members talking about their unique club experience, then we have a winning combination,” says Richard Weinstein, Vice President Sales and Marketing.

Ocean Reef contracted with a local company that provided and built the rink, surrounding fence, gate, skate rental booth and skates. The company also supplied operators to manage the technical aspects of the rink. “It was really a turnkey operation,” says Weinstein.

The rink itself measured 30’ x 40’ and was made of unique plastic polymer panels that are treated with a lubricating solution that reduces contact friction and enhances the glide and speed of the skating experience. While the surface closely resembles ice, it also provides novice skaters with a more “beginner friendly’” surface on which to learn.

“The unique and eye-raising event was very welcomed by the membership,” says Weinstein. “It drew a lot traffic into our retail-based area, the Fishing Village—and created a lot of buzz and activity throughout the shopping village, too. It’s an ice rink in Florida, after all.”

Members had complimentary access to the rink for three days between the hours of 1 and 9 PM—and they certainly made the most of it.

“This year, we’ll probably make the rink a bit larger,” says Weinstein, who adds that one of the distinct advantages was the fact that it could be used by members of all ages. “Club members were able to skate with their children—many for the first time,” he adds.

Additional holiday décor was added, and complimentary coffee and hot chocolate lent an authentic, winter-like feel to the otherwise tropical location.

In drawing members from other parts of the property, the rink helped Ocean Reef’s recreation operations, including golf, fishing, swimming and the extremely popular Reef Club Kids, not get so overwhelmed.

“Our club and brand is all about offering families a unique way of life,” says Weinstein. “The ice rink fits well within the wide parameters of how that might be defined differently by each member, yet delivered again and again.”