Who would have expected that a drone buzzing around the club could play a key role in earning membership’s support for a multimillion-dollar renovation project? This sci-fi fantasy turned into reality for our club, Glen Ridge Country Club in Glen Ridge, N.J., when it combined new, drone technology and age-old marketing best practices to produce a compelling video that validated our leadership’s vision and master plan, and created membership-wide enthusiasm to proceed with a large capital project.
Within the last ten years, Glen Ridge CC had restored its golf course, installed a brand new pool, renovated its five tennis courts, built a new maintenance facility, replaced its kitchen, made improvements to the golf course and added a fitness center. A strong membership commitment allowed these projects to be funded with minimal external loans and in all cases; the debt was retired ahead of schedule. Finally, it was time to tackle the “biggie,” the main clubhouse. The board recognized early on that the project was going to tax the membership from both a financial and operational aspect.
The initial design phase projected a cost of more than $10,000,000, and would put the clubhouse completely out of commission for a period of at least four months. Rather than focus on the plan as simply a means of beautifying and remodeling the aging infrastructure, the board approached the renovation as part of a broader, competitive business plan. It was becoming increasingly apparent that the club’s membership was looking for an increased level and variety of services that the current facility was unable to deliver.
The project became known as the “Transformation Plan.” The club’s by-laws require a positive vote by two-thirds of the voting membership in order to approve any major capital program. In order to guarantee that the plan met with the approval of the entire membership—both voting and non-voting members—a new Board subcommittee was established to shepherd the project. The committee met with a number of focus groups to ensure that the membership was able to develop a project “wish list” and ultimately allow members to have a forum to voice concerns before the project was sent to the membership for a vote.
The complete plan presentation was posted on the club’s website for review one week prior to the vote. This allowed the membership to formulate questions in advance of the formal presentation and vote. Knowing that a picture is worth a thousand words—and a video perhaps even more—one of the highlights of the formal presentation was the showing of a short video created by Osprey Imaging. The video (http://www.ospreyimaging.com/grcc) highlighted the improvements to the golf course done during prior capital programs and served to create enthusiasm within the membership about the club and the vision of the Board.
The video was the work of William Granruth, a budding entrepreneur and drone operator. His company, Osprey Imaging, has extensive experience with golf courses, as well as sailing regattas. Using the drone-recorded video as part of the Board’s master plan produced an enthusiastic reaction by the GRCC membership, who were able to visualize the impact that capital projects play in setting a course for achieving the club’s vision.
The Transformation Plan was approved this past November by more than 90 percent of the voting membership and is now in the final planning stage. Construction is expected to begin in the fall of 2015 and be completed in the spring of 2017. Although still very much in the design phase, the plan has already created a buzz in the community. The club is seeing increased interest from prospective members as well as from individuals who are interested in booking golf events or private functions. Maybe just as importantly, the current membership is excited, engaged and supportive in spite of the fact that the project will be somewhat disruptive to the 2016 season.
The video is now a focal point on the club’s website.
Jeffrey Kobernick is President of Glen Ridge Country Club.
Editor’s note: Clubs should be aware that some local ordinances may place restrictions on drone flight operations; however, Osprey Imaging is aware of and committed to compliance with all regulations.