Former El Caballero Country Club general manager Tom Bernsen once used an interesting analogy to describe the challenges facing private golf courses.
“Our custom of primogeniture – the father giving to the son – was an important contributing factor in sustaining the membership of private clubs,” Bernsen said a few years ago in his Tarzana office. “Sons today don’t necessarily follow in their father’s footsteps professionally or socially anymore. Relationships were very important, and a country club membership helped cement those business relationships. Today, business relationships aren’t as important to the son.”
Now retired, it was Bernsen who led the renovation at his club and got the LPGA to sign a contract to hold its Office Depot Championship there from 2002-04. Still, at the height of his and his club’s successes, Bernsen was warning of a private club crisis on the horizon.
In 1970, the National Golf Foundation reported that private clubs represented 45 percent of golf facilities in the U.S.; today it’s 28 percent. The reasons for the dwindling numbers are up for discussion.
PBMares, a Virginia-based research firm, published a report in 2013 showing that corporate support has declined and that the days of a country club membership being an executive perk is mostly gone. Another factor is a change in family structure, with both parents typically working. While the dual income might be able to support membership dues, the time to enjoy the club isn’t always there.
“Retooling and retention, that’s our main focus today,” said Steve Hockett, general manager and COO of Palos Verdes Golf Club. “We have to offer more than just golf to attract new members while at the same time listening to what’s important to our current membership to retain them.”
Clubs are also trying to appeal to a younger, tech-savvy demographic by easing prior stumbling blocks such as dress codes or residency restrictions.
“It used to be a requirement that you had to be a Palos Verdes resident to join the club, but not today,” said Hockett, who uses direct mail and social media to reach out beyond the Palos Verdes peninsula to find new members.
Some sites, such as Braemer Country Club, have subtracted and added to be more enticing. The facility in Tarzana used to have 36 holes and no driving range but is now a 27-hole course with a range and a health club that can be accessed with a separate membership.
At Mission Viejo Country Club in Orange County, new general manager Steve Vlahos spearheaded an effort to get club members to approve seven non-equity memberships. It’s the first time in the 48-year history of the club that extra options have been put on the table.
“This is a progressive club with a great membership,” Vlahos said. “It’s ready to be launched into the 21st century and do things differently. We’re excited about these new opportunities.”
According to the PBMares report, private clubs need “visionary leadership from both the managers and the membership” to move forward. Clubs also need to “create a sense of purpose” with managers acting as “the catalyst for those members who are resistant to change.”
At Calabasas Country Club, owner Gene Axelrod doesn’t shy away from new ideas.
“There are more than enough people in the surrounding community to support this private club and we are creatively attracting them here,” Axelrod said. “Belonging to a club has to offer more than just preferential tee times. People want a place to gather, to meet friends, to share a meal.”
Axelrod, 76, also believes in retooling. Last year he converted an under-utilized banquet area into a health and fitness center with personal trainers, Pilates and cardiovascular machines. Health Club members get eight rounds of golf annually, clubhouse dining privileges and a monthly food credit that adds to the club’s food and beverage bottom line.
“Last month the fitness center had 400 usages for the month,” Axelrod said in January. “That’s only slightly less than the golf course did.”
Axelrod also struck a deal with Dave Pelz to build a short-game training area to his specifications. In return the short game guru held his Southland clinics at Calabasas, providing extra revenue and another idea – a Better Golf Membership. For $250 a month, members have use of the driving range, short-game area and Hank Haney Golf Performance Center that’s also a recent addition. Better Golf members also have health and fitness privileges, clubhouse dining privileges and the opportunity to play the Robert Trent Jones course once a month.
“We attract them here with creative membership programs,” Axelrod said. “That’s the key – getting them here, and it’s working.”
