Golf Inc - April 2008 - (Page 28)

PHOTO BY RICK RHODES GREG KEATING General Manager/Vice President, Club Operations, The Daniel Island Club, Charleston, S.C. the club added 88 new members in 2007, well above the growth rate of previous years. Its average member age is 49 — and includes more families than anticipated. That has prompted Keating to initiate family-friendly programs such as adding forward tees that encourage children and beginners to learn the game and to play together as families. The centerpieces at Daniel Island are its two courses, the Tom Fazio-designed Beresford Creek and the Rees Jonesdesigned Ralston Creek. But the club also includes a fitness center, tennis pavilion and a poolside cabana F&B operation. The poolside F&B operation increased by 350 percent the first year, which was attributed to the clubhouse being closed during the previous summer’s months. But in the second year of operation, the increase from 2005 to 2007 was 330 percent. Keating wants The Daniel Island Club to be more than just a private club that members and residents visit to play golf or tennis, swim or dine. He wants to make it a way of life. “We are trying to create a true lifestyle environment,” he said. “We want people here to feel like they’re on vacation all the time. It’s a unique place.” Keating came to the high-end residential community in 2002 after spending 10 years as a teaching and playing professional at clubs in the Boston area. In his role as head of operations, Keating is responsible for ever ything from the club’s membership program to grounds maintenance. It’s a big job, but when it comes to putting together a staff, he likes to lead by example. When hiring, he wants em ployees with engaging personalities. “I look for extroverts, people who like to serve,” he said. And not just for those who have frequent contact with members, either. “I talk to the groundskeepers about doing things like getting down off their mowers and helping members look for lost golf balls,” he said. Opened in November 2000, the club’s current membership includes 750 families. And despite the national real estate slump, KIRK KOKOSKA National Director of Golf, BlueStar Resort & Golf, Scottsdale, Ariz. Closing in on his 20th year as a PGA member, Kokoska currently heads up all golf and related activities for the BlueStar Resort & Golf course management division of homebuilder Shea Homes. The Shea golf portfolio includes six presently open courses and two under construction, several of which are part of Shea’s Trilogybranded communities. Kokoska is fa miliar with most of them — as director of operations for Intrawest Golf, he had already been running them for Shea before being recruited by Shea to form and run BlueStar two years ago. Shea Community Development VP Jeff Hinkle said at the time, “We wouldn’t have made this move [to in-house management] if we couldn’t get Kirk to run it.” Kokoska is currently expanding BlueStar’s range of services to all aspects of resort facility management, in addition to landscape management for communities as well as golf courses. “There is a bit of difference in all those things, I won’t kid you,” said Kokoska, a former Golfweek “Top 40 Under 40” award-winner. “We had to acquire some of the intellectual capital to do all those things, with experience in running a spa and fitness facility, over and above running a private golf club.” As far as BlueStar’s core business of running golf facilities, Kokoska said the Shea courses have been out-performing the established National Golf Foundation and Golf Datatech benchmarks for rounds and revenues. And he said BlueStar has its eye on properties outside the Shea portfolio of communities. 28 Golf Inc. April 2008

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Golf Inc - April 2008

Golf Inc - April 2008 Contents Editors Column Birney Takes NGCOA Helm Construction Costs on the Rise KemperSports Adds 14 Courses Americas: Fazio Designs St. Kitts Layout Europe/Africa: Seaside Resort Planned in Egypt Asia/Australis: Faldo Opens New Chinese Course High-Tech Tools: New Technologies that can Help Operators There's No Economic Slump at Still-Popular Reynolds Plantation Tim Moraghan Wants to Make Golf Fun Again Why a $1.5 Billion Resort has Made Environmental Protection a Top Priority Most Admired Operators Marketing Experts Make Their Pitch for Golf Courses From Korea, with Cash Last Word

Golf Inc - April 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.