Episode 20 - March Madness in Golf Operations

Another busy month. Another month of record golf rounds. We chat all things golf with our golf ops leadership. We're finishing up our first season back in the club and as expected activity was an all time high. The team discusses the ingredients that led to a successful year and high member satisfaction. We also discuss culture, expectations and how empowerment means the most in tough situations....and of course, we share some small stuff...

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:05

How we do small things impact where we discuss all things hospitality and most things undecided. True hospitality is about making big impacts in small complex. Memorable experiences are created in the company.

SPEAKER_05 0:41

April.

SPEAKER_07 0:43

April this year.

SPEAKER_05 0:45

Our April top of the month episode, we're going to talk about golf, golf operations. So I've got my usual Mike Batter.

SPEAKER_09 0:54

Hello.

SPEAKER_05 0:55

Tyler Stolting, our head golf professional. Thanks, Joe. And Joe Herbstreath, better known as Herbie. Yeah. Our DOG. So guys, we were just saying before we hit record, we're pretty tired.

SPEAKER_07 1:10

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:11

It's which we're supposed to be this time of year, right?

SPEAKER_07 1:14

It's the nature of the golf business in South Florida. You can tell it's April.

SPEAKER_05 1:18

Yeah. Just a crazy season. Um, tons of activity through all areas of the club. But you know, the golf course in particular has been has been pretty wild. Very a lot of activity. So tell me, uh we were just we were just chatting.

SPEAKER_09 1:36

Like that's I think we've hit 300 people, 300 round days this year, close to as much as we've hit them total in all the years past. Yeah. It's possible. Because I don't remember do we don't we do one or two a year. So what if in 10 years we might have done 10? Yeah. Maybe 15. And this year I think we've done 10.

SPEAKER_07 2:00

Well, to put it in perspective, if the morning the the every tea time is taken, the the the morning afternoon crossovers, and then the nine-hole times, it adds up to 312. Available times available times.

SPEAKER_09 2:13

So that's because no single guy or girl could jump in somewhere and play every random group. Everyone taken every nine-hole tea time after four o'clock is taken. Yeah, there's not a space available.

SPEAKER_07 2:24

So there's the the record this this year, I think, is 308. So there's only four opportunities of the whole day where we could have put a single person.

SPEAKER_05 2:34

So we do crossovers um or double tease. Yep. If we were doing shotguns, because this has been a topic of conversation. And again, just the history there. We used to do, was it three regularly three a week. Three a week.

SPEAKER_09 2:50

Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday.

SPEAKER_05 2:51

Just regular shotgun, double shotguns. Um, how many times could we put out in a double shotgun?

SPEAKER_07 2:57

It well, if you're I would like to responsible and you cap the shotguns at 120 players, which is the average standard. That's standard.

SPEAKER_09 3:08

It is because pace of play gets affected immensely if you go anything above that.

SPEAKER_05 3:12

So we're always in this like balancing act of making sure there's enough availability for all the members that want to play, um, and then also providing a a decent experience. And I think going into this season, I I think the model has been working well. I'm I'm I'm I'm hearing from you guys that it you know it's worked well. Like we're accommodating a ton of golfers, and again, I look at the rounds every month. You know, March, I think we finished just over 8,000 rounds. And to give a little further context, 5,600-yard golf course, par 70. So we're not you know, it's not a a long course, 18 holes. Um you know, my previous club, I had 27 holes, and you know, 300 plus round days was normal. But that's not the case here.

SPEAKER_02 4:10

A lot of the courses you go to are 7,000 yards or more from the tips, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_05 4:14

Yeah, so that that makes a difference, right?

SPEAKER_09 4:17

Absolutely. It makes a difference in everything. Pace of play, it makes a difference in in in rounds you can get in. If we had nine more holes, that'd be great. Yeah. But um just the pace of play, as you said, 7,000 yard courses, people would think that'd be a longer pace of play. That's not necessarily true. Right. Um, our course can be have a slower pace of play sometimes because if you're a big hitter, you have to wait for a green to clear. Yeah. Um or the power threes get backed up because they're shorter. Little hard our power threes are longer than some of the other courses, par threes, and you get backups on those. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 4:51

And think think of it where you you said if you have a big hitter, you have to wait for the gr the green clear. That big hitter might be paired with a a not so big hitter, right? That it has has to, you know, has to wait accordingly. So it's not 7,000.

SPEAKER_05 5:05

The bigger course doesn't uh necessarily mean there's more opportunity to spread the groups out, I guess, or they spread themselves out as they're playing. Um, right? I mean, that's how it it makes sense in my head.

SPEAKER_09 5:18

Yeah. 8,000 people is 8,000 people. Yeah. That's right. It's a big number for our course. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

Yeah. Right.

SPEAKER_07 5:28

Right. And when when you talk about that balance, we do maximize the amount of people on the course with our tea time intervals. I mean, we are aggressive with the double T's and the seven minutes. Seven minute T times. Yeah. Seven and a half minute T times, but yeah. It's it's it's aggressive.

SPEAKER_05 5:43

You know, and then I mean from a from a survey standpoint, we're we're just, you know, kind of I'm just starting to go through all the information on this annual survey, and I shared just some top level with with you all um last week. Like the survey scores are really high. Pace of play every year, that's probably one of the lowest rated areas. Um I think this year it was a 3.7, it was a 3.7 last year, and that's a scale of one to five for member satisfaction. So they rated themselves uh three 3.7, which really isn't a low score. Um, it's lower when you compare to all the other categories, um, because the survey scores in general were extremely high this year, um, both in just overall golf operations experience, uh, you know, the members experience with you know, the the experience inside the shop, the experience with tournaments, the experience uh with Mike, your team, and just you know, that satisfaction, that high satisfaction. And then the the conditioning of the golf course, too. The the survey, yeah. I mean, it's it some of the scores were the highest they've been in years. Yeah, that's good to see. Um and I I would concur with that.

SPEAKER_07 6:59

I I thought the golf course was in really good condition this year.

SPEAKER_05 7:02

So so that's I look when I'm going through that stuff, like to me, it's it's I'm throwing all this stuff into this big soup pot. And so my question back to you guys is like, what are the ingredients that that are that have driven that this year, you think? Ingredients that that have driven the Yeah, I'm just I'm throwing all the numbers, I'm throwing the numbers in this big pot, and I'm like, wow, the tons of activity, um, high survey scores, the rounds are off the charts. Um, I mean, of course, there's some criticism in there. Like you, there's never, you know, you're never gonna have 100% of the people ecstatic. Um, but relatively low negative feedback, like really low. So, from your standpoint, what what have we done? Or did it all happen by accident? We just got we just got lucky. Was it just your luck? Like, t tell me about like what do you think? What do you think we've worked too hard if this was by accident?

SPEAKER_07 7:58

Yeah, I would say uh one ingredient I think we we've got to acknowledge JD and his team and potentially the the summer closures from last season, yeah, feeling the effects of those. Yeah, you know, that the extra time that he gets on the golf course during the summer to prep the you know, prep the turf and the soil for the season, I think it has paid bit paid benefits. Yeah, yeah. I think that was a big key ingredient to to why the golf course is in such good good shape over the season, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

And going back to our crossover formula, I think it really sets us up well for success because everybody kind of knows like you get the early guys out 7:39. Then you get your afternoon play from 1145 to 1.30, and then from four to five, you got your walkers and your you know, you can walk after four, and I think everybody just kind of knows the drill with the tea times.

SPEAKER_05 8:46

Yeah, you know, yeah. I think I think the tea times the but between the tournaments that we've done, which I don't know, have we done more tournaments this year? I don't think so.

SPEAKER_07 8:56

Okay. It feels like a lot, but I don't think so.

SPEAKER_05 8:59

But it I think the balance between the number of shotguns and you know the the regular crossover days was good.

SPEAKER_07 9:06

It it was good, and that was a change because it it's been a while since we we we were able to do shotguns. Yeah. So I think it feels like there's more events. I think there's not, it's it's it's not more. It's the same it's pretty much.

SPEAKER_09 9:15

It's about the same as we've always done. We don't do the the every Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday shotguns. Right. But we I think for event-wise, I think it's as it's about the same. I think we might have added in uh an extra one-day member guest or a you know, a couple things here and there, but it's all I think it's all roughly the same. And I think we've gotten good feedback on I have at least on the number of shotguns.

SPEAKER_05 9:38

Well, you you were you were saying, Mike, that going in the season and you and Joe have had the conversation of like being able to provide a certain level of service and managing or balancing, you know, the formats with being able to do that. And you it's been good.

SPEAKER_09 9:56

Yeah. I when but listen, I think everybody, everybody's aware and can tell when they're up, when they pull up to the backdrop um during a shotgun. If we have a certain event in the morning, especially if it's taking a little longer, the guys are turning carts and it trying to get that 115 out on time. And there's people waiting, it's frustrating. Um there's just not the level of service that you can possibly give when you're trying to get 120 people off the course that are playing a little longer than maybe you would like, and you've got 120 people showing up at the same time to go on to those same carts to go on to the course. So they're just running by people, you know, and they're saying hi as they run by. And if somebody needs something, they have to stop in their tracks like a cartoon and skid go back and try to help out. But it's always it's a fury, and it's it it it it it's not in it's the same at all courses, but it's very difficult to give the level of service that we would would like to give at countryside when you are when you're just running constantly running by these guys can't give um the service, walk around and answer questions and and make sure if anybody needs anything because they're helping us pull bags because we've got twenty-two cart cars lined up at the bag drop, because we're we're we're trying to turn 120 people uh back onto the golf course. Right. So it's hard to give the level of service at that when you're when you're when you're that busy in those days.

SPEAKER_07 11:24

And and day to day, that's that's kind of our number one priority. That's what we monitor day to day is the service levels. You know, the the the amount of people on the course, that stuff is kind of model driven on on how we set up the shotguns and the tea time intervals. But in terms of that's what we control day to day is yeah, we can't serve we can't do great.

SPEAKER_09 11:40

We're not gonna do great every day. It's and it just makes it harder to do when you're just running by people with three bags in your hand up to you know, to put them on whole 13 cards.

SPEAKER_05 11:51

Sure. Yeah. But uh well, I mean, from a survey standpoint, uh again, the the comments funny, but before we were in here, I I was going through, I've been analyzing the comments so much more than I than I typically do. And part of that is um to be quite honest, um, AI makes it so much easier. Like I can load these survey spreadsheets into Chat GPT or or Claude. And the the way that how as quickly and as efficiently I I I just I just ran a report like give me show me every comment that man mentions a staff member by name. I mean, it would take me hours to go through. We had nearly 600 responses on the survey. Um there's like another 300 plus individual comments that come along with that. Um I mean, and from the golf operation standpoint, like there have been so many positive call-out on you guys and your team members on a little, and that tells me that they're getting more personalized service.

SPEAKER_08 12:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 12:59

You know, Josh and Tyler at the golf bag, you know, at the backdrop have just been so awesome this season. When they're they're able to call team members out by name. That's nice. That's a big deal to me, you know. Um, and I, you know, the other thing I wanted to say too was you know, this was kind of a pivotal, pivotal season, and we had some major leadership change in golf operations, you know, with Joe, you know, Stephanie was here for uh gosh, it was 10 years. 10, 12 years, 10 or 12 years. Um, you know, she moved on to another opportunity. You were here previously as as uh the head pro.

SPEAKER_07 13:39

Um, but I don't think you were in that role a year. No, it was from actually it was only I started the first week of January, and I think I was elevated the first week of April. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 13:48

So you were here through season. Yeah, yeah, right. Stephanie left, um, promoted you, which uh I'm still to this day happy with that decision over the moon. And then you brought on Tyler, you know, to to backfill that hole. And you're just you're just at one year now. Yeah, yeah. Um, I think this month.

SPEAKER_02 14:06

It'll be April 27th, I think, to be exact.

SPEAKER_05 14:09

So you know to the day. I don't know, is that a good thing? But again, you're you know, we went into this massive season, high expectations everywhere, you know, reopening the clubhouse. Um a lot of unknowns, tons of unknowns, you know, trying to get back to a quote unquote normal type of operation. We knew that the activity was going to be higher because there was gonna be more guests in town and they want to show off the club and like get back to a normal season. And I don't think it could have gone any better. And you know, all of it is due to you know the leadership and uh what you guys have been able to do. No, I'm I'm pretty proud of this for season. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 14:49

Yeah, you guys were thrown to the wolves here a little bit um with with a brand new club, a brand new setup. You come in with no none of us that have been here a while knowing how we're gonna set things up, how we're gonna how it's gonna run. Yeah. You didn't know how it was gonna run. I didn't know how it was gonna run. Um, and you guys were just kind of thrown in and it uh it we we we hit some walls in the beginning and had to meet and reevaluate how you know how setups are gonna be and how the how the communication is gonna be. But I think it uh within a very short period of time, it uh it's it's become a little seamless now. Yeah. It seems like and this was a like you say, it's an experimental year. So we experiments everyone. We experimented out there. Oh yeah. And um, but I that I what it that what it says to me is by the end of the season, but like right now, I think it's running quite smoothly. Yeah. And next year, I think will be because we've got the summer to we've learned some things. We've learned things all of us.

SPEAKER_07 15:45

Two some of the tournaments and some of the shotgun times. All of us have learned.

SPEAKER_05 15:48

What do you think would be the biggest, like the single biggest item we you would look to tweak going into next season?

SPEAKER_07 15:56

Hmm. That's a good question. Uh, I think some of the event shotgun times is is is a pretty big the perfect example. Like he mentioned it when you when you when you have two events, in particular when when the bigger events in the afternoon, and you're doing this crossover, and and people want to come here early for this big event that's that's teeing off at 115, and it's just impossible to service that group coming in. I think we had a really good because you have morning crossovers because we're waiting on the morning, we're waiting on the morning shotgun to come off the course. Oh, more morning, yeah. You know, gotcha. And we're trying to service the people coming out for the for the for the afternoon shotgun. And and a good example of that was the the nine-hole event.

SPEAKER_02 16:30

Ninehole guest day, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 16:31

The nine-hole guest day, where we we did push the the shotgun back to two o'clock instead of one fifteen, and that extra 45 minutes.

SPEAKER_02 16:38

Because we pictured guests arriving without carts, like for a member guests, then you don't want that. Right.

SPEAKER_09 16:43

We were able to give dramatically better service to the to the nine-hole association guests, right, and and and association members that day. And I heard that from them. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 16:55

And and and it's and it's the type of event where they they want to get here a little early, they want that they they're dressing up, they want to decorate their carts, and there's an extra there, there's a there's part of that goes along with that event that it's something simple as just pushing it back 45 minutes that makes such a difference.

SPEAKER_05 17:07

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 17:08

Cause that gives that gives a little bit more breathing room in terms of well, when we're doing those shotguns and people are right and we do a 115 and people are getting here for the afternoon shotgun early, even tea times, when they're getting here for tea times and we don't have the carts to turn yet to give them because they're 45 minutes early for the the tea, you know, their tea time or an hour early. Um, there we are, we are we have a lot of new members. Yeah. I mean, over the last you've seen it over the last five years. I feel like every year it's it's an extraordinary amount of people that I don't know and I've never seen, and I'm getting to know. And here's the other thing. They're all new to me. They're playing golf more.

SPEAKER_05 17:46

Here's the other thing though, and and I don't want to interrupt you, but I'm going to. Yeah. We we only have like we only have roughly 50 to 60 new members a year. Like, that's how many homes turnover historically. But we're seeing all the new members who have joined over the last three years who really didn't use the club because we were done.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

It's like we haven't seen these people in three years. Like, hello.

SPEAKER_05 18:15

Literally, the other day I was talking to a couple at the pool cafe and it didn't know them, never recognize them. Like, you know, and I'm like, when did you buy here? And they're like, Oh, at the end of 2023, but we haven't been here because so like they're just using the club now. So it's like if you just use round numbers, you say 50, you know, 50 members a year. Well, this year is it's actually like 150, right? That have started to really use the club.

SPEAKER_09 18:42

And they play a lot of golf. Well, our new members are playing golf. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 18:45

In in that scenario, whenever you get the new members, usually the member that they're replacing probably didn't play as much. They're older. And then and then when they when you the new member joins, they're eager. They're they're they're looking to be.

SPEAKER_02 18:56

So we were training all the new members, but also training the old members. Retraining, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 19:02

Yeah. What about your your first year, Tyler? What are what are your what are your thoughts? Like if you had to recap the first year, um you you were previously at uh the Island Country Club, right? I don't how how long were you there?

SPEAKER_02 19:18

I was there for two and a half years.

SPEAKER_05 19:21

Two and a half years, so different operation, right? Um, what do you think?

SPEAKER_02 19:26

Well, I I felt like I, you know, going into it, a lot of people were saying how crazy it can get for sure. And I I mean we're used to that when it's in the busy season, but um there were starters out there saying that you know this was the busiest season they've seen here and they've been here five, six, seven years. Yeah. I expected it to be very busy. Yeah. Uh it was. Um, I think there's things we can do teaching wise that we could grow a little bit, you know, with some more technology down the line. Um, because people are really interested in numbers and technology and the and the teaching aspect of things. That's a good one. Um with the way everything ran, I think it ran extremely well. Yeah. When you look at the whole year and the events we were able to pull off with, you know, max amount of people in them. Yeah. Um, to do what we did was I was pretty proud of it because you know, I only had the summer to prepare, but you know, I knew it was going to be busy and meeting all kinds of new faces and families that have been here forever. And it was it was great. It was a great experience.

SPEAKER_05 20:31

What was uh what do you what was your like most memorable experience over the over the season?

SPEAKER_02 20:37

Uh most memorable. It's hard to say. Uh we're just off the club championship, and for me, that's like my favorite event of the year because it's real golf and we're out there a lot watching every stroke matters. So like I I love club championship week. Yeah. And we're fresh off that. So that's fresh in my mind as a as a real memorable moment for me. Awesome. I I enjoy the club championships the most.

SPEAKER_05 21:04

I was hoping you were gonna say the uh the video you did with me out there, but that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 21:09

Well, I might have that's a close second.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

I'm just kidding. You gotta learn in here, Tyler. You'll learn.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

I might have another one coming up next week, though.

SPEAKER_03 21:17

Oh, really? Yeah, you what you care to share? On Wednesday? On Wednesday. Uh am I part of that? You might be. I'm drawing a blank.

SPEAKER_02 21:28

I don't know if we're allowed to say or not. Some uh there's there's gonna be people here on site, I think.

SPEAKER_05 21:35

Oh yeah. That's gonna be a big one. That's gonna be a really big one. I'm just gonna be excited. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. I can't believe I didn't have that. You know, I I've got a reminder on my calendar to think about that on Monday. We're recording this on Saturday. You know what though? That you yes, that's gonna be we can say it. Okay. Um We're gonna have Wink News out here. For good reasons. Wednesday, April 8th. They're they gosh, I'm kicking myself. Yeah, so that's a big deal. So Wink News is coming out Wednesday, April 8th. They're gonna do uh it's like five live segments live segments. Um, you know, it's it's just ahead of Master's Week. They wanted to do some golf um related content at a local golf course, and the PR firm that we uh we work with pitched us. So um, yeah, man, you you the two of you guys got some um camera time um and they're gonna talk about really the the you know just the overall golf program here and then I I want to pitch obviously what we've done with the clubhouse because um you know it's it's just such a huge element, but yeah, that's a big deal. Are you nervous?

SPEAKER_02 23:00

Not really.

SPEAKER_05 23:00

No, no, because they really zeroed into you. They're like, we want Tyler's out there teaching, playing.

SPEAKER_02 23:05

You're gonna you're gonna you're gonna have some time with the report or yeah, play a hole with the lady and all kinds of fun stuff. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 23:12

We need actually on my calendar um for Monday, Tuesday, I we need to carve out some time to just review all that.

SPEAKER_07 23:19

I agree, because I've got the make sure pin on my desk that I haven't spent enough time looking at.

SPEAKER_05 23:23

Neither have I.

SPEAKER_09 23:24

I've booked a I've booked a couple of tea times for some certain member guys at another course, so they won't walk over and embarrass us. I won't mention any names, but they I won't mention names, but they know who they are.

SPEAKER_05 23:35

You know, um when people see a camera, they're like, Oh, hi mom. Right?

SPEAKER_09 23:42

Yeah, it's gonna be great, though. I mean, it's that's that's a big opportunity and a big a big thing that these members our members should be proud of. That we make news big showcase for countryside, yeah, yeah as a lead-in for their master's golf coverage. It's gonna be this is this is on Wednesday on purpose because they start their master's coverage on Thursday.

SPEAKER_05 24:01

Yeah, it's gonna be really cool. Really, really good stuff. Good, good spotlight for the community. Um, good spotlight for you guys, your operation. I mean, that's that's really just it's just awesome. It's good for everyone.

SPEAKER_07 24:12

So are we gonna wear a master's shirt? Oh, sure, yeah. I think we should wear it with a master's logo, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 24:18

Yeah, I don't know if I have one.

SPEAKER_07 24:20

Actually, you have to be. You were there the you got some stuff.

SPEAKER_05 24:24

You know what? I didn't buy a shirt for me. I bought one for everyone else, yeah. Yeah, I bought one. That's what happens a lot. People load up and then give it a little bit more. I did not get one for myself. No. But maybe I can find like a green jacket. Yeah, I might. There you go. That'd be great. So, no, that's gonna be really cool. Yeah, that's fun day.

SPEAKER_06 24:43

It's gonna be that's gonna be exciting. Really neat, good, good showcase for the community. So glad you're remembered.

SPEAKER_05 24:49

Yeah, thanks for reminding me. Well, so what out like how does how does your experience over the last year compare to uh your previous uh club?

SPEAKER_02 25:02

It's hard to say because everywhere everywhere's obviously so busy in season. Yeah um, you know, it's just a different operation down there because I think they're charging almost 200,000 now initiation fee. So a highly um private, um kind of different different experience with membership. Um not that either one is good or bad in in any way, but just different clientele, I would say. Um but now uh nothing but good things to say about the people here and yeah, the experience.

SPEAKER_05 25:33

Yeah. No, I I think so too. I mean, countryside's a special place. It is, yeah. I mean, my my first club in the industry was very exclusive, you know, six-figure membership fee. And um funny, you know, Mrs. Ty. Oh, yeah. She was a member at that club. Yeah. So I've known Mrs. Ty for almost 20 years. Um, and I I I always think about her when when I think about the types of membership, you know, and the different, and she tells me all the time, she's like, This this club is just so much fun. It's so much fun, you know, and you have there's a family feel to it. It is a family feel, and I think I really think that with what we've done here and what we are we have planned in the future, you know, and particularly the capital we're gonna put into you know, your area now, and you know, that we're in the early stages of. Um, we can compete with the best clubs in the area. Absolutely without question, you know, because again, it's it's really it's it's the overall, it's the lifestyle, it's it's the people, it's how we make people feel, and you know, that's what it's all about.

SPEAKER_07 26:41

There is a sense of community here, more so than I experienced in previous clubs that I was at.

SPEAKER_09 26:46

There's a lot of hugs when you when people are leaving and coming, you know, that you don't that I know that I know for a fact that other clubs that that doesn't happen, but there are people who are driving up and giving you hugs goodbye before they leave.

SPEAKER_07 26:56

And it's genuine where it's not fake. It was it was a little more fake in my previous clubs where here it just seems so genuine. It really does.

SPEAKER_09 27:04

They're purposely driving up to give give you a hug and say goodbye while they're d on the way out of town. Yeah. And it's uh you know, it's a good feeling because the guys like it because it makes them feel validated a little bit that you know and they took a special stop too. They're glossy eyes, they're they're tired, you know. Yeah, they go home and they're tired. Yeah, and uh it made it a little bit worth it.

SPEAKER_05 27:25

Yeah. Well, look, I mean, at the end of the day, it's like we all work to pay our bills. I mean, that's a job at the end of the day, yeah. But you you you want to make you want to know that you're doing something that's making a difference, right? And that you're valued and you're appreciated, and you know, and that's the way I I look at it. Like I I feel more valued and appreciated here by our members than anywhere else in our world.

SPEAKER_07 27:53

Yeah, you know, and I think people like us that have chosen this business, it's it's kind of in our DNA for that validation, or we just you know, that's that's what gets me going.

SPEAKER_05 28:02

We're here to serve, like we are here to serve and provide provide a lifestyle and experience and make people feel special, but we also want to provide that same type of feeling to each other, right? And it's not just, you know, it that's what helps us, me anyways, get through the tough days, or the days where things don't go great, or the days where maybe you're whatever. It's a human business. We're gonna make mistakes, you know. Um, people are gonna come off the golf course and complain about pace of play or you know, green speeds, or you know, whatever the case may be, or you know, we make mistakes. Their hamburger wasn't great, you know, and it's just like at the end of the day, it's like I know deep down I I don't wake up looking to screw up someone's day, but sometimes it happens, and it doesn't really like someone you know, a member might be upset, but they really truly value us in the end and they understand.

SPEAKER_09 28:57

We had uh we had a situation the other day that there was a uh shotgun going out in the afternoon, and right before it was about to take off, we were informed that there was a wrong bag uh out of a cart on it. It was uh it was a mr.

SPEAKER_07 29:13

I forget who took that bag out of the I'm not sure who it was either.

SPEAKER_09 29:17

I don't know. It might have been the director of golf. But uh like it wouldn't help it. It ended up not being him, though, because the the mister in the scenario uh put the wrong bag in the car.

SPEAKER_07 29:31

But you know what? That that's another example because I just assumed I I pulled the wrong bag and made the mistake.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

But there was only one bag in there.

SPEAKER_07 29:38

But he went out of his way the next day to announce to everybody that it wasn't my mistake.

SPEAKER_09 29:43

It was it was just one of those little things that we made so we made it was Mrs. All and she she told me that it's the wrong bag. She stopped me as I was running by, and I was like, so we were about to be sent out. We were close to 120 people leaving. Yeah, so it had to be fast. What do we do here? So we ran in. I just ran in, talked to Joe. We got her the best rental set we had. We put a rental set on there. I went and got her a handful of teas and ball markers. I put them in there. We comped to some golf balls for her and put her in some very nice golf balls. She likes pink golf balls, so we got her some white ones and some pink ones, put them in the bag for her and sent her on our way. Now, Mr. realizes his mistake and on the third hole, remedied it. And he brought the rental set back to us while the shotgun was going on. That's awesome. So he remedied, he realized that he was always telling him that he had the wrong bag in there. So the the next day, both of them separately, but Mrs. All came up and was just really thankful and and wanted to make sure that we knew that just remedying that that quickly and giving it, she goes, I you I don't need you don't have to give me the golf balls. I was like, Well, you weren't gonna play without them.

SPEAKER_07 30:53

Yeah. It's it's tough. It's a good golf's a tough game balls.

SPEAKER_09 30:57

But she um she was so thankful for for what we did and quickly how it quickly uh went about, and I was pretty happy with that situation. It was it was it was gonna be bad for a minute. And it turned out very well.

SPEAKER_05 31:10

Well, like when everything works to plan, that's when it's easy. And I think you know, when you can turn a difficult situation or mishap into a good experience, like that really tells you the quality of leadership and the team and like well, it shows you the membership too.

SPEAKER_09 31:30

Part of the point I was getting to it is that uh she made points. He made a point to come back and say that she made a separate point to come back, not playing golf, to drive up here from her home just to let us know right how happy she was and thankful of how the situation was handled. And I don't think a lot of courses that they would or a lot of places, not just golf courses, say it would just be a couple of years, restaurants or anything, you know, yeah, residences and condo buildings with there they they just would forget about it. Yeah, it was taken care of and forget about it. But in that countryside, they do make a point a lot to let us know that they appreciate there's a culture here that's yeah, it's it's it's really good.

SPEAKER_05 32:08

Yeah. So, Joe, your first season as director of golf. Now, really, what I want what I wanted to ask you, you were at your previous club in Michigan for 20 years. Seven years. 27 years. 27 years. Okay, yeah. So 27 years, which is a majority of your career, right?

SPEAKER_07 32:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 32:30

At one club. More than half my life. More than half your life. You relocate to the east coast of Florida, spend two years. Two years on the east coast, yep. Two years on the east coast, come over here, two years at ICC. Yep. And now you land at countryside, which I hope you've found your home. I feel like I have. But tell me, you know, after your first year as uh director of golf, well, really, um, you're a year and four months-ish, yeah. Uh your total tenure here. How does how does it compare like what was your first season like? And then compare it to your 27 years in uh at your your first club.

SPEAKER_07 33:15

You know, my first club, you know, where I was there for so long, it was such a different animal or experience because I was I was so young when I started. And I was how old were you when you started? I was started when I was in college. I was 19 years old when I started. Okay. And and I started basically how I got the job there, I was I had no idea what a country club was or what a really golf operation was. I I was a really uh a competitive golfer, so I love the golf. Um, my uh best friend in high school, we're golfing buddies. He was in the intern at Birmingham Country Club, and he needed to fill the brown. So I worked for him just just uh just just as a just in a bag room for one summer. He he asked me, he asked me to work. I was like, I'm not working at Birmingham Country Club. And he said, Well, you get to play free golf. And I said, Okay, I'm in it. Sign me up. Yeah. And and I went and I started there, and and then after the first couple seasons, obviously I enjoyed the business. I I had already liked golf, and that's when I made the determination that I want to become a golf professional. And my whole career went from being the entry-level employee there to all the way up to the director of golf there. My my last seven seasons there, I was the director of golf. So it's it's different when you're at a club where they've seen you your whole life. Sure, you know, kind of grow up. Um, and so then I uh it was kind of just a the opportunity moving down to Florida kind of fell on my lap. It was a perfect time uh person personally and professionally, because my our youngest child just went away to college and it was it just felt right to move to Florida. And uh my the two stops prior to to countryside, it either one of them really were I weren't ideal, you know. I just um it just wasn't a good fit for me, you know, in terms of the culture at the clubs and and just just the overall experience. It wasn't a good fit. Um, and since you know, you know, remember higher in here here at is um kind of the head golf professional under Stephanie. My first week or two here, I I sensed something that was different here about the culture and just the people around, and I instantly, almost instantly, really fell in love with it.

SPEAKER_04 35:05

Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_07 35:07

And then it was just it just just I mean, I feel very fortunate, just so lucky that you know that that Stephanie moved on and it just then this fell into my lap, kind of sort of.

SPEAKER_05 35:14

Yeah, I mean I I I believe in divine intervention, you know, and timing for certain things. And every time I look back, uh different situations in my career, like the the most challenging times or the things where you're like, you know, and Stephanie's a great example. Steph came into my office, I was like, oh, I'm like, now right, you know, and I knew in my heart, I was like, I know it's the right opportunity for her. I know it is, but I'm like now, like now's the time. You know, and it's just like when life throws you these uh obstacles or hurdles, you know, I always look back and I'm like, it always works out for the better. Like there, there's always a reason, you know, there's always a reason for that. Um and I I mean, I just I think when I think about all the hurdles that we've overcome in the last, you know, seven years in my time here, it'll be eight in uh in July. Um, it all worked out, you know, like it put us in a in the situation we're supposed to be in. Like whatever the obstacle was, it put us where we were supposed to be. It sucked at the time, and you're, you know, it's you know, all the the different scenarios in your head, you're like, I'm trying to like, where are we going with this? Why is this happening now? What what what are we gonna do? When you get through it, you're like, okay, now it all makes sense. Now the pieces fit together.

SPEAKER_02 36:35

No, that was like my last year at the island club for sure. And that's a little bit of the timing thing that you were talking about with Joe. Like, I kept in touch with Joe, he got the job here, and then um, you know, I was looking to make a move, and it just so happened that this kind of fell in my lap, and I was able to work with Joe again, which is just the perfect fit. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 36:55

To brag on countryside a little more, they um in I've been here obviously a little longer than these two have. Um the turnover here, the the the culture is so good that we the turnover is very low. Yeah, it's very low. Um people work here for a long time compared to average of other courses and other clubs, I feel. There's a place on Davis Boulevard uh that I have a good friend that works at, has worked there for a very long time. He is gets very upset at me at times because he has had a lot of turnover in his uh as in his position. He's had a lot of bosses, he's had a lot of of different GMs and different directors of golf and different head pros and different head chefs and everything. Yeah. And I get when I tell him, well, I've had two DMs, uh one smoothly went into the other one, and it's been a great relationship with both for 17 years. When I tell him I have had three directors of golf, all of which had worked here previously, so knew how the situation for Stephanie worked here when TK I was hired when TK was here. Stephanie worked for under him here, so when he left and she took over, it was relatively smooth. Joe worked here for Stephanie when she took off. He filled right in relatively smooth. There wasn't a bunch of rocky points like there would be if it was somebody just coming in from New Jersey. No offense, Tyler. That uh that uh didn't know, you know, any of us or didn't know any of the operation, didn't know any of the people working here. And when I say I've had, you know, two GMs and and three directors of golf in my life, he gets quite upset because he's about it's over 20. That's crazy. Yeah, there's been a lot of turnover. And that's harder.

SPEAKER_05 38:42

It makes it makes it harder and and makes it harder for yeah, for everybody, but it that you know that that that difficult experience that like your friend experiences or in in the in you know the the employees experience with turnover, that translates to the members. Yeah, that chaos, that chaos, or that anxiety feeling. That anxiety transfers, yeah, and the you know, the anxiety of the unknown.

SPEAKER_07 39:08

And there's there's a lot of clubs that are stuck in that cycle and they can't get out of it, they can't develop the culture in which we have I will credit we had I think we should credit Joey, uh, credit, credit you for the culture that I've felt, and just clubs cannot they can't get that.

SPEAKER_02 39:24

Promoting from within, believing in your people. It I mean, it goes such a long way. And the members love seeing the same faces and being comfortable with who you are.

SPEAKER_09 39:32

Agreed, no, yes, they love it.

SPEAKER_07 39:33

Yeah, yeah. But it also when Maria was elevated, I mean the members, the entire staff. I mean, look at how many people were were yeah, genuinely happy for that.

SPEAKER_05 39:43

Yeah, but uh a lot of it, like for me, anyways, and you know, I I remember saying it to you when we promoted you, and I was like, hire your team, you know, like like for me the board lets me run the operation, they stay out of you know, the the day-to-day stuff, which is how I operate best, you know, and and to their credit, when they're hands off, uh you know, I I try and keep them up to speed enough where they're comfortable and they can be hands off. And then that lets me do the same thing with with my department heads, like it's your operation. If I have to dip in and like start putting some framework around certain things, then there's probably an issue. But for the most part, I want you guys to feel empowered. Like, I'm not gonna hire your team, I'm not gonna get deeply involved in the day-to-day stuff with within your operation. Like, I try and set the overall vision, like, here's how we wanna, here's how we wanna look, here's how I want things to feel, you know, here's the general expectations, but the day-to-day stuff, like you're the expert. I don't, I'm not. Clearly. Well, you've seen me play golf.

SPEAKER_09 41:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 41:01

Well, I think you know, you touched on something when I when I talked about like like my past. I had a similar feeling in in Michigan and my other two stops in Florida. The the things you just mentioned, I would say was the exact opposite. It was how those clubs are ran. And it's and it's just difficult. It's really difficult.

SPEAKER_05 41:16

It can be because and it shouldn't be difficult. Like at the end of the day, it's it's we're not it's not brain surgery with what we're doing. You know, and for me, my background, I came up through food and beverage. So I'm naturally very comfortable in the restaurant, um, in the kitchen, um, and in the you know, the whole clubhouse thing. But like this year, I've had to spend a lot of time just because uh it's been so busy. But the the most rewarding nights for me in the kitchen is or in the restaurant is when I genuinely feel like I'm in the way.

SPEAKER_08 41:48

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 41:49

You know, when Scott, Marie or Chef will look at me and I'm like, I'm causing more issues, aren't I? And it just makes me feel good because I'm like, you know what? They got it, like they got it, you know.

SPEAKER_09 42:01

We've all seen that look from Chef.

SPEAKER_05 42:03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 42:05

You're you're causing more issues to me right now. Get out of the way.

SPEAKER_05 42:09

Does he have another look? So, what what would you after this season, right? Um what what advice would you guys give to other clubs? Like if you could share just some wisdom or knowledge or experience of because I think this was a big season for us. Um lot of a lot of things happened, right? A lot of you know, higher expectations from members, and we've come through it extremely successful. Like if there were another club that you were just like one thing, you're just like, hey, you guys should do this, or this is what we learn.

SPEAKER_09 42:50

Be flexible, yeah, yeah. You gotta be flexible in that first year after if you're talking about after like a remodel or uh setting new expectations. You've gotta be you've got to be flexible because things are gonna go wrong. Oh, yeah. And if you're just flexible and not rigid and you roll with it and then fix it. Yeah, you know, so the next time it goes better. That's what we did this year. We started off not knowing what the hell we were doing out there at times, you know, it looked like we've been there forever, but still at times look like I've sat back and go, what are we doing right now? How are we gonna do this? But rather than pout about it, you just you just uh move on to the next time. You try and communicate, you communicate, you talk about it, you communicate back and forth, which Joe and I have learned to do very well. And Tyler, I think Tyler's is great. Uh he sends me texts uh at night um about the next day uh operation wise, uh what to what to expect or what's going on, and I greatly appreciate that. Um But just accept what just happened and do better the next week when you when you have the next tournament, when you have the next Wednesday.

SPEAKER_07 43:58

And when mistakes happen. Happen, acknowledge them and own them and learn from them. You know, sometimes you get you get caught up in you know covering your behind and and not making so people don't know that you made the mistake. Well, no, acknowledge it. Say this was the mistake. We're sorry, we're not gonna make it twice. Yeah, we're gonna make it better.

SPEAKER_09 44:17

And during construction, when you see your GM coming towards you, just run the other way.

SPEAKER_07 44:21

Well, he's carrying an extra hat. Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 44:23

If he's carrying a hard hat and looks like he has a tape measure, an expression on his face, just tape measure.

SPEAKER_05 44:31

Yeah. We're through that, Mike. Thank you. For for now, anyways. I saw PTSD.

SPEAKER_07 44:37

In in terms of um advice to other clubs, I would say that like like you touch on empowering or just how you how you empower or how you treat or how you make the employees feel. Yeah, I think is is is is a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 44:50

Trust goes such a long way. I think that's what it is. You you trust us and you just let us right?

SPEAKER_05 44:56

Oh, yeah, totally. Yeah, totally. And I'll I mean to be completely transparent, this was a year where I personally had to like force myself to um not be so hands-on just because I knew the stakes were so high. And like the the club itself, I have a very, very deeply emotional connection to this club. Like, it took me probably six weeks to give keys out. And I remember Scott coming to me in like the beginning of August, and he was like, Are you gonna give everyone else keys to the building? And I'm like, I'll I'm good. Uh I'm just gonna lock and unlock it for now. And you know, it's just like I mean, you you know the road it took to get to where we are. I sure do, you know. And I when we got into the fall, I was like, you know what? I'm just like, I I say I let people run their areas, I really need to let everybody run their areas.

SPEAKER_02 45:53

The training wheels are off.

SPEAKER_05 45:54

What's gonna happen is gonna happen, yeah, right? Yeah, and that's just that's how you have to look at it. To your point, Tyler, it goes back to just trust. Like, you know, he has a title, he's getting paid, he's got the expertise. Let him put that to work. Like that's what he wants to do, right?

SPEAKER_07 46:14

Yeah, you know, but I think it's hard for clubs when they're maybe they're not the status they that they want to be, so they want to elevate things. It's hard for maybe a general manager or a board to elevate things without micromanaging and they can do hands-on. That's that's a skill and it's tough to do.

SPEAKER_05 46:30

But really, when you say elevate things, um I I think a lot of clubs, when they when they use the word elevate, they think like um we want to be more prestigious or more exclusive or more, you know, we want to be this club or this top club. And really, I think the the elevating it is the intangible.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

Comparing yourself to others is not always a good thing, like right? Like, like here, it's like we are who we are.

SPEAKER_07 46:57

We want to be best in class, yeah. Right. But so many clubs get caught up in that of looking at other clubs, like we want to be better than them, or we want to be like that club. Just be your club, be your club. Create your identity.

SPEAKER_05 47:06

Yeah, the um the big restaurateur is uh Danny Myers. I've shared some of his stuff before. Like his whole thing is we want to be our customer's favorite place to go, not the best. And I that always resonates with me in a club because um you're we're not the best, we will never be the best golf course in Naples. There's too many um really good ones. Yeah, there's well, there's too many good ones, but like how do you really measure the best? Right? We'll never be the best restaurant in Naples because you're trying to like we've got a menu that's like you know, you're all things to everybody, right? We're not we'll never be the best Italian restaurant in Naples, the best stakehouse. But we can be our members' favorite place to be. And I think that's so much more important for clubs to focus on is like be the favorite of your members, like the that's the place they want to go. They know that you know, they could go down the street and get a much better, um, more authentic Italian meal at a restaurant that does Italian food seven nights a week, right? Or if they're you know their version of best golf is a 7,000-yard golf course and you know, 30 rounds of golf a day with no tea times, like we'll never be that. Like, but we can be their favorite place.

SPEAKER_09 48:34

One of my favorite things is when it had happens a lot, is when people come, they get their bags, they go to another course to play in a member guest, or they go, you know, reciprocal somewhere in the summer. And when they come back and we'll always ask them how it went, you know, how how how'd it go? How'd you play? How did it go? He's like, and uh they'll routinely will say it's not the same. Yeah. Like they'll go play in a member guest somewhere else, or they'll go play as a guest, just a regular guest at another course up the road. Um, and they will routinely come back and say, uh, it wasn't the same. Yeah. It wasn't the same. It's it's that's good. It's good. It wasn't the same means when they shrug their shoulders and go, uh, it wasn't the same. I like okay, I like that. I like that I like that. I like that. I'll take that. That's a win.

SPEAKER_05 49:20

Now now the philosophical question is when those members come here, what do they say when they go back there?

SPEAKER_09 49:28

That's correct. I would love to know.

SPEAKER_05 49:30

Don't know.

SPEAKER_09 49:30

We don't know. We hope, but we don't know. We're pretty good with guests. I feel like listen, we don't, you know, we get we make mistakes and have our issues here and there, but I feel like when guests come, we do sprinkle on a little bit of the extra sunshine uh here and there to try to make them, you know, feel very welcomed. The members wanna I mean they're bringing their guests here to show off the I tell the guys I tell the guys it's important to these members to look to, you know, they would rather you give their guest a little extra attention and and ask ask them where they came down from. Right. Where did you come from? And if you have a connection, if you have a connection with that place at all, how cold is that's what's gonna be a little bit when you came down here. Yeah, just talk just give a give them 30 seconds, 15 seconds, and talk to them about something, connect with them a little bit. Because um our members like that. Sure. Because they want to be they're proud. Yeah. They were proud of the old course and the old club, they're very proud now. Yeah. And and they're showing it off. So if we can just give those guests just a little small extra attention, uh I think that goes a long way. I think and I do think that that is one thing we are quite good at.

SPEAKER_06 50:37

Yeah. I agree.

SPEAKER_09 50:39

I'll agree with that too.

SPEAKER_05 50:41

Guys, what else?

SPEAKER_09 50:44

Uh our rounds are we're still, I know we pace a play, we'll we'll go over it again. I I I talk to you every month about it with some numbers because we do you hear it, I hear it, yeah. You hear it, you hear it. Um, you know, this round took for long too long. Round takes too long.

SPEAKER_05 51:03

I have heard though, in the the last few weeks, um that it's been better since we brought on another ranger. Yes. We did those days for the case.

SPEAKER_07 51:13

It seemed to be a little smoother. Yeah. And and it was it was kind of like the Mondays and Fridays were the non-association days where we'd we we had a couple rough days pace of play.

SPEAKER_09 51:22

Yeah, a couple. But we march is pace of play according to the GPS, the app that measures all of them. So the numbers are numbers, data's data. Uh March's at average pace of play was 401.

SPEAKER_05 51:34

Yeah. I mean, that's not it's not bad.

SPEAKER_09 51:36

We had bad. We had two round, two rounds that were four hours and thirty minutes. That's not what we're shooting for, but that's two out of eight thousand. Yeah. That were registered on the GPS. We had four of them in the 422 to 425 time. Again, not what we're shooting for, but that's make six rounds of 8,000. So the rest are 417 and better.

SPEAKER_05 52:00

Yeah. Well, I mean, when I think about pace of play, I I can't help but just make the analogy with with dining. You know, and well, one, you hear about pace of play this time of year, like we could have any other club sit here in this room with us and they would be talking about it. The same things. Any club. You know, but it's I I the same thing happens in the restaurant, you know, and uh certainly the biggest theme in food and beverage this year from the survey, the survey scores were high, but was wait times on on food, you know, from the time that ticket goes into the kitchen to the time you're food, and you know, a lot of that was growing pains, but again, a lot of it too is just the volume. You know, you have so many people come in, and what we can't we can control reservations, like you can control tea times, but what we can't control is how long they wait to place their order. Yeah, right. You really can't control how many practice swings someone takes on the tee or how long they spend searching for their golf ball, or how many shots it takes them to complete that if they're a threesome.

SPEAKER_09 53:09

If exactly that makes them because you you a lot of people come in and feel not just at the scores, oh, course, they feel like that round is taking forever. They'll say, Mike, they'll say, Mike, we had to wait on every hole. That round took forever. And I will politely say, What time did you go? What time did you play? And they'll say, What time they played, and they played. It was a four-hour and four-minute round. But it feels like five hours. But it feels because you have to wait because you have threesome playing around uh all other foursomes, or you're, you know.

SPEAKER_05 53:39

There is probably more time on our course where you're waiting.

SPEAKER_06 53:42

It feels just because of the the course is shorter.

SPEAKER_09 53:46

No, sometimes it is a longer round, but most of the time when they come in and say, you know, I can't believe how long it took, and sometimes they'll say to me, they'll go, I know, Mike, I know. It's only been four hours, I know. Because they know what I'm gonna say. Exactly. Yeah, you just have to say it. They've heard me for a long time say this to them, but they're like, I know, I know. But it feels longer, yeah. And when you're a three cell.

SPEAKER_05 54:09

You know, I wonder, I'm just wondering, is there with the GPS, is there a way like when you finish 18, can it pop up and say, hey, you finished your round in this time today?

SPEAKER_07 54:21

That would make sense. That would make sense. I don't see why not, because it we do have the data, you know, on the screen. Or just or maybe like a if if it can like customize the message, like if it's under four, congratulations, congratulations, yeah. Balloons come up like when you wish to be a happy birthday and iPhone.

SPEAKER_09 54:37

And a thumbs up when it's at 415. A frowny face comes on a frowny face.

SPEAKER_05 54:42

Just something to like validate, you know. You you you you play your round. You know, and you're you're you're coming off 18, you're like, oh, it took forever. But the GPS just pops up and says, Hey, you finished around 402.

SPEAKER_08 54:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_09 54:56

Free beer is for under a round of four. Free draft beer. Free draft beer.

SPEAKER_05 54:59

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What was that word? People would be flying in. I'm not sure what that word is. Free beer tomorrow. Um, yeah, I I mean that's I don't know. I don't know that from an industry standpoint. I don't know what the there's no solution there. I mean, we just keep working at it.

SPEAKER_02 55:19

Because it's always telling them the case on the golf course, so it makes sense because it's saying like you're right on time, you're this, you're that.

SPEAKER_05 55:26

Have you have you heard anything about the um the tweak you made where you can see the group?

SPEAKER_07 55:32

Very few. A little bit when it first came out, a little bit. Not as much as I thought. Yeah. I thought I thought it would be a um more splash. I thought I thought I thought we'd get a little more feedback from that much.

SPEAKER_05 55:42

I think it's cool. I I mean I I think having the GPS and that technology and the data is super helpful.

SPEAKER_09 55:49

Yeah, because it is it's very we I love it.

SPEAKER_05 55:53

I remember so we got those carts when we uh reopened the golf course. So it was um we reopened the course in December of 19 after renovating. And I remember asking Steph, and actually, I mean, if previous courses when pace of play would come up, I would always we'd be pushing the director golf. Like, are the guys logging the cart times? Like, I would want to see a handwritten log of this cart went out at this time and it came back in at this time.

SPEAKER_09 56:24

And of course, when you're in the middle of it, it was just a nightmare for the cart staff to yeah, we used to write them down like you know, yeah, like a lepton.

SPEAKER_07 56:33

But the GPS is like huge to just you know, you can't argue with it. No, and and and you get in those situations where perfect member, oh, slow, slow out there, and then you actually run the well was it that wasn't really that slow, it wasn't that slow, yeah.

SPEAKER_09 56:47

It's uh but it's been four hours and seven minutes, and you've already gone to your car and dropped off your clubs and are back at the cart bar. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 56:53

We do some of that in in the restaurant. I mean, not as much, but you know, we can look at some of you know, we'll say, well, dinner took forever. Well, we can say, Well, you had a six o'clock reservation, your ticket didn't come into the kitchen until 645. That means you sat at the table for 45 minutes before you placed your order.

SPEAKER_07 57:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 57:14

And from the time your ticket went in to the time your entrees were served was only 20 minutes, you know, and you had an appetizer in that time. So we can validate some of that, but it's not as, you know, dry specific as the GPS.

SPEAKER_09 57:30

Yeah, and we all we understand the frustration. I mean, putting throwing numbers at them that are at show that it was a a four-hour round that they actually did. It's not that's not, we're not trying to, you know, show you up. No, we're just trying to educate a little bit and also we we understand. Joe and Tyler understand completely how frustrating it is when you're on a golf course and you feel like it's taking a long time, you can't get in your rhythm. It's not something we're happy about or any course is happy about, and we're constantly trying to make it better, constantly.

SPEAKER_02 58:01

But I don't think we'll ever be a course that does like, you know, more than 10 minute tea times because we'll we have You can't 800 members. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 58:08

It'd be it'd be irresponsible if we did it, right?

SPEAKER_05 58:11

It's a constant again, that's one of the things we're we're constantly balan trying to balance is right, rate. We were talking about this supply and demand, right? Rates, um, tournaments, available tea times, and how many members want to play? Serv service and service. You know, uh numbers. I and I I mean I would venture to say that this season was was pro that balance of all that was pretty good. I agree, yeah. I agree. You know, and I'm sure it's one of the things that we can look at tweaking next year.

SPEAKER_07 58:46

I think we'll always look at it because we've got that data. Like, for example, if pace of play was say we were averaging 430, we'd have to consider making some adjustments. Yeah, you know, because we'd acknowledge that's just too slow.

SPEAKER_09 58:57

Right. And you make in you make your adjustments on the fly, like adding the next year uh ranger, which seemed to help, but then in the summer you make real adjustments. Yeah. And you talk about it. We talk about we all of us, Joe, especially, uh, with you guys and with all of us, talks about this all the time. How can we do better? What adjustments can we make? And what tweaks can we do? And that will be tweaked. We've communicated you and I have communicated quite often on on ways to improve service versus versus the amount of people on the golf, getting the most people we can, but still, you know, we don't want to be a public golf course factory where we just are shoving them out there, you know, right without giving any attention at all. I don't think that's what any club wants. We're a country, we're a country club when it boils down to it. We're not a municipal course to just shove people on the golf course and shove them off.

SPEAKER_05 59:51

You know, a good example is we're we're talking through this um capital project, which includes the golf shop and the cart barn, and obviously cart storage, um, you know, we we've got room for 80 carts and that's it. You know, and I've been at some of the board members have asked me, well, you know, are you increasing the size of the cart barn so you can have a larger cart fleet? Are you trying to push out more rounds? And I said, not really. You know, I don't know that we really can push out more rounds, but having some carts um not on the course allows us, you know, we're to to provide a better service. So we're you're, you know, we have a cart in inventory, if you will, when that afternoon time comes in, and that person may not have to wait for a cart.

SPEAKER_09 1:00:39

Or they want to go to the driving range, and they can't, you know, we have to give them a ride at the drive range, or they have to walk.

SPEAKER_05 1:00:44

We don't have a cart for you yet. We're waiting for one to come off, or you have a cart uh that the battery dies, or you know, has some sort of mechanical issue. Boom, you've got one in. I mean, there's days. Well, there's been a several amount of days where I walk out to the to the back drop and I'm like, Mike, can I borrow a cart for 10 minutes? And I feel bad asking because I know you probably need it. And you guys are always like, Yeah, sure, just take that one. But you know, it's just stuff like that.

SPEAKER_09 1:01:13

Yeah. That those they're valuable. You know, you know, if we had a few more carts, we can't get any more rounds on the golf course. No, I mean, we just but it's just like you said, it's just improved service. Service-wise, it would help it would help, it would improve every member that wants to golf, it would improve their efficiency, our efficiency, and their experience. Yeah. If we had X amount more, just a you know, small number more. It would really because they go down. They go down, a cart will go down. We'll have uh brake issues or get or pedal issues, or there's always something that can go down. And when we might at any time have one to five carts down. Yeah. Now, the gentleman that works for EasyGo has a large territory. The maintenance guy is great. I know we told the story on once where I gave him an awkward hug when he showed up. He um he's great, but he has a huge territory.

SPEAKER_05 1:01:58

He hasn't been back since that's not been back.

SPEAKER_09 1:02:00

He might not work for the company anymore. Um he takes him sometimes a bit to get here. Yeah, they don't consider that emergency. You know, if your cart is down, it's not an emergency to them. So that you get put on a list, and sometimes it can take a while to get to that list. And they have parts that are back ordered. So if you have five carts down, it it pinches. It pinches, and then when your GM takes one, that makes six.

SPEAKER_07 1:02:29

Now when the range cart goes down, we get up the priority a little bit.

SPEAKER_09 1:02:32

We get moved up when the yeah, yeah. And then when it breaks on you in the middle of the driving range.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:38

These are all the things that we lose sleep on, uh truly, right? Really, yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:43

It's a sad life. No, it's not. No, it's not we lose sleep over.

SPEAKER_05 1:02:50

All right, guys. You you have we've got any more parting thoughts? Any uh anything else you want to share, uh thinking back over this season?

SPEAKER_09 1:03:02

We've had some laughs.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:03

Yeah, we have a lot, we have a lot of laughs. We we we like to have a good time. I would say just the overall, I would say morale, because coming into the season, I knew it was gonna be busy, and I was trying to really take a good look at just the overall morale because this time of year everyone's working so hard, people get grumpy, you get tired, you get nitpicky. I haven't seen any of that for the whole golf staff. I mean, the guys outside, I mean, I feel like the overall attitude of everybody, uh Mike's guys in the golf shop, Meredith, Jerry, everybody is is still you know working together and and and have really good attitudes.

SPEAKER_05 1:03:37

You know, we gotta get Meredith on on the podcast here. I know she doesn't want to do a video, but we we just need to sit down with her. She's she was she's done such an awesome job with the retail. She's the one of a kind.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:49

She is a lot of positive feedback over the the the selection of merchandise.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:54

So many people have been saying that. Yeah, how improved it is.

SPEAKER_07 1:03:57

Yeah, and the level of level of service she she offers when somebody is inquiring about a special order, she's she's very, very good. She cares.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:03

We don't give her enough credit.

SPEAKER_07 1:04:04

She cares. I agree. And she takes care of the cat.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:06

And she takes care of the cat. Yes.

SPEAKER_06 1:04:08

Well, let's focus on the case.

SPEAKER_05 1:04:10

But really, you know, uh again means I don't have to. Uh, just on the topic of retail, you know, thinking back, um, one of the things that stands out in my mind uh was the grand reopening. And so that was November. Um the previous, like April, I had tasked Meredith. I'm like, I want to, I want, I want a gift to give people at the Grand Reopening that's different, fun, but I want it to be a like a resort type gift, something they can use at the pool and outside, and but and not something that they're gonna take home and just put in a closet or you know, uh not a coaster or something, or you know, and she came to me with these these lounge chair towels logoed. Um, and what was so cool about them was they have the pocket that slips over the top of the with Jay's lounge. Genius. Genius, because the worst thing anytime I we go to the pool, a guy docks, it's such a pain in the ass. So she comes up with that, and I thought that like the price point was good. Um, and members still to this day, members are talking about those towels. Those are a home run. Yeah, but just you feel them, the quality, they're really you walk out to the pool and people use them.

SPEAKER_02 1:05:23

The amount that we've sold after the grand reopening and people come in every day. Do you have those towels? Do you have those towels?

SPEAKER_05 1:05:29

Yes. That is like was such a home run um and 100% her her brain child. So yeah, um, very cool stuff.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:36

Actually, it would it would when you get her on the podcast, the the delivery saga on those would be an interesting that would be a very good uh topic and in and conversation.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:45

Yes.

SPEAKER_07 1:05:46

I remember she was so she might have lost some sleep.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:48

She was so stressed out, and I was like, it's all right. I'm like, it's not a problem until they're not here.

SPEAKER_09 1:05:55

And they worked for a long time. Yeah. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_05 1:05:58

She was so stressed about that, but it worked. Out, um, that was just that was so that was something that we kicked off the season with that people talked about all season long. Really cool. Yeah, really cool stuff. So awesome. Uh, anyone have a small thing to share? What what small thing have you seen done or experienced recently that made a big impact?

SPEAKER_07 1:06:20

I've got one that was just a just a few days ago. Um, it was it was we had an afternoon thunderstorm, and Tyler and I had to go check something on the golf course and we're running out. It's uh pouring down rain, and we just had took a ranger cart out to the to the to the golf course to check something. And I noticed there was like an odd gold cross in the cup holder of the ranger cart that I that I that we hopped in. I thought it seems kind of odd. So I just it looked important, it looked important, looked like some look somebody might might like it. So I I put put it in the in the top door of my desk and kind of forgot about it. The next morning, there was an email in my inbox saying, I I I lost my gold cross. Anybody by chance turn it in? And I was able to say, Yeah, it's in the golf shop. And um, Paul Ricci was was the name of the member that was it was his gold cross, and he was very appreciative. And it's you know, I didn't have a long conversation, but it it could have meant a whole lot to him. Yeah, just being able to that that found that quickly, I thought I thought it was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_05 1:07:15

Well, I'll tell you something that did mean a lot to him, yeah, because that was my small thing. I I was I was at the pool cafe yesterday, and um he Scott and I were filming a video and he came up. He's like, Are you guys recording? I'm like, uh yeah, we are. I need to talk to you. I need to talk to you when you're done. I'm like, Oh, okay. So we finish up and he's having lunch with his family. So I go over to see him and he's like, You wouldn't believe this. And he tells me the story. He's like, That cross, he's like, that was so important to me. I was sick over it. Like I could, like I couldn't sleep. And he goes, sure enough, he goes, I just I knew it was I knew someone was gonna have it, knew someone's gonna have it. And he said, he goes, Joe, he goes, Oh, Joe over in the golf shop. He had it for me, he kept it safe. He was so thankful for it. So that was my small thing. Yeah, that made me feel good. Yeah, for him to be able to like chase me down to you know, express that is a big deal. So what about anyone else?

SPEAKER_09 1:08:11

We had uh we had uh a gentleman playing that came and was on his way out to the T-Box and let me know he was frustrated, he'd had forgotten his phone, he left his phone at home. Uh he was and he's like, I'm I was expecting a call, but I I you know he was frustrated, he left the phone, and uh he was going out and he's so I looked at him, I was up there with Tyler, uh outside Tyler, and I said, What's your address? And he gave me the address and he gave me a few other things of uh a co a way to get into the house. And I just looked up at Tyler and without saying a word, and Tyler goes, and shook his head, drove down, got in the car, because it lives in St. James. Yeah. Got in the car, drove down to the house, got into the house the way the gentleman told. Threw a brick through the window, got used the garage, used the garage code to get in, went in, it was right where he said next to it was the wallet, grabbed the wallet also, because the phone was there also, brought him out, and this gentleman's Mr. Herzog. Mr. Herzog was uh overly ecstatic. Not only at the fact that we drove to the house, drove a car to the house to get his phone, but also picked up the uh the wallet. And I I I appreciate the fact that I just had to look up and not say anything. And Tyler gave a nod.

SPEAKER_04 1:09:27

Like, I'm on it. Yeah, we can do it. That's cool. Yeah, that's cool. Little stuff like that.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:33

Tyler, you got one? Well, mine's a little more staff uh driven, but um this past Tuesday we had the ladies' fun day, uh long day for some of us. Um and I actually had a rare lesson day where I had like two or three lessons, so my wallet was feeling a little thicker than normal. Yeah. Um, and I was hungry. I missed lunch because I had all these lessons. Um and I'm thinking, what am I gonna do for lunch? So I uh I go on my phone and I go tropical smoothie. I'm gonna get a wrap and a smoothie. And um I look around, I'm like, you guys want smoothies? Everybody, and so everybody kind of came over and picked their smoothie. And I went over and uh we have a little bit of a tropical smoothie obsession. Kevin has turned us on to um the peanut paradise with whey protein.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:24

I would have never I've never thought to order a smoothie with peanut butter flavor.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:29

And it's like banana in there.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:32

I put peanut butter in every smoothie I ever made. Oh I I never do it. I always do the fruit fruit ones. Yeah. I never did any kind of peanut butter.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:38

So a small thing that goes a long way and helped us get through the day. And just thinking of others, I don't know if I would have been able to survive without that.

SPEAKER_07 1:10:45

Just thinking of others in peanut butter paradise. That was your first fun day.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:50

My first yeah, exactly. So I needed uh a little extra motivation to get through it.

SPEAKER_09 1:10:54

The ladies love it.

SPEAKER_02 1:10:55

That was a I mean it was a fun day. It really was the ladies love it.

SPEAKER_05 1:10:59

It really was. We what was it like 186? 185. I mean, yeah. That was a good day. That was a good day. It really was. The dinner, the dinner went great afterwards. They had a blast.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:11

We're gonna talk about my drive. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:14

There was a lot of talk about that.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:15

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:16

Yeah, well, that got the biggest ovation at the uh dinner. It did.

SPEAKER_07 1:11:20

But I will I should I should tell you that I got I don't we don't get that much feedback, positive or negative, but that dinner did get a lot of positive. A number of the ladies commented how good that dinner was. So I don't know if you guys did something special or what I was doing.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:32

There was a real happy vibe in that room. Yeah, I don't know what it was, but yeah, probably my drive.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:37

But it was probably 100% your drive.

SPEAKER_09 1:11:40

It was the wine.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:42

Uh I got one more. A member emailed me uh a couple Sundays ago. They were out at lunch at the pool cafe. And you know, when we bring the check, we bring cookies with the check. We had run out of cookies. So um she was like, Oh, there's no cookies left. And Stephanie, who's one of our servers, said, No, we're all out of cookies, but uh, let me I got something for you. So she went into the buffet, Sunday brunch buffet, and she pulled some Danishes off the buffet and brought those out. Um and it just it made her day. And the member was like, you know, cookies are free, um, it's always a nice touch. Um, it's not something we expect, but when it's not there, you miss it. And she just, you know, it was just so great. And this member was actually semi-hesitant to say anything because she didn't want to get Stephanie in trouble. Yeah, and I was like, never ever like we encourage those small things. Like, I want them to think, you know, for alternatives. Like, if there's something we're missing, go make it right. You know, so um free cookies, free Danish, like the cookies are are a big deal.

SPEAKER_09 1:12:51

I know because I've had multiple guests during reciprocal season come and say to their as they're playing with other people, with other groups from other courses, this is the club that gives you cookies. That has happened at the old because you did that at the old club too, right? Yeah, yes, yeah, that has happened everywhere. That has happened uh years ago. I've heard somebody say that to me.

SPEAKER_07 1:13:12

It's the hotel that gives you cookies. There's a hotel chain. They've got hot cookies all the time.

SPEAKER_05 1:13:19

You know, where where it came from, uh, and I I don't know tree?

SPEAKER_07 1:13:23

Was it the double tree?

SPEAKER_05 1:13:24

I don't remember. I don't know that I can take credit for it, but I rem I remember we started it when I was at the colony. Um, I left that club in like 2010. Um and it was always like the worst part of service is bringing the check. You know, like I mean it's you gotta pay for your launch, you gotta pay for your dinner, but it's like a check. You know, so we would just put like two, you know, three, four small cookies on a plate with the and just bring them with the check. Like, here you go. Just sweeten up the fact that you gotta pay for it. That's kind of where it started. It's being talked about other clubs. I've heard it more than that. I know a lot of other clubs that do it, you know. It's just I think it's a nice nice touch. Absolutely, absolutely good stuff.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:10

It beat those, beats those, I don't know if they're mints with what they used to eat. Andy's mints. Anything, anything I'm not talking about the Andes, I'm talking about the ones that were like they're like they're like the colored ones.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:20

The colored ones?

SPEAKER_07 1:14:21

Oh, yeah. I know what you're talking about. Yeah, yeah. Andies are good.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:25

Yes, yeah, yeah. Awful. Oh, those, yeah. Eating a piece of chalk, yeah. And not wrapped either, you know. That's just a bowl of them.

SPEAKER_07 1:14:31

Yeah. Oh super and they they went out with COVID, I think.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:37

All right, cool. Kudos on an awesome year, awesome season.

SPEAKER_09 1:14:42

Um, we still have the member guest coming up, so it's not over yet. It's not over yet. We're gonna have a great time with that.

SPEAKER_05 1:14:47

It's not let's uh let's keep our foot on the gas, right?

SPEAKER_09 1:14:50

We got we got a big event.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:51

They're gonna have fun. But yeah, it's good stuff. Very good.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:55

All right. Thanks for having us. Of course. Thanks. Talk soon.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:59

Yep, bye-bye.

SPEAKER_01 1:15:05

Thanks for listening. We still very much appreciate the time our listeners give to hearing us ramble about the business we love. Hospitality. And remember, sometimes the best medicine for the challenges of life is simply doing something small for someone else. What small things have you recently seen or experienced at the beginning of the city?