Sections Supplements

Looking for a Members Bounce

Private Clubs Have to Work Harder to Sell the Lifestyle
Chris Tsandilas

Chris Tsandilas, general manager of Crestview Country Club in Agawam, says people need a reason, or reasons, to join to a private club.

“Closing the gap.”

That’s a phrase you hear at most all private country clubs these days — and it gets right to the heart of the matter.

The gap, in this case, is the differential between what a club wants its membership number to be and what it happens to be. And while the size of the gap varies — from a few members to a few dozen or more — all clubs have one, and this phenomenon is part of a changing dynamic in the private-club realm.

Indeed, while declines in membership are nothing new — they always accompany downturns in the economy — the current gaps are different because closing them represents a sterner challenge than in the past, and it will be this way for the foreseeable future.

That’s because times are changing, said Chris Tsandilas, general manager at Crestview Country Club in Agawam. He told BusinessWest that, while country club memberships never really sold themselves, today they are in many ways a harder sell. There are many reasons for this, but primarily, people today, especially members of younger generations, have many alternatives for spending their time — and their money — and a country club membership doesn’t move near the top of the list as easily as it once did.

“Today, people think long and hard before they join a private club,” said Tsandilas. “You have to create a reason or reasons to join … you have to create an atmosphere.”

For most clubs, this means working harder on selling themselves, and in some cases, this involves old-fashioned marketing — if the bylaws and tax code permit.

Crestview, which has a current gap of about 20 members, is one of those clubs doing such marketing, and its messages and their presentation speak to those comments about ‘reasons.’ In one print ad, the phrases “championship golf course,” “no tee times,” “practice facilities,” “family recreation,” and others are in a bigger, bolder typeface because they speak to the benefits that golfers and families can realize from membership.

Meanwhile, another ad references a “home away from home” atmosphere, which, said Tsandilas, is what many families are looking for in the post-9/11 era — a safe place for children and a relaxing atmosphere for adults that doesn’t require getting on an airplane.

Jody Cunningham agreed. She’s the first woman president in Springfield Country Club’s 110-year history, which makes it one of the oldest clubs in the country. She presides at a time when the membership capacity is 400 and the current gap is about 50. Some members would prefer that SCC not close that gap (the course would be less crowded), but club officers want at least a smaller number to ensure that an institution on solid financial ground remains that way.

And to do that, it is putting heavy emphasis on families, said Cunningham, adding that this is a national trend to which SCC and all other clubs must respond.

While focusing on families, clubs are also trying other strategic initiatives aimed at adding value to the equation. Twin Hills Country Club in Longmeadow, for example, has lowered its fees by roughly 20% (it is even publishing its rates, which is almost unheard of in this industry — but there’s a reason), while adding such amenities as on-site therapeutic massage, new stand-alone junior memberships, and a dining membership.

The club, which has survived a battle to turn its acreage into a housing development, had what current President Bob Bonsall called a make-or-break year in ’07, and made it. Golf membership, which was at an anemic 160 to start last year, is currently at 215, still well below the 240 Bonsall and others have set as the goal for this year, and it could ultimately go as high as 300. If it does, the club will have gone a long way toward ending what has historically been underutilization of the course and many of its facilities.

Like others we spoke with, Bonsall said that joining a club is an investment, and clubs have to be diligent and imaginative in finding ways to convince people that these are investments worth making.

In this issue, BusinessWest looks at the changing landscape for private clubs, and how they’re all working to close those gaps.

Dues and Don’ts

Hubert deRenzy says it feels like he’s been membership chair at SCC “forever.” It’s been several years, anyway, and he’s been a member at the club since the early ’80s. He’s seen a number of changes, especially in recent years, regarding demographics — no longer are club memberships dominated by specific ethnic or religious groups; ‘diversified membership’ and ‘melting pot’ are the phrases heard today — and overall image.

“It’s no longer the cigar-smoking, card-playing, old boy’s network,” he explained. “Those people are getting older … there are still card games, but no cigar smoking, obviously. Today, it’s about women and young families.”

To attract them, Springfield, like other clubs, is becoming somewhat less formal, although some clothing policies remain, while creating more programs that families can enjoy together. This is what members of Generation X, who are starting to join clubs, are looking for, said Cunningham.

“They’re forgoing the vacations where they’re going away,” she said of that constituency, citing personal experience and anecdotal evidence. “They want places where they can have structured and non-structured activities, where they can drop the kids off and know they’re safe. We’re noticing that with a lot of our social memberships.”

The club is responding with initiatives like the so-called Camp for Champions, a summer program that involves both children and their parents.

“They can do tennis, golf, swimming, arts and crafts, even family bingo out by the pool,” said Cunningham. “There are teen pool parties, where they can float in an innertube and watch a movie; it’s all about the family … what can we provide for their kids, and what can we provide as a family unit.”

By responding with family-oriented programming, the club is broadening its appeal — and its audience, said Cunningham, noting that this is the challenge facing all clubs in the current environment.

Tracing recent history at Crestview, Tsandilas said membership had been steady until earlier this decade, when it started trending down, for reasons that are now considered part and parcel to national patterns. Eventually, club officers decided to “get serious,” as he put it, about shoring things up.

A number of strategic initiatives have been or are still being discussed, he told BusinessWest. These include everything from opening the dining room to the public — a step that was rejected — to establishing a real-estate component that would create what Tsandilas called “instant members” (an option that is still on the table, but considered impractical at this moment) to marketing efforts.

The club had never marketed itself before, and that step was certainly not commonplace in this region when it was first discussed a few years ago, said Tsandilas. But it was becoming more prevalent in other regions of the country, he continued, and when members brought back magazines and newspapers from other regions that had ads for private clubs, talks escalated, and Crestview eventually decided to “take the leap.”

Working with Stevens Design Studio in Westfield, the club has put together a marketing campaign that features print and radio ads that center on the benefits to golfers that are not to be found on public courses (no waits for tee times) and that ‘home away from home’ theme.

“This can be your second home, instead of a trip to the Cape,” he said. “You can vacation here.”

Efforts to get serious have reduced the gap in recent years, said Tsandilas, noting that there is still work to be done. “Twenty members makes a difference,” he explained, noting that, by his estimates, each member spends roughly $10,000 with the club each year. “That’s money we could definitely use to provide our members with the atmosphere and services they deserve.”

Food for Thought

SCC’s tax status doesn’t permit advertising, said deRenzy, adding that the prevailing strategy at that club is to make all members feel as if they are part of the membership committee and share responsibility for gap-closing duties. And they’re given incentives, such as pro shop credits, for doing so, a tactic being repeated at many other clubs.

While looking for new members, those at Springfield are also debriefing those who are leaving, to track the reasons why and see if there are patterns that the club can address. Meanwhile, SCC is reaching out to some who have left, he continued, with the hope of bringing them back on some level, perhaps as dining members.

Twin Hills has had good success with a dining membership featuring no food minimums that it introduced last year as one of many steps to stabilize and increase membership, said Bonsall. Other initiatives included a business membership that did not fare as well, and an overall reduction in fees aimed at convincing prospective members that a club traditionally viewed as expensive is in fact within their price range.

Overall, Bonsall explained, Twin Hills has been underutilized, a condition that resulted from bylaws, since revised, that capped golf membership at 250. The course can handle many more, and so can the dining room, he said, adding that the dining membership is targeted at residents of Longmeadow and nearby Enfield — which boasts many over-55 housing developments — who don’t have a wealth of dining options.

“Longmeadow doesn’t have many restaurants, and many people are looking for a reliable place with a quiet, relaxed atmosphere,” he said, noting that Twin Hills sold about 90 dining memberships last year, and would like to get that number to 200 or beyond.

“Historically, we’ve been underutilized, and underutilizing your facilities doesn’t make much economic sense,” said Bonsall. “It doesn’t make any sense to have the dining room just sitting there and the banquet facility just sitting there, and the golf course there with no one using it, so we’re just emphasizing ways to increase utilization.

“We recognize that, nationally, the demand for the game of golf and for the country-club lifestyle is way off from what it was five to 10 years ago — that’s a phenomenon that affects everyone,” he continued. “So in effect, we’re competing for a smaller pool of potential members; in our view, that means we have to figure out how to appeal to a broader segment of the population, and we’re doing that by repositioning the club.”

Ludlow Country Club already appeals to a fairly broad audience, said current Vice President Peter Karalekas, noting that membership traditionally hovers around 520, much higher than most other private facilities. It’s currently at 490 or so, and many members like that number because it represents opportunities to get better tee times on weekends.

But, like Tsandelis, Karalekas said a few dozen memberships adds up, especially at a time when fuel prices and many other expenditures are soaring.

“I could live with this number [490] if the membership demonstrates a willingness to pay higher rates, but at the moment, I haven’t exactly seen any such willingness,” he said, noting quickly that dues numbers lower than those at many other clubs (and that haven’t increased in three years) have created that larger membership.

Besides, higher fees probably would not offset additional losses in membership or other losses in revenues, he said, leaving LCC in the same boat as other clubs — closing the gap.

He’s confident Ludlow can do that, perhaps with a simple push on junior memberships, but he’s concerned about the bigger, longer-term picture. LCC’s membership is aging, and he wonders out loud whether there will be enough members of the younger generations to fill the void.

“Everyone’s essentially fishing in the same, smaller pond,” he said. “I’m not sure we’re there yet, but soon we’ll be oversupplied when it comes to clubs in this area.”

Join the Club — Please

Just before talking with BusinessWest, Tsandilas sold another membership, closing the gap to that 20 figure.

Like most before it, this sale was several weeks in the making, he said, adding that this is an indication that few, if any, are rushing to join clubs today. Prospective members are being deliberate and weighing all their options, meaning not just other clubs, but also other uses for dues and other expenses.

In these changing times, he stressed again, people are thinking long and hard before signing on the dotted line, and they need good reasons to do so.

George O’Brien can be reached at[email protected]