Takeout Takes Over at Sawgrass CC

By being agile and adaptable with how it continues to serve members, Sawgrass CC is facing coronavirus challenges head on.

By Joanna DeChellis, Editor

WHEN THE PGA TOUR canceled the remainder of the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the sta at Sawgrass Country Club, located just two miles down the street in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., knew it needed to prepare for some changes.

“TPC cancelled on Thursday, and by Friday we were working up a plan to launch our own delivery service called ‘Sawgrass Eats,’” says Perry Kenney, the club’s Assistant General Manager. “We had to make things happen really fast, though. We ordered branded shirts for our drivers, to-go packaging and labels, and we even started to create videos and marketing materials for social media. By Wednesday, we were ready to go live with our delivery program.”

Lucky for Sawgrass, Kenney and the club’s Executive

Chef, Michael Meuse, were quick on their feet.

“Of the club’s 1,475 members, about 850 live within the club’s gates,” says Kenney. “We had a segment of our service sta still interested in working, so we transitioned them into the delivery team.”

Meuse focused on menus. He created a daily prixe fi xe menu that members can order in advance. Those orders go out at exactly 5 p.m., and it takes the three drivers about 20 to 30 minutes to deliver 10 to 20 packages each. After that, they come back and begin running a la carte orders, which can be placed from 11 a.m. through 8 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday.

“We reduced the a la carte dining menu by about 25%,” says Meuse, who has also begun to launch what Sawgrass CC calls its “popup specials,” such as pizza.

“We had over 100 pizza orders within the fi rst hour,” he reports about the fi rst pizza special (see photo, left). “We eventually had to cut it o , because we sold out of supplies.” That night, the club did $9,000 in revenue.

Taking “Sawgrass Eats” one step further. thanks to regulations that now allow clubs to sell mixed drinks togo, the club has also launched “Sawgrass Eats Drinks.”

“Every day, we bottle up two pre-mixed cocktails that members can order,” says Kenney.

As part of Sawgrass Eats Drinks, the club is continuing its Wednesday half-priced wine program, by selling to-go bottles to members. “We’re o ering cheese-plate pairings with the wine, too,” says Meuse.

“Everyone is excited about these programs,” says Kenney, adding that the club’s leadership has been fully supportive throughout the process.

“Our biggest challenge is trying to fi gure out who has the better idea for the day,” he continues. “We’re a competitive group, but I think our biggest challenge is actually going to be the unknown. We’ve all handled it well so far, so I expect us to continue doing so.” C+RC