Depending on who you ask, private clubs are either thriving or dying. Club Benchmarking's data says the top performers are doing well, but they look almost nothing like the club your grandfather joined, with its tie rules, golf-only calendars, and amenities built for the men of the house.
The clubs leading today have invested in a broader range of amenities for the entire family, and they've embraced that shift from the boardroom down to the membership.
Why did clubs struggle to attract members in the 2000s?
Founder Ray Cronin launched Club Benchmarking in 2009 while serving on his own club's board. He watched normal attrition of about 5 percent a year go unreplaced. The cause was demographic. The average age to join a club has held around 42 for decades, and when Gen X, a third smaller than the baby boomers, reached that age, a third fewer people were joining. Many clubs cut initiation fees in response. "It wasn't a price problem," Cronin says. "It was a demographics issue." Today's 42-year-olds are millennials, and they want something different again.
Why do members join a club today?
Today, people join a club for lifestyle: a place where the whole family can spend time together and build lasting friendships. Prestige and the golf course matter less than they once did. CEO Dr. Jim Butler recalls focus groups at one well-known golf club where members were shown the same signature hole. For some, it was the club's greatest selling point. For others, it said little about whether the club was the right fit for their family. Leading with golf alone speaks to only part of the household.
There's no greater connection in a club than the friends and being able to have your family come and experience that.
Those bonds, built over decades and often between members and staff, are what turn a satisfied member into an attached one. On a Saturday morning, the whole family heads to the club, each to a different amenity, then meets up for lunch.
What is the yellow slice, and why does it matter?
In CB's early research, Cronin split each club's fixed expense into slices. Green was golf. Yellow was non-golf sports and amenities other than F&B. Clubs with wider yellow slices consistently had higher entrance fees, because a broader set of amenities appeals to a broader pool of prospective members. Those clubs also spend more per 18 holes maintaining their golf courses, because they have more dues revenue to work with.
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Clubs with a clear brand at either end, an elite golf club or a full-service country club, tend to do well. The risk sits in the middle: 18 holes, a dated pool, and tennis courts with grass growing through the cracks. Boards made up mostly of long-tenured golfers often resist those investments, even though fitness centers built over objections tend to fill up the day they open.
Do you want a club where your granddaughter can have fun? Or your grandfather?
Asked where they'd start at a struggling club with deferred maintenance, both give the same answer: a family-friendly, resort-style pool. It brings families in, lifts demand for membership, and the rest follows. That doesn't mean neglecting the golf course. As Butler puts it, golf and broader amenities aren't mutually exclusive.
Quotes are lightly edited for clarity.