TODAY’S MANAGER
STRUCTURAL
INTEGRITY After a detour into an engineering discipline confirmed that clubs were his true passion, Robert Sereci has combined sound principles with creative remodeling to earn Excellence in Club Management honors. By Joe Barks, Editor
After he had already established himself as an accomplished club manager, Robert Sereci, CCM, paused his career to join his father, an expert in earthquake engineering, to launch a technology startup specializing in “structural health monitoring” for the measurement of buildings’ integrity. Three years later, Sereci says, he “realized how vital club management was in fulfilling my purpose” and returned to the profession. He picked up right where he’d left off, eventually becoming the General Manager/Chief Operating Officer of Medinah (Ill.) Country Club in 2015. And his leadership in directing a dramatic repositioning and revival of that storied club in less than half a decade led to his recognition as the 2019 winner of the Excellence in Club Management Awards’ James H. Brewer Award (see box, pg. 44). That honor attested, once again, to how Sereci’s success in club management has also reflected his ability to apply a startup mindset and bring real innovation to the business. As 42
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Michael Scimo, Medinah CC’s ex-Officio President, said in presenting Sereci for the Brewer Award at the Excellence in Club Management Awards dinner, Sereci’s “unconventional leadership style” was critical in convincing the club’s Board and membership that “we can navigate complex issues and continue to boldly innovate to secure our future.” That future had been defined just before Sereci took his position in 2015, through a “Medinah 2020” plan that established a five-year strategy for turning around a seven-year decline in membership that the club had experienced, even after hosting the PGA Championship and the Ryder Cup and investing more than $12 million in golf course renovations. But as detailed in C+RB in August 2017 (“Medinah CC’s Surprising New Moves”) and August 2020 (“Reinforcing Clubs’ Brands”), the strategy only became reality, with over 350 new members added in five years, because of how Medinah, after Sereci arrived, began to operate much more like a startup operation than one steeped www.clubandresortbusiness.com
