ABOUT 25 YEARS AGO, I suggested to the board of governors of Winged Foot Golf Club that a website was in order. As you can imagine, or maybe you can’t, but 25 years ago the idea of a club like Winged Foot having a website seemed preposterous. “What are we going to do with the website?” board members asked.
“We are going to communicate with members!” That’s exactly what I said. Back then, we were still handwriting chits, there was not a computer in sight, and pencil and paper were still being used regularly. Circa 1990 we were sending out paper letters multiple times a week. Yes, there was a time before the internet—as well as before point of sale, back office systems and all of the things that we now accept as standard business operations. I still remember the chits being placed into “pigeonholes” alphabetically at the end of each month and sorted by hand. Much has changed since then—except for the need to actively, consistently communicate with the membership.
In the spring of 2020, Winged Foot was about to host the U.S. Open in the midst of a pandemic. The plans that we had worked on for the past five years had to be scrapped, and we needed to move quickly to another plan. While those of us involved in the planning conversations were working diligently, we realized that we needed to get the word out to the membership. The questions were starting to come in: What’s going on with the U.S. Open? Is it being canceled? What about the tickets that we purchased? What do I tell my guests? In mid-March, with questions being fired at us, it was time to start communicating. Unfortunately, we still did not have all the answers, but we decided it was better to provide the information available than to not say anything. As decisions were made, and answers available, we let the membership know.
Instagram Messaging
To make sure the messages were getting out quickly and efficiently we began to rely more on text messaging and on our Winged Foot member-only Instagram account. We also started to produce videos to explain what was going on. The private Instagram account proved to be the most effective and efficient way to get word out to the membership. At this time, we had about 500 followers on the account. We continually reviewed the analytics to see what was being read and how members were responding, and then adapted the messaging accordingly.
When the 2020 U.S. Open came in September, we began flooding the membership with information. Some of it was specific to volunteers, some of it specific to transportation, some general information about the U.S. Open—and a lot of information about COVID-19 testing. COVID-19 testing and compliance was our major concern. Members needed to know the rules of engagement; where to get tested; how their credentials would only be activated if they had received a negative test; and what to do and who to see if there were any issues.
Prior to the commencement of the U.S. Open, 2,000 people had to be tested. Everyone had to be continually reminded about protocols for wearing masks, washing hands, being aware of any symptoms and about personal behavior when offsite. One of the more critical messages: If you test positive you will not be a part of the U.S. Open—no excuses. We needed to bring this point home with the members and employees. A private Instagram account for employees had been set up as well as a text messaging system. It was critical that employees were receiving the same messages at the same time as the members.
This intense level of communication with such high frequency required a few dedicated staff persons. We were lucky enough to find Caroline Assumma, whose father is John Assumma, the long-standing general manager at the Waccabuc Club. Assumma worked alongside Tanya Wyss, Winged Foot’s U.S. Open coordinator. Together they ensured that the communication was taking place on time, accurately and efficiently.
During the week of the U.S. Open, we engaged social media professional Kristie Stark, whose firm specializes in online communications. She was tasked with capturing moments throughout the day, every day, and posting them to the Instagram account. Stark primarily focused on the member experience and posted photos of members in the field doing their volunteer duties, or while they were enjoying themselves between shifts. Stark posted nonstop on the private Instagram account for an entire week—morning to night—to the members’ delight.
Each morning of Championship week, the General Chair of the U.S. Open provided Wyss with a summary of the prior day and some commentary on what to look forward that day. This summary was posted to the club’s private Instagram account and website immediately. The daily pin sheets that were given to the players were published to the membership by 5:30 a.m. For the next 12-plus hours, we communicated nonstop with the membership, reminding them about the shuttle schedule, the hours for the member volunteer area, COVID-19 protocols, weather and anything else we could think of. One of the great successes of the 2020 U.S. Open was the communications effort. It was like nothing we had ever done before.
The world of social media can be a scary place. As we all know, once something is “out there,” there is no way of getting it back. Our postings are always vetted to ensure appropriateness. Access is limited as to posting capabilities. While we want the staff to have fun, to keep the postings fresh, we need to have uniformity of messaging and adherence to the club style guide. Most critical is the need to have messaging be something that we are proud of and not something that would ever cause embarrassment or regret. Shakespeare’s line about, “once written, forever read” was never so true as it is now.
Colin A. Burns is general manager of Winged Foot Golf Club. He can be reached at [email protected].