Throughout America, many of the top private golf and country club communities are recapitalizing and reimagining their amenities. For the most part, these investments are an ongoing effort to stay relevant to existing residents and attractive to prospective members in an extremely competitive market.
By one measure, golf course renovation projects alone have totaled an estimated $3 billion at 986 facilities since 2006, according to recent data from the National Golf Foundation. What the research doesn’t take into account are the vast number of developers and members spending billions on improved clubhouses and other assets like new or upgraded health and wellness centers, world-class resort-style pools or aquatic facilities and newly enhanced clubhouse food-and-beverage options. Safe to say the days of golf-centric clubs are over, except for those with certain golf pedigree and prestige. In other words, for clubs to retain or add members these days, they have to be multi-dimensional in what they offer while epresenting a comfortable and hospitality-like feel.
Equally as important for success, these resort-style communities must cater amenities and services to the entire family if it wants to thrive in the new-age club demographics. So what does a model golf and country club look like these days? Project Manager Amber Bryan says it has to have a “social element.”
“Beyond the typical amenities, members are looking for a social destination,” adds Bryan, a nationally certified interior designer in KTI’s Hospitality department. “Clubs are expected to enhance the member’s experience by having a full calendar of events and entertainment that members can choose to participate in. These events/entertainment allow members to interact frequently and create closer community ties, something that members are looking for as well.”
At the new Sandia Amenity Center clubhouse near Albuquerque, that means creating multi-functional spaces where events can be held both indoors and outdoors. “These spaces are not the typical ‘multi-purpose’ rooms, but areas that can be utilized in numerous ways,” Bryan says. “These spaces therefore need to appeal to all clientele as the events will change on a daily basis. We have been using a lot of warm natural tones and materials with pops of color to create an elegant yet comfortable space as backdrop.” This social element is evident at various active-adult communities where Kimberly Timmons Interiors has helped redesign numerous award-winning amenities over the years. Case in point is Robson Communities’ new SaddleBrooke Ranch Clubhouse, awarded “Best 55+ Clubhouse on the Boards” at the 2017 International Builders Show, has large expanses of Nano-type doors leading out to patios off of dining / bar areas, pre-function and other areas to provide that luxury for the residents.
Project Team
Architect/Designer: SHJ Studio
Builder: Klinger Constructors LLC
Developer and Land Planner: Pulte Del Webb
Interior Designer: Kimberly Timmons Interiors
Landscape Architect: Spc Planning LLC
