FOR THE CLUB community, 2020 has been a year only Charles Dickens could love: the best of times and the worst of times. We’ve faced a complex set of issues that have shown us there are no blanket statements or simple answers. Golf and country clubs have had a miraculous summer. Gated community clubs experienced both high demand from new homeowners and a new use pattern as many snowbirds stayed well past their traditional exit times. Our friends at city clubs have had a tough go of it. Now that we are in fall and will soon be heading into winter, fortunes are likely to shift again, by club type and location.
Few would have predicted at the start of the pandemic-induced quarantine in March that it would be a boon to golf play and country clubs. Some clubs used their experience of the Great Recession as a guide and modeled 20% declines in membership. Others assumed they would lose all their social members if they couldn’t operate their pools or offer family recreation activities. Thankfully, this isn’t what happened. In response to McMahon Group’s recent quarterly Pulse Survey, 66% of golf and country clubs reported gains in members this summer while only 10% lost members. Ample outside spaces and golf’s natural social distancing gave them a leg up, but it was innovation that allowed country clubs to show their true value to their members. From take-out food to drive-in movies, reservations at the pool and virtual wine tastings, those that offered their members a safe sanctuary thrived.
Gated community clubs have also been winners this year. They are selling homes like hot cakes as people are hedging their bets and buying homes in these locales in case their city shuts down again. Others are planning on continuing to work remotely from a place where there will be no winter. On the other hand, city athletic clubs have had a difficult summer. In the same Pulse Survey, 56% reported losing members while only 22% saw gains. The quarantine hit as they entered their traditionally slower months. With work from home or members heading to their mountain and beach homes, there was literally no market to serve.
This illustrates how clubs will need to develop individualized solutions for their challenges. They will face a patchwork quilt of regulations, so a “one size fits all approach” won’t work. Country clubs in the north and city clubs must plan now for how they will innovate to serve their members this winter. They are likely to face 25% or 50% capacity in their dining rooms, so using the ballroom and private dining rooms as potential locations. Members are still reluctant to come inside, so it will be important to restate your safety protocols. Country clubs should be covering their outside spaces and adding heaters and drop downs to extend this utility.
It will also be important to ramp up your virtual club. This was an important lifeline in the spring. While most have kept it alive, use naturally has wained. Now is the time to double down on that program. Start building your events calendar—frequent communications, online fitness classes, virtual events like wine tastings and golf lessons should all be on the docket.
No matter the club type, what 2020 has shown us is that when the going gets tough, the tough innovate. North or south, city or country, stay connected with your members, be empathetic and communicate. Your number one mission continues to be to make your members feel as safe at the club as they do in their own home.
Frank Vain is president of McMahon Group, a fullservice private club consulting firm that has served over 2,000 private clubs around the world. He can be reached at [email protected].