Friday, May 27, 2016

Country Club Scottsdale Golf Course Maintenance


The Country club Scottsdale weather this spring has been unseasonably warm and we are taking advantage of it by lowering the heights of our Country club Scottsdale mowers a little earlier than normal. This will increase Country club Scottsdale chances of a smooth transition back to Country club Scottsdale Bermuda grass. The amount of bermudagrass that is already present is a very encouraging start. Another phase of our Country club Scottsdale transition program is to slice the rough which will be done for the second time at the beginning of the month. We will be concentrating on trimming and detail Country club Scottsdale projects for the majority of the month culminating in ‘The Round Up’ at the end of the month. Thank you all very much for the many favorable comments and all the positive feedback regarding our course conditions this spring. Our main goal in golf course maintenance is to always provide the best possible playing surfaces that we can. When the weather cooperates and the turf behaves, the course can be a thing of beauty and a pleasure to play. It makes all the hard work well worth it and very satisfying. We hope you can all get in an extra round or two . . . see you on the course!

Friday, May 13, 2016

Scottsdale Golf Club Member Survey



We want to know what you are thinking! Once again this year, your Scottsdale golf club Board has chosen to work with the McMahon Group, a professional club consulting firm, to conduct a comprehensive Scottsdale Golf Club member survey.

We have a couple key objectives in conducting this survey. First, much of the feedback we get is on day-to-day issues or isolated events, and we know that sometimes the views expressed by one person may not represent the broader membership. A professionally done survey gives an opportunity for ALL of our members to be heard and for us to compare how our club is doing against national benchmarks, and to better understand how different membership cohorts are enjoying the club. Second, one of the key responsibilities of the Scottsdale Golf Club Board is to plan for the future. The membership survey will give us insight into your thoughts and priorities for the future direction of our club. When members approved Phase I of the Scottsdale Golf Club Facility Master Plan, there were several elements we elected to defer including renovation of our pool area, expansion of our kitchen and casual dining facility at the pool, an expanded fitness center with room for classes, and an expansion of our main kitchen area. In addition we continue to get requests for more space for small events, meetings and card games. We know that some of these Scottsdale Golf Club enhancements would add to the satisfaction of our existing members and will also make us more attractive to new members down the road (and in turn help to keep our resale price strong).

We also need your input on the timing of any future Scottsdale Golf Club enhancements – especially given the long lead times these types of Scottsdale private Golf Club projects require for planning, design and permitting. Is this something our Scottsdale private Golf Club members would like us to get started on now? In the next 3 to 5 years? The next 5 to 10? As you know, our club is already in an enviable position. Our last Scottsdale private Golf Club member survey showed that we are in the upper half of clubs nationally in terms of member satisfaction. And with our Scottsdale private Golf Club Clubhouse renovation and addition to our tennis facility, we know that our members are enjoying the club more than ever. While costs and expenses inevitably rise each year, our club continues to be in good shape financially.

Our most recent benchmarking against other clubs of our type nationally, shows that we are in the upper half for most financial metrics. The only debt we have is for the member-approved expansion, which is being serviced as scheduled and will be retired over the next 52 months. Our current debt to asset ratio is in the best quartile of clubs of our type. And our current financial position is healthy, meaning that we can cover our operating expenses and fund our capital maintenance needs. So we are in a good position as we plan for the future, and continue to move our club experience to even better levels. Expect to see your invitation to participate in the Scottsdale private Golf Club membership survey in late April. I hope each of you will take time to respond. We look forward to hearing from you!