By Frank J. Vain
02/01/2005
A country club membership, at least in the popular imagination, has traditionally been a symbol of affluence and social status. While this may have once served as a selling point to prospective members, prestige alone may no longer be enough to sustain the exclusive, golf-centric organizations that were often the cornerstones of our parents’ social lives.
Because the way Americans work, play and live has changed so much over the past 30 years, many traditional country clubs now find it difficult to offer value to prospective members. “Golf and cocktails” clubs must now vie for their members’ dollars in a highly competitive recreational arena. Those that adapt to new lifestyle trends and to the competitive dynamics of the world around them may live on to serve successive generations. Those that do not may disappear.
The biggest threat to country clubs today is the growth of high-quality daily fee golf courses and the baby boom generation’s coming of age. The boomers are aging differently than their parents did, and they show an ever-increasing passion for diverse, active, casual and healthy lifestyles—not necessarily terms I would use to describe the activities available at a traditional country club.
The baby boomers are a diverse group of people who do not easily fit in with the conformity of the traditional country club. Gender restrictions and membership policies that date from the Ozzie and Harriet days do not work for those with double-income households. For example, many clubs still have golf course schedules that follow a pattern that assumes women will play during the week because they do not work outside the home, so 9-to-5 career men deserve weekend-morning tee times.
Golf courses—once the near-exclusive domains of country clubs—have proliferated in recent years. In the United States today there is approximately the same number of golfers as there was in 1990, yet the number of public play golf courses has increased more than 50 percent, from about 8,000 to more than 12,000. Almost all of this increase has occurred in the high-end sector that provides golfers the “country club for a day” experience. This has clearly affected the number of private clubs, which has dwindled by roughly 10 percent, from about 5,200 to 4,700, since 1990.
To succeed in a world offering many recreational options, country clubs must provide an excellent golf experience along with up-to-date leisure facilities and social events that are in tune with current tastes. They must also adopt and adhere to policies that proactively change the culture of the club from the male-dominated profile of the past to that of the more diverse gender, racial, lifestyle and ethnic makeup of today’s target market.
Clubs are responding strategically to these new challenges by offering a variety of activities and services to members and prospective members who are demanding more than the customary dining and golf experiences. Facilities and programs that are aimed at retaining boomer members and enticing new ones to join country clubs include comprehensive health and fitness equipment and services, spa amenities, resort-style swimming complexes, expansive tennis facilities, casual social functions—think Jimmy Buffet night instead of the formal ball—as well as a variety of family and children’s activities.
One club that is adjusting to the new order and is meeting with a positive response is Cascade Hills Country Club in Grand Rapids, Mich. It completely renovated its clubhouse in 2002 to create a more casual look and feel, increasing the space for informal and outdoor dining and adding a fitness center. Of the four best-known clubs in the Grand Rapids area, Cascade Hills is the only one with a waiting list for membership. Meanwhile, Rock Barn Country Club in Conover, N.C., has gone so far as to add a freestanding spa facility and change the name of the club to Rock Barn Golf and Spa. Members can now use a treatment room and enjoy sushi in the spa dining area, in addition to their traditional club activities.
Fewer people these days are willing to bear the expense of club membership for the element of prestige alone. If country clubs are going to survive, they must offer their members a quality experience in a number of activity areas, feature creative programs that facilitate growth & adopt use policies that reflect the modern ethos of society.
 | Frank J. Vain is president of McMahon Group, a strategic planning firm that serves private clubs. |