Arcis Management has assumed management of Weston Hills Country Club, a private membership country club located outside of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Arcis Equity, the parent company of the management division, acquired the course in 2014 as part of a multi-course deal with CNL. 

Arcis had hoped to sell the course to a residential developer, but that fell through in May, after the city rejected a condominium development on the site. The developer, Lon Tabatchnick had wanted to build a four-story, 199-unit condo on 10.7 acres of the 320-acre property. 

At the time, Tabatchnick said Arcis and the prior owner had invested little money into the club in the prior 10 years and that he was prepared to upgrade  the two golf courses and clubhouse. 

It appears Arcis will now try to make improvements. 

 “Arcis is committed to significantly enhancing the member experience and lifestyle at Weston Hills, both on and off the golf course,” said Blake Walker, Arcis Golf CEO,. “During the coming months, we look forward to meeting with the membership and engaging in a dialogue regarding potential improvements to both overall club quality and service levels, addressing what our contemporary membership most desires.” 

Weston Hills has two 18-hole golf courses, designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. The Tour Course was built in 1990 and the Players Course was built in 1995. Weston Hills has hosted the PGA Honda Classic (1992-1995), the Dan Marino Celebrity Invitational (1992-2001), the LPGA Chrysler Plymouth Tournament of Champions (1997), and continues to host various USGA qualifying events. 

Arcis has said Weston Hills will be an integral part of the company’s differentiated portfolio of nearly 60 clubs.

“Around the country, we are thoroughly reinventing each of our clubs to be more relevant to today’s consumers and their families,” Walker said. “We are reimagining the way our members and guests live, connect, and play.”

The club also has eight lighted Har-Tru tennis courts, a heated outdoor swimming pool, and children’s wading area. The 50,000-square-foot clubhouse has a member dining room and bar overlooking the golf courses. Private rooms for up to 300 guests accommodate special events, receptions, banquets, and meetings.

American Golf is in the process of selling the 26 golf courses that it owns, with the latest sale being Seascape Golf Club in Aptos, Calif. 

SAR Enterprises and The Holcomb Corp. formed a new partnership to acquire the 18-hole course, which is expected to close on Nov. 1.  American Golf had asked $12 million for the 139-acre property, down from the $13.77 million it paid in 1993, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. The club, which is 8 miles south of Santa Cruz, opened in 1926. 

American Golf was once the largest golf course management company in the world, with 294.5 courses at its height in 2001. Newcastle Investments, which is managed by Fortress Investments, acquired American Golf from Goldman Sachs in late 2013. Goldman Sachs had owned the company for 11 years in which time it sold courses and exited underperforming management contracts. 

After seeing a decline in traditional golf participation and watching the success of the Topgolf concept, Newcastle Chairman Wes Edens decided to adopt a new name and a new approach to the game. Newcastle became Drive Shack Holdings and shifted its focus to offering golf-oriented leisure and entertainment activities, similar to Topgolf. It set up two divisions — Drive Shack and American Golf — that work closely together but have separate management teams. 

“Topgolf is a great company and first to market,” said Jim Hinckley, CEO of American Golf. “But there is plenty of opportunity for a competitor. We are trying to take the entertainment experience we are developing at Drive Shack standalone facilities and bring it back to the golf course.”

American Golf manages 70 golf courses, but hopes to sell off most of its 26 owned golf properties to generate cash to pay for the construction of Drive Shack facilities. Still, it hopes to keep operating the properties under leases or management deals, and to add Drive Shack facilities to those properties where possible. 

The new owners of Seascape Golf Club, however, hired Monterey Bay Golf Management Group to run the course. General Manager Gary Nelson, who has been at Seascape since 2007, and many of his staff will stay. 

The new owners are both local companies. Robert Ridino, owner and CEO of SAR Asset Management, Inc., runs his commercial real estate investment firm in Aptos. Mark Holcomb and his family developed the adjacent four-diamond rated Seascape Beach Resort and Conference Center, with 283 suites.

Drive Shack opened its first standalone facility in April in Orlando and additional facilities are under construction in Richmond, Va., Raleigh, N.C., and West Palm Beach, Fla. The facilities include multiple-story hitting suites where participants can play games while enjoying food and beverage service. 

Landscapes Management Company, a division of Landscapes Unlimited, added Larkin Golf Club, in Statesville, N.C., to its third-party management portfolio. It is the company’s eighth addition in 2018.  

The 18-hole public facility is located in the Charlotte suburbs and opened in 1996 as Fox Den County Club, a Clyde Johnston design. In 2014, the property was purchased as part of a foreclosure action and renamed Larkin Golf Club. 

In 2017, David Cuthbertson, CEO of Monroe, N.C.-based builder True Homes, purchased the development along with Stonebridge Golf Club, a public facility also located in Monroe. Cuthbertson gifted both facilities to Wingate University, which is based in Charlotte. Larkin Golf Club was valued at $20 million and Stonebridge at $8 million. The university hired Landscapes Management to manage both facilities. 

“While these are both excellent facilities, we nevertheless plan to increase programing, leverage economies of scale and engage in several important agronomic initiatives,” said Tom Everett, president of Landscapes Management. “Landscapes is obviously growing quickly in this market, which is good news for our clients there — the more properties we manage in a region, the more robust those economies of scale become.”

Landscapes Management added Fredericksburg Country Club, in Virginia, on a limited management agreement. Landscapes Select allows courses and clubs to choose from management services on an a la carte basis.

“The Board in Fredericksburg was initially interested in assistance on the accounting side,” Everett said. “They were moving away from the on-site comptroller model and Select gives them the opportunity to leverage our centralized accounting services here in Lincoln.”

Other new contracts in 2018 include three municipal facilities owned by the city of Sioux Falls, S.D. — Prairie Green Golf Course, Kuehn Park GC and Elmwood GC. 

An hour north of Sioux Falls, the private Brookings (S.D.) Country Club reached a management agreement with Landscapes in March. 

“That was pure word of mouth — the folks in Brookings were impressed by the presentation made to the City of Sioux Falls and thought perhaps we could be of help at their club as well. They signed on as a Select client in the spring,” Everett said. “Initially, Brookings brought us in to provide food & beverage consulting, but the club soon opted for our corporate-buying service, as well. We’re now talking about expanding the relationship further.”

In April, Dodge Riverside Golf Course, an 18-hole municipal facility in Council Bluffs, Iowa, signed a 5-year, comprehensive management contract with Landscapes.

ICON Management Services finalized a deal to purchase Vision Golf and Association Management for an undisclosed price in late August. The acquisition brings Bradenton, Fla.-based ICON’s portfolio to 21 golf courses and 196 residential communities, according to CEO Dennis Colletti.

ICON is taking on the Vision staff under the ICON umbrella, including Vision Golf owners Simon Coulls and Bill Bower, who will serve as Vice Presidents.

"We feel, this merger expands ICON's ability to deliver high quality care and service to homeowner controlled communities while continuing to follow through on our substantial developer controlled portfolio," ICON CEO Colletti said. "Bill and Simon have proven to excel in the 'turned over' community environment and we are excited to add their expertise to our resources."

This partnership fortifies ICON operations, club management, accounting, and community association management teams while providing a second location in the Fort Myers and Naples area. The ICON headquarters will remain in Bradenton.

"Bill and Simon, along with their team, have created a culture that aligns very well with ICON's mission of delivering genuine and caring "ICONic" service,”said ICON President Wes Miller. “They are both respected leaders in our industry and we are thrilled to be on the same team. Bringing the Vision team under the ICON umbrella positions us very well for our future growth."

ICON Management Services, Inc., established in 2007, is a Florida based club and community management company.

ICON manages premier golf and country clubs with a host of amenities, homeowners' associations, resort communities, restaurants, etc., with a focus on creating, developing and nurturing relationships. 

CourseCo hired longtime golf operations executive Tom Bugbee as its new Chief Operations Officer to oversee the staffing and business operations of the company’s 33 golf courses and more than $70 million in annual revenues. 

Bugbee, 40, brings a decade of experience at CourseCo’s operations department, including more than seven as Vice President of Operations. He received the promotion after having held several senior positions during his tenure at CourseCo. 

“We’ve doubled the number of courses we manage in the past ten years, which has been one of the most difficult times economically for golf,” Bugbee said. “At the same time, we’ve maintained our record of never failing to renew a municipal contract. All of us who have been part of that success are proud of that record, and my primary focus in the new role is to continue to demonstrate superior value to our municipal partners as only CourseCo can.” 

“He knows the golf business inside and out, and has powerful financial abilities,” said CourseCo CEO and President, Michael Sharp. “It gives me great confidence to know Tom Bugbee is providing discipline and support to the leaders at our golf course properties.”

Tom spent the bulk of his early career at Adobe Creek Golf Club in Petaluma, Calif. In 12 years, he progressed from Assistant Golf Professional, to First Assistant Professional, Head Professional, and finally General Manager. While GM, Tom’s leadership produced facility records for gross revenue, rounds, and profit for three consecutive years. Tom focused heavily on customer retention, designing and implementing Adobe Creek’s Frequent Player Program. He managed the redesign and renovation of Adobe Creek’s Practice Facility, and developed targeted on-line marketing strategies that helped set the revenue records. His focus on affiliate club membership led to the Adobe Creek Men’s and Women’s Club growing from 200 to 500 members within a two-year period. He left Adobe Creek around 2006 and rejoined CourseCo at its corporate office in 2009. Adobe Creek shut down in 2017. 

CourseCo is the 18thlargest management company in the world, and employs 1,300 people across four states. Founded in 1989, the company specializes in municipal and public course management.

Alex Hammill hopes to be the next big buyer of private clubs. The former ClubCorp and Arcis Golf executive has put together a management company, Innovative Club Management, with some deep pockets and high hopes to acquire clubs.

Hammill founded the company in 2017 and has managed The Greens Country Club in Oklahoma City since then. The club has added 400 new members since January. 

“The results have been pretty outstanding,” he said. “Our blueprint touched areas that resonated with members and local community and focused on extreme hospitality, which has resulted in an 26.1 percent increase in revenue over the last 12 months.”

That experience helped him prove to Australian investors that the company is ready to grow through acquisitions. Hammill would prefer to acquire portfolios with 12 or more clubs, as opposed to buying one club at a time. But he realizes there are few options in that range. 

“If there is a significant club in a solid market, we don’t buying doing one by one,” he said. “But we would prefer to buy in clusters.”

He describes Innovative Club Management as a well-capitalized management company that is actively and aggressively seeking to acquire distressed clubs or portfolios that require a non-traditional approach.

Hammill said the company will also compete for management contracts. 

“We believe innovative hospitality is the cornerstone of an industry desperate for new, fresh and forwarding thinking operators who have experience in multiple hospitality fields and disciplines,” he said. 

Hammill was previously a regional manager at ClubCorp and then vice president of food and beverage at Arcis. Prior to ClubCorp he ran a restaurant and worked for a large boutique hotel operator. 

“I was frustrated with the ‘traditional’ approach and playbook that is recycled through both companies and continues to be the ‘play book’ for the main players in the industry,” he said. “Innovative Club Management was formed to break from the traditional model by providing unique experiences and amenities for members both old and new, with services geared specifically to the changing times and current market demands.”

ClubCorp recently added three veterans to its sales leadership team — Ken Guerra , Jim Allison and Kelly DeVita.

Guerra is Chief Revenue Officer, and will be focused on revenue management, including pricing strategies, predictive analytics, and new product development.  Guerra was also one of the founding principals of Sequoia Golf Holdings, where he served as Executive Vice President. His brother, Joe Guerra, sold Sequoia to ClubCorp for $265 million in 2014. 

Most recently, Guerra was co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Redwood Six, a full-service private club management company. While there, he founded MatchPlay Media, a subsidiary of Redwood Six that specializes in private club and destination golf sales and marketing 

Jim Allison  is ClubCorp’s new Senior Vice President, Sales. He will lead ClubCorp’s sales organization, which includes membership, private events and golf outings. 

Allison’s past roles include serving as principal at Club Ventures, a consulting group for the private club industry and other membership-based operating organizations, and Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at both Arcis Golf Corporation and American Golf Corporation.

Kelly DeVita is Senior Vice President of Retail. Most recently, DeVita served as National Sales Director for Under Armour Golf, where she spearheaded sales and marketing for several key lines of business. 

Prior to joining Under Armour, DeVita worked at Paramount Pictures/Viacom, and spent 15 years at American Golf as National Director of Retail and Sourcing.

ClubCorp is officially competing with Troon and KemperSports for third-party management contracts. The world’s largest owner of private clubs announced on Nov. 8 the creation of ClubLife Management, a management services division for private clubs, destination resorts and high-end daily-fee golf courses.  

Doug Hellman and Seth Churi, both industry veterans with experience in third-party management, will run the division. Hellman comes from KemperSports where he worked for almost 14 years and left as senior vice president of business development. 

Churi was previously at Sequoia Golf, where he was chief operating officer. More recently, he was co-founder and COO of Redwood Six, a small privately held company with a focus on premium private club and resort destination operations. Redwood Six was formed by Churi and Ken Guerra after ClubCorp acquired Sequoia Golf from Ken’s brother, Joe Guerra, for $265 million in 2014. 

ClubCorp acquired Redwood Six in August, and announced Ken Guerra as Chief Revenue Officer. 

“With the addition of the leadership team for ClubLife Management and the years of experience they bring, combined with ClubCorp’s assets and resources, we bring a powerful combination to the marketplace that can really benefit  club owners,” said David Pillsbury, ClubCorp CEO. “As the sponsor, we also are committed to rapid growth in this important segment of the industry.”

Hellman said ClubLife will leverage ClubCorp’s assets to serve its clients. This will include reciprocity to ClubCorp’s 300 clubs throughout the U.S. It will also include proprietary technology tools, such as an analytic tool that predicts when a member is about to leave a club.

While its primary market will be private clubs, it will also reach out to resorts and higher-end daily fee properties. 

“We want to grow strategically and make sure we can make a difference for the client,” Hellman said. “We can tailor our approach to a specific properties needs.”

ClubLife already has 16 properties, clubs that ClubCorp has previously been managing for other owners. This includes Mossy Oaks Golf Club in West Point, Mississippi (Pictured above)

John Brown, Sr. is back and ready to compete with his former company, Brown Golf Management.

His new company, KPI Golf Management, will seek third-party management contracts, consulting work and leasing, mostly with private clubs. 

Brown, who retired 15 months ago, started Brown Golf Management in 2011 and built it into the 20th largest golf management company in the world. He sold a majority interest of the company to John M. Brown, his son and COO at the time; Jason Harshbarger, Chief Financial Officer; and Todd Brown, Executive Vice President, and another son. 

But retirement did not suit him well. He spent most of that time evaluating the work he had done the prior 30 years, and boiling down those experiences into a series of case studies. 

“Previously, we all did things by feel. I’ve done things by feel throughout most of my career,” he said. “I took the time while retired to assemble all of the data from my entire career, and I wrote case studies on everything.”

He then turned everything into data points, hence the name, KPI, which stands for Key Performance Indicator. 

“Data driven golf management is the wave of the future because it is a lot more exact,” he said. 

He gives the example of his 85-50 sales rule, which says you can close 85 percent of potential members who are invited to a club by new members. But that with members who have been at the club for more than one year, the close rate drops to 50 percent. He said that data point should drive membership strategies. 

“It works well with first year member because they want to validate their own purchase,” he said. 

He said it only makes sense to actively work new members into the sale process. 

“There is all kinds of data like that,” he said. “We’ve set up operational templates based on this data.”

Brown started the new company with Casey Bourque, a PGA pro and owner of a web design company. 

Is he worried about competing with his sons? No, he feels the competition will be good for them. 

Troon founder Dana Garmany will step down as chief executive officer of the management company on March 31. 

Garmany confirmed the official retirement date Dec. 6 during a VIP event unveiling the renovated Pinnacle Course at the company’s flagship Troon North Country Club in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Current President Tim Schantz will succeed Garmany as CEO, part of a transition strategy that has been in place for some time. Garmany will remain as chairman of the board of the company he founded in 1990. 

In his new role, Garmany said he will focus on working with the Troon board on long-term strategic goals and big-picture issues across the golf industry.

He said day-to-day operations “will continue as usual” at the world’s largest golf management company, which has more than 270 courses in its portfolio.    

“We have built a strong team, so there will be no changes in the operation,” he said. 

Under Garmany, Troon has expanded its reach not only by adding management and lease contracts but through acquisitions. It purchased Honours Golf and its portfolio of 16 courses in 2014, and CaddieMaster, a provider of caddie services, in 2015. 

More recently, Troon in July closed a deal to buy Cliff Drysdale Management, the largest tennis club management firm in the U.S. 

Through those entities and its Troon Privé and Troon International subsidiaries, the company now operates in 330 locations around the globe.

In 2017, Leonard Green & Partners, a Los Angeles-based private equity firm, acquired majority ownership in Troon from Kohlberg & Co. Leonard Green’s portfolio includes investments in the Container Store, Shake Shack and numerous other entities. 

Garmany, a fixture on Golf Inc.’s annual “Most Powerful People in Golf” list (including No. 1 in 2018) over the past 28 years has grown Troon from a single course into to the world’s largest management company, with more than 270 courses in its portfolio. 

He initially stepped down as CEO at the end of 2009, but returned to that role a year later. 

During his 35 years in the golf industry, Garmany has received numerous honors. The University of Alabama graduate and former PGA professional, has been inducted into the Southwest Section PGA Hall of Fame, the Arizona Golf Hall of Fame and the University of Alabama Hospitality Hall of Fame. He was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by the HSBC International Golf Forum. 

Schantz, a licensed attorney, joined Troon in 1998. He has more than 25 years' experience specializing in corporate and real estate transactions and has been a key player in Troon’s rapid expansion during the past 15 years. 

Gary Player Group has created a new division to offer management and operational services for golf clubs. 

The new division, called Black Knight Management, will work in collaboration with Crown Colony Management and Links Management. Comprised of a team of professionals with more than 50 years of experience in management and marketing of golf courses in North America, Europe, Asia and Africa, the new firm will offer management services under the Gary Player brand for courses designed by Gary Player Design and the Black Knight brand for all other courses. 

The new division will offer a full range of club operational services, including financial management, programming, marketing, food & beverage and course maintenance.

Mosaic Clubs is rebranding itself as Bobby Jones Links, two years after the Atlanta-based management company took over management of the Bobby Jones Golf Course in Atlanta.

This is the second time the company has changed its name. Two of its principals, Whiney Crouse and Steve Willy, previously ran Affiniti Golf Partners. They changed the name to Mosaic in 2013 aftetr Hud Hinton joined as a partner. Hinton had previously been CEO of Troon. 

“We are thrilled to launch Bobby Jones Links with an enhanced focus on innovation, helping our associates grow and learn, and truly building our company culture around people first,” said Crouse, Chairman of Bobby Jones Links. “[W]e were given an extraordinary opportunity to have a club management company which shares the name of one of the most iconic golfers of all time who was an exemplary gentleman as well. We are very grateful to the Jones family for giving us this opportunity.”

The company said Bobby Jones Links will embrace the famed golfer’s inventive spirit and thirst for change, which is why the new tagline is where history and innovation play.

The company was hired in 2016 to manage Bobby Jones Golf Course, which was Atlanta’s first public facility. It was built in 1932 as a tribute to Robert Tyre “Bobby” Jones Jr., an Atlanta native. The city swapped the golf course and nearby property to the state in June 2016 in exchange for property near Underground Atlanta. The state then entered into a 50-year lease with the newly formed Bobby Jones Golf Course Foundation to operate the course. The foundation hired then-Mosaic to manage the day-to-day operations.

In November 2017, the company oversaw the start of $27 million redevelopment of the course, which was epected to turn the the 18-hole courses into a reversible 9-hole, championship course designed by the late Bob Cupp. 

Brown Golf continues to grow its portfolio of clubs with the addition of Lederach Golf Club located in Harleysville, PA.  Lederach was previously managed by Billy Casper Golf from 2004 to 2018.   

Lederach Golf Club, located thirty-three miles from Philadelphia, is owned by Lower Salford Township in Montgomery, Pennsylvania. The club offers a Par 71, 18 Hole Championship layout with tees positioned for all skill levels with the back tees stretching to 7025 yards.

“The links feel of Lederach, coupled with the distinct property features, gives the course the perfect balance to offer an incredible daily fee golf experience," said John Brown, CEO of Brown Golf.

Brown’s portfolio includes twenty-seven golf courses that are located in seven states:  Vermont, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Missouri and Florida. It is based  in Camp Hill, Penn. As part of the Brown Golf network Lederach members will have full reciprocity with other Brown Golf facilities. Lederach will be the third municipal golf course in the Brown Golf Portfolio.

Brown Golf services include acquisition, leasing, third party management and consulting.  

Hampton Golf, which manages 28 golf courses, has joined forces with newly formed KPI Golf Management, which John Brown launched a few months ago. Brown founded Brown Golf Management and retired in 2017. Brown Golf Management is now run by his sons, John M. Brown and Todd Brown. 

“When I heard that John was back in the business, I was immediately intrigued," said MG Orender, president of Hampton Golf. "After speaking with him and understanding his business principles were aligned with Hampton’s, I knew this would be a great fit. There are a handful of people like John in the industry and I knew it would make sense to introduce KPI to Hampton Connect."

KPI Golf Management is focused on turning around underperforming facilities. As the KPI name suggests, John Brown and his team lean heavily on performance data to inform decision making. 

Hampton Golf recently introduced a digital management solution, Hampton Connect, that helps golf course operators manage their properties with financial transparency, train team members and make decisions based on real-time data. KPI will use the product to serve clients. 

"Hampton has always explored innovative ways to keep our team leaders armed with the latest technological tools to better operate their business," Orender said. "Now we are sharing those tools with courses that may not be financially equipped to engage in full management services."

In a recent 90-day case study using Hampton Connect, 18 golf facilities of all types (public, semi-private and private) collectively saved $500,000 in expenses and increased revenue by  $1 million, year over year. 

With KPI’s initiatives to grow, they will also be using Hampton Golf’s proven centralized services including accounting, marketing/communications, human resources, legal and buying power.

“I have incredible respect for MG and Hampton Golf”, said Brown, “and I’m really excited about the synergies between our two companies. There are some very, very big industry changing ideas coming down the pipeline”.  

KPI will also use Hampton Golf’s centralized services, including accounting, marketing/communications, human resources, legal and buying power.

“I have incredible respect for MG and Hampton Golf,” Brown said. “I’m really excited about the synergies between our two companies. There are some very, very big industry changing ideas coming down the pipeline.”  

ClubLife Management, ClubCorp’s new third-party management division, is wasting no time in adding to its growing portfolio. 

Thefull-service management group dedicated to private clubs, premier resort and select daily fee golf courses announced two recent additions — PGA National Members Club at PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and Crystal Lake Country Club located 50 miles northwest of Chicago.

 PGA National Members Club is a private country club with five PGA championship golf courses and full country club privileges in a luxury resort setting. 

“PGA National offers 90 holes of magnificent golf, including the Champion course, site of The Honda Classic, which just underwent a major renovation rebuilding and re-grassing greens putting the course in pristine condition for members, resort guests and the PGA TOUR players in February,” said Doug Hellman, Senior Vice President at ClubLife Management. 

The Champion course, originally designed by Tom and George Fazio and redesigned by Jack Nicklaus in 1990, also is home to the renowned Bear Trap, coined as a tribute to Nicklaus and among the most demanding three-hole stretches of golf on the PGA TOUR. 

PGA National features four additional first-class layouts: The Palmer, The Fazio, The Squire and The Estates, plus the David Leadbetter Golf Academy and David Pelz Scoring Game School for individual instruction and group clinics.

Crystal Lake was established in 1922 in Crystal Lake, Illinois. It offers an 18-hole golf course, two practice areas, a variety of golf events, leagues and tournaments, as well as a strong junior golf program. Amenities include casual and upscale dining plus an outdoor patio with fire pits and bar, lighted outdoor tennis courts (three clay and two hard courts), pickleball and a pool. 

Billy Casper Golf will operate Raintree Golf and Event Center in Green, Ohio, located 20 minutes from both Akron and Canton.

For the daily-fee course, BCG will oversee clubhouse operations, golf course maintenance, marketing and sales, staffing and training, merchandising, golf instruction and financial management. 

“Billy Casper Golf’s marketing expertise will grow Raintree’s market presence and attract new golfers,” says Dawn Bowman, events director of Raintree. “Raintree looks forward to providing exceptional golf, as well as becoming recognized as the premier private events, meetings and weddings destination in our community.”

The facility opened in 1992 as an 18-hole public golf course with a 400-seat capacity event center. Designed by Brian Huntley, it includes four sets of tees, and a full practice area with driving range, chipping and putting greens and practice bunkers.

“Implementing BCG’s programming and customer services will be essential to our growth,” says Eric Snodgrass, general manager of Raintree. “We are thrilled to work with BCG and their esteemed reputation for leading course and property maintenance.”

Patty Gaston will become the new director of golf operations and help oversee outing and league promotions at Raintree. Richard Heisler will lead the turf care and maintenance team, with the mission of improving overall playing conditions and executing improvements to the facilities at Raintree.

The Oneida Golf Enterprise, a wholly owned business of the Oneida Nation, has selected KemperSports to manage Thornberry Creek at Oneida in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Thornberry Creek is the official course of the Green Bay Packers and host of the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.

Thornberry Creek is a 27-hole course, with The Legends Championship Course, a par 72, 6,934 yard course, and The Original Iroquois – one of only 10 official PGA Family Courses in the state of Wisconsin. It is a par 36 9-hole layout.

“Thornberry Creek at Oneida holds a unique position in the market, and we needed a management partner who truly appreciates that. That’s why KemperSports was selected,” said Tehassi Hill, Chairman, Oneida Business Committee. “The team is known across the industry for its successful custom property management solutions.”

Thornberry Creek is one of more than 60 golf courses that are Native-owned. Pine Hills golf & Supper Club in Geshman, Wisconsin is owned by the Mohican Nation. 

Thornberry Creek also includes a 68,000 square foot clubhouse that includes a Sports Pub & Grill and multiple banquet venues. Thornberry Creek at Oneida is associated with Radisson Hotel & Conference Center and the Oneida Casino. 

“We are proud to be selected by the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin to build on this tradition of great golf for all ages,” said Steve Skinner, CEO of KemperSports. “This is truly a special property and we look forward to working with the team to deliver the best customer experience.”

• Laurel Oak Country Club in Sarasota, Fla. named Hampton Golf to manage its 36 holes of golf  — the Gary Player-designed Player Course and the Rees Jones-designed Jones Course. It also has a 45,000-sq. ft. clubhouse and a tennis clubhouse. The club’s tennis amenity complex features a junior Olympic size pool, 12 Har-Tru tennis courts, and outdoor dining options.

• Cypress Golf Management and it’s sister company Cypress Golf Course Services (CGCS) recently announced the 5-year renewal of their maintenance agreement with the City of Pompano Beach and its 36-hole golf operation. Scott Zakany, principal in Cypress Golf Management, stated that the City of Pompano Beach and CGCS have a great working relationship and are working together on the regrassing of the greens this spring using Platinum Paspalum. CGCS will be overseeing the entire project which may also include some bunker renovations and tee rebuilding. 

• Middlesex County in New Jersey hired Billy Casper Golf (BCG) to manage its golf courses. The company, which already manages three public golf courses in New Jersey, will add Tamarack in East Brunswick, Raritan Landing in Piscataway and The Meadows at Middlesex in Plainsboro. The contract is a one-year agreement at an annual cost of $210,000, according to Carol Byrnes of the MCIA.

The Bay Club Co. has finalized a deal with Troon to manage three of its private golf clubs in California. 

The Bay Club started as a fitness only club in 1977, but recently added three clubs with golf courses to expand its appeal. The deal with Troon is designed to further that expansion into golf. 

 “Our new partnership with Troon will enhance current member experiences while allowing us to significantly increase the number of golf properties within our portfolio,” said Bay Club President & CEO Matthew Stevens.

Troon will oversee club operations and agronomy at StoneTree Golf Club in Novato, Boulder Ridge Golf Club in San Jose, and Fairbanks Ranch Country Club in Rancho Santa Fe.

StoneTree, designed by Sandy Tatum and Johnny Miller, opened in 2000. It features an 18-hole course, a 30-bay range, and a restaurant on 132 acres on the northern part of San Francisco Bay. The Bay Club Co. purchased it in the fall of 2014.

Boulder Ridge is a Brad Benz-Ross Forbes design located on 300 acres south of San Jose. Originally built in 2001, the club was acquired by The Bay Club Co. in July of 2016.

Fairbanks Ranch is a 27-hole facility designed by Ted Robinson. Originally built on 274 acres in 1983, it hosted equestrian events for the Los Angeles Olympics Games. It was member-owned until The Bay Club Co. purchased it in July 2016.

The Bay Club owns 26 properties in California and Oregon focused on fitness, sports, family and hospitality. It is headquartered in San Francisco.

Troon was founded in 1990, and has grown to be the largest third-party operator of golf facilities in the world. The Scottsdale, Ariz.-based firm manages more than 280 golf courses on five continents.

Topgolf announced today that it has developed a new scalable venue design that will allow it to open in smaller communities, outside the major metropolitan areas its existing facilities serve.

“This will be a smaller footprint and flexible design that allows us to scale the number of bays,” said Devin Charhon, Topgolf Director of Real Estate. “The size of the venue will be market- and site-dependent, but what will remain consistent is market-leading Toptracer technology paired with an environment that delivers memorable guest experiences. We look forward to announcing the first locations in the coming months.”

Topgolf’s expanded strategy means there will be more competition in the growing golf entertainment market. ClubCorp acquired BigShots Golf earlier in the year and announced it would focus on smaller facilities in mid-tier markets.

“Topgolf has validated a new market,” said David Pillsbury, CEO of ClubCorp at the PGS Show in January. “We are aiming at an underserved market. We will let Topgolf and Drive Shack slug it out in the larger markets.”

BigShots is aiming for 30 to 60 bays, with each facility costing $8.5 to $12 million. Its first facility is in Vero Beach, Fla., where it sits on 10 acres, and has been very successful.

By comparison, Topgolf’s existing facilities have cost $15 million to $50 million, and need a minimum of 13 acres.

 ClubCorp is taking a franchise approach to help expand BigShots as quickly as possible. It is charging $125,000 for a franchise with an 8 percent royalty and a 2 percent marketing fee.

Topgolf operates more than 50 golf entertainment centers, featuring high-tech driving ranges with food and beverage services. It was founded in 2000 in Great Britain, with the first U.S. site opening in 2005 in Alexandria, Va.