26 minute read
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 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
in a rich history that dates to when it was founded as a country retreat by Shriners from Chicago’s Medinah Temple in 1924.
“It’s often difficult to be entrepreneurial in clubs, because it’s an environment where the tolerance for failure has traditionally been small, so the fear of failure prevents experimentation,” Sereci says. “And when you have beautiful golf courses and facilities at places like Medinah, which has one of the most iconic clubhouses in the world, it’s easy to focus on the bricks and mortar and the grounds, and to not see the need for having an entrepreneurial mentality, which includes acceptance of failure and a constant focus on ways to reboot and innovate, no matter how much tradition may exist.”
UNEXPECTED, BUT NOT UNBEATABLE
One thing that “Medinah 2020” did not anticipate was a pandemic in what was supposed to be the triumphant, culminating year of the plan. This year, Sereci admits, has presented some new challenges for his management style. “As a people person, I disproportionately rely on relationships and in-person communications, so virtual meetings and having staff work remotely meant I had to recalibrate and adjust my way of motivating and inspiring,” he explains.
But the challenge of determining how to operate Medinah under the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, he adds, was no more daunting than many other personal and professional tasks he has taken on in a career that has involved working for nine clubs of varying types, sizes and financial situations in multiple continents. That experience of “starting from scratch nine times,” Sereci says, helped him recognize that the pandemic was really just another “Groundhog Day” event that called for the same startup mentality he has used to help begin the transformation at Medinah and elsewhere.
“The key, especially in clubs that have rigid and entrenched cultures and traditions, is not to try to bring about huge change all
The “Medinah 2020” plan that Robert Sereci brought to life after arriving at the club in 2015 did not anticipate a pandemic in its final year. But applying the same entrepreneurial approaches that have dramatically transformed the club have also helped it respond to this year’s challenges in positive and innovative ways.
Medinah CC’s simple but impactf ul responses during the pandemic included building a beer garden with picnic tables (above left ) and installing a large portable LED display (above right) that would help it communicate and stay connected with the membership.
at once, but rather to take the approach of ‘benign innovati on,’ by implementi ng smaller things that can make an immediate impact and help to gain buy-in and establish trust,” Sereci says. “That’s what we did initi ally at Medinah, with things like our chicken coop and vegetable garden and food truck.
“We took the same approach [in responding to the pandemic],” he adds. “The most important thing was to fi nd simple, out-ofthe-box ways to enhance the sense of community and member relati onships that we’d established with all of the other changes we’ve made through the years, and to not be as concerned with how elaborate or ‘perfect’ they might be. That led us to do things like quickly building an on-site beer garden with picnic tables, and to bring in a giant, portable LED display that would add to how we could communicate and stay connected with the membership.”
Those additi ons (pictured above) and other simple but impactful, and appreciated, steps that the Medinah staff has taken have been key to helping the membership feel even more comfortable this year in using the club, which has seen a record number of golf rounds and strong numbers in other parts of its operati on. At the same ti me, Sereci reports, they’ve helped to conti nue to add recogniti on of, and interest in, Medinah among potenti al new members, as an applicati on pipeline and waiti ng list conti nues to build.
“[This year] has actually provided an incredible opportunity for clubs to focus even more on the value propositi on they can off er,” Sereci says. “The normal acti viti es available to the community that’s outside the club gates—sporti ng events, movies, plays—all disappeared. That left the door wide open for clubs that have properly focused on building their own communiti es and relati onships. You can have the best-looking facility, but if you don’t have a [club] community, it doesn’t mean much.” C+RB
A CELEBRATION OF EXCELLENCE
The Excellence in Club Management (ECM) Awards were established by the McMahon Group, Inc., the St. Louisbased consulti ng fi rm, in 1997 and have been co-sponsored by Club + Resort Business since 2006. The Nati onal Club Associati on became an additi onal sponsor in 2018.
The annual awards are selected through nominati ons submitted on behalf of qualifi ed candidates by other parti es. Award recipients are selected solely on the basis of their achievements at the club they currently manage. A Selecti on Committ ee comprised of a peer group of leading club managers conducts the judging for the ECM Awards.
Awards in four categories are given each year: • The James H. Brewer Award, for a manager of a Country/
Golf Club with 600 or more full-privilege members • The Mead Grady Award, for a manager of a Country/Golf
Club with fewer than 600 full-privilege members • The Mel Rex Award, for a manager of a City, Athleti c or Specialty (Non-Golf) Club • The “Rising Star” Award for an assistant club manager
A full listi ng of judges, in additi on to informati on on past winners and on how to nominate candidates for future years’ awards, can be found at www.clubmanageraward.com.
The 2019 Excellence in Club Management winners were honored at an Awards Dinner held at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas on February 8, 2020 (“The Toast of Texas,” C+RB, March 2020). The Awards Dinner was sponsored by Denehy Club
Thinking Partners, ForeTees LLC, Izon Golf, Outdoor Lighti ng
Perspecti ves and Preferred Club.
Medinah CC was one of the fi rst clubs to introduce a food truck, which has served it especially well during the pandemic and has led to multi ple inquiries this year from other clubs about how to establish and operate one, Robert Sereci reports.
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Statement of Ownership, Management and Circulation of Club + Resort Business Publication Title: Club + Resort Business Tax Status: Not applicable Publication Number: 1556-13x Publication Title: Club + Resort Business Date of fi ling: September 29, 2020 Issue Date for Circulation Data: September, 2020 Frequency of issue: Monthly Net press run: Average, 13,646; last issue, 14,723 Number of Issues Published Annually: 12 Outside County Paid/Requested Mail Annual Subscription Price: $75 per year Subscriptions: Average, 8,920; last issue, 10,693 Complete Mailing Address Total Paid and/or Requested Distribution: of Known Offi ce of Publication: Average, 8,920; last issue, 10,693 WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave. Nonrequested distribution by mail outside county: Suite 2600 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Average, 4,213; last issue, 3,832 Contact Person: Bruce Sprague Nonrequested distribution outside the mail: Telephone: (888) 543-2447 Average 309, last issue, 181 Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or Total Nonrequested Distribution:Average 4,522;last issue 4,013 General Business Offi ce of Publisher: Total Distribution: Average, 13,442; last issue, 14,706 WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave. Suite 2600 Copies not Distributed: Average, 204; last issue, 17 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Total: Average, 13,646; last issue, 14,723 Publisher: Tom McIntyre, Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation: WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave. Average, 66.4%; last issue, 72.7% Suite 2600 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Editor: Joe Barks, ELECTRONIC COPY CIRCULATION WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave. Suite 2600 Requested and Paid Electronic Copies: None Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Total Requested and Paid Print Copies (15c) + Requested/Paid Senior Editor: Rob Thomas, Electronic copies (16a): 8,920; last issue 10,693 WTWH Media, LLC, 1111 Superior Ave. Suite 2600 Total Requested Copy distribution (15f) + Requested/Paid Cleveland, Ohio 44114 Electronic copies (16a): 13,442; last issue 14,706 Owner: WTWH Media, LLC, Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Both 1111 Superior Ave. Suite 2600 Cleveland, print & electronic copies) (16b divided by 16c x100) Ohio 44114 66.4%; last issue 72.7% Scott McCafferty, 1111 Superior Ave. Suite 2600 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and Mike Emich, 1111 Superior Ave. Suite 2600 Cleveland, Ohio 44114 complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or Marshall Matheson, 1111 Superior Ave. Suite 2600 misleading information on this form or who omits material or Cleveland, Ohio 44114 information requested on the form may be subject to criminal Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders sanctions (including fi nes and imprisonment) and/or civil Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, sanctions (including civil penalties). Mortgages, or Other Securities: None Pat Curran, Digital Media Manager
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IDEAEXCHANGE
A SUCCESSFUL KICKOFF
By Betsy Gilliland, Contributing Editor
WHILE MUCH HAS BEEN LOST during the coronavirus pandemic, golf course properties across the country have been inventive in finding ways to turn a bad break into something good. Many properties have been offering free golf to high-school athletes who have lost their sports seasons because of COVID-19. Frequently, these initiatives have been driven by sympathetic former high-school athletes who remember how important their sports were to them as youths.
With Director of Golf Jeff Rae providing the impetus, Escanaba (Mich.) Country Club, located in the Upper Peninsula’s Delta County, is among the properties that has reached out to student-athletes. Since August, a few days after the announcement that the high-school football season had been canceled throughout Michigan, the semi-private property has been offering free golf to the county’s middle- and high-school football players. Even after high-school football was reinstated in September, Escanaba CC continued to offer free rounds through the remainder of the golf season.
Rae, a former football player himself, got the idea to provide the free golf when he was listening to a podcast, and someone made a comment about mental health.
“A light bulb went off. I had something to offer these kids,” he says. “We’re a smaller community with a large number of football players. Players work all off-season to prepare for August. To have something dropped on them like that as children is devastating.
“My biggest concern is the mental state,” he adds. “What sport did I turn to when I was in a mental state? When I was going through challenges, I always turned to golf.”
Before giving away free rounds of golf, however, Rae ran the idea by the club’s Board of Directors in a group text. The entire Board was behind it within minutes.
After posting word about the initiative on Escanaba’s Facebook page, the site had more than 25,000 hits within the first 24 hours. Parents, coaches, and athletic directors got involved, and media outlets covered the story as well.
Football players in grades seven through 12 have been allowed to play at Escanaba CC anytime the tee sheet is open, and about 200 to 250 players have taken advantage of the free golf. The program has been open to six or seven football teams in the county, plus a couple of other nearby schools.
Although about 30% of the football players came for the first couple of weeks, Rae says about 70% have stuck with it. “Many of them have fallen in love with the game,” he says.
About 60% of the kids were new to golf, he adds, and 40% had “at least swung a club before.”
Many of the students also lacked equipment, so Rae put the word out through social media that Escanaba CC was looking
“When I was going through challenges, I always turned to golf,” says Jeff Rae, Escanaba CC’s Director of Golf (at right in photo), in explaining his idea to offer free golf to local football players after their season was cancelled by the pandemic. Football players in grades seven through 12 have been allowed to play for free at Escanaba CC whenever there’s an open tee time, and nearly 250 players have taken advantage of the offer.
for clubs for the aspiring golfers. “Within two days, we had 15 sets of golf clubs in the pro shop,” he says.
At the beginning of the program, Rae met with the football players before they teed off to discuss expectations with them. He educated them on the basic fundamentals of golf, showed them how to fix ball marks and replace divots, and explained how to make a tee time. He told them to drive golf carts where they’re supposed to be driven and taught them about the dress code.
“We’re not super-strict. We prefer collared shirts, but we expect a T-shirt at least,” says Rae.
Some of the players have even shown up in their football jerseys. They also have helped to take care of the golf course, which was established in 1915 and has been rated the No. 1 course in the county for a reader’s choice award for seven of the past nine years.
“As long as people treat our golf course well, we want them here,” Rae says.
With the free rounds for students numbering in the hundreds, Rae has given generously of his time as well. He has offered formal and informal lessons, and students have approached him with questions. “If any kids want instruction, I’ll teach them,” he says.
His office faces the No. 1 tee box, and he will go out and give a five-minute lesson on the golf swing when he sees a group of students on the first tee.
Escanaba CC did not have a junior program this year, but some of the football players and the junior golfers have played together. “Not only do they get to play golf and have something to do, they also get to make some new friends,” says Rae.
His ultimate goal, of course, is for the student-athletes to play golf regularly. Considering the way the program has exceeded expectations—Rae originally thought that maybe 50 or 60 football players might try it—he’s certainly off to a good start.
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