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Building Community

By Golf Business posted 03-07-2016 09:28

  

How do you reinvigorate a club that has hit hard times and entice the locals to come out and support your facility? Sometimes, it’s as simple as asking the question no one has considered.

“I put out a letter to the members at all seven Cliffs properties asking: Does anybody want to jump on a tractor and mow fairways?” recounts Davis Sezna, who served as CEO of The Cliffs Communities in North and South Carolina when the company experienced some of the hardest times in the industry. “I had all kinds of men and women call and say, ‘Yeah, I’d love to do that.’”  

Sezna’s offer was more than a chance for well-heeled members to ride on a large toy. Rather, it was a bonding exercise within a community, a chance for members to build more than a financial interest in their club.

“Why wouldn’t you ask members if they’d like to mow the grass or come over and plant flowers around the clubhouse?” asks Sezna, who now serves as CEO and managing partner of Heritage Golf Group. “They do it for their churches. They do it for the local schools. Of course they’ll do it for their club.”

And in so doing, the club creates a social event that connects people while improving the facilities.  —Steve Eubanks

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