30 Mar
Club Life

Honoring the Classics: Ghurka and the Country Club Lifestyle

When it comes to style and substance, nothing beats the classics. And there are few things that embody this sentiment better than Ghurka’s leather goods and the country club lifestyle.

Ghurka has always been dedicated to crafting the finest leather goods that stand the test of time. With a keen eye for quality and a deep appreciation for traditional craftsmanship, their leather products have become the ultimate luxury accessory. Each piece is designed to improve with age, becoming a treasured heirloom that can be passed down from one generation to the next.

The country club lifestyle, on the other hand, is all about tradition and elegance. It's a lifestyle that values sportsmanship, community, and leisure. It's a reminder of the grace and sophistication of a bygone era.

The two complement each other perfectly. Ghurka’s classic designs and commitment to quality are a natural fit for the timeless style of country club life. Whether it's a Cavalier II No. 97 | Vintage Chestnut Leather duffle for a weekend getaway or a wallet for a day on the golf course, Ghurka's leather goods add a touch of sophistication to any country club outing.

 

And let's not forget about the durability of Ghurka Leather Goods' products. They are made to withstand the test of time and are the perfect companion for those who appreciate quality and craftsmanship. With their timeless design and impeccable construction, they embody the essence of the country club lifestyle.

In a world that's constantly changing, it's important to remember the value of tradition. Ghurka and the country club lifestyle are a testament to this sentiment. Their timeless appeal reminds us of the beauty and elegance of the classics, and how they can elevate any aspect of our lives, from fashion to leisure.

If you're looking for personal gifts or something for your upcoming golf tournament please fill out the link below to get exclusive offers.

 

02 Nov
Club Life

Spookiest Golf Course Names in Golf

For as long as the sport of golf has been played, course designers have made it their mission to make each course uniquely challenging. Each and every course is designed to be different from others which can lead to some oddities, and their names are not excluded. Here are some of the Spookiest Golf Course Names in Golf.

10. Spooky Brook Golf Course

This New Jersey Golf Course will definitely be a joy to play but might cause a bit of a fright with Water hazards placed throughout!

9. Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club

This Portland, Oregon Golf Club is home to two courses that are not only seen as top courses in the US, but also have quite spooky names! Watch the leaves change and get into the autumn spirit on the Ghost Creek course or if you’re looking for more of a challenge you can take on the famed Witch Hollow! 

8. Superstition Springs Golf Club

If it’s a certain number of practice swings, a specific club you believe is cursed, or wearing your Tiger Red Polo; It’s fair to say just about everyone on the golf course believes in some sort of superstition. So why not play a round on a course named after that! 

7. The Nightmare Golf Course

Please, don’t let the name fool you. The Nightmare Golf Course features some of the largest fairways you will find on a golf course. This course is a dream for any golfer.

6. The Greens at Half Hollow 

This New York golf club is the collaborative effort of two of the North-East’s most prominent real estate developers. Ultimate luxury and quality is standard for this duo. Perhaps this course is only half as scary as we first thought!

5. The Witch Golf Club

This public South Carolina course will be a treat to play with only a few tricks! Beautiful wetlands surround this award winning course, making it a beautiful challenge for experienced and new players alike.

4. Bloody Point Golf Club & Resort

Located on idyllic Daufuskie Island, between Hilton Head Island, South Carolina and Savannah, Georgia, this ultra luxury resort and golf club is accessible only by boat. The only thing spooky about this Golf Club is the name!

3. Witch Hollow

In 1996, Tiger Woods brought notoriety to Witch Hollow when he won his unprecedented third consecutive U.S. Amateur Championship in a dramatic come-from-behind finish over Steve Scott.

2. Devils Tower Golf Club

Located in Hulett, Wyoming, just eight miles from our nation's first National Monument, The Golf Club at Devils Tower is renowned throughout the region. Many legends are told about the origin of this massive tower… all we know is it makes for some stunning views and spooky stories.

1. Sleepy Hollow Country Club

The story of Ichabod Crane is a spooky classic that takes place in the town of Sleepy Hollow. Turns out this town is very much real, and has some incredible golf clubs that attract players from across the globe… and occasionally a headless horseman.

22 Oct
Club Life, Private Club Marketing Press Releases

Press Clippings: Private Clubs and Restaurants Offer Exclusivity – and Great Wine & Food

Mile-long wait lists, exceptional wine programs, award winning culinary teams, in masterfully designed spaces there's not wonder demand for exclusive private clubs and restaurants has weathered the pandemic and returned with a bang! Check out our recent contribution to Sotheby's Magazine Reside below “For Members Only – Private Clubs and Restaurants Offer Exclusivity – and Great Wine and Food”

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07 May
Club Life, Club Marketing

How to Retain Members During COVID-19

What Membership Directors and your Team can do to engage your membership during this time of social distancing and strategies you can put into place to increase membership retention rates.

There are so many unknowns of what is going to happen at your club within the next couple months. One thing that you can control is what you are doing at this time to stay connected with your membership.

Keeping your members happy is hard enough when they are at the club; now we have to think of ways to take the club to them as well as adapt to the new normal of so many restrictions. More than ever, it is important to retain each and every member.

Keeping your current members engaged virtually is something we are not use to; but it is the most essential thing you can do as a management team. Think outside of the box and give your members value add other than takeout and email updates during this pandemic. Refusing to change the way we do business can lead to the downfall of an organization; don’t let that be your club. Check out this quick inspirational video to help get you and your team get inspired to reinvent yourself and your clubs’ operations  These Are Not Unprecedented Times | Simon Sinek.

Be creative; empower all department leads to come up with ideas to send out to the membership. Here are some examples of what your team can be working on to keep your members engaged and reminding them why their membership to their club is so valuable.

Showcase your exceptional staff.

Have your golf pros create short video segments on golf tips and tricks, how to practice in your home, golf exercises, etc. Your golf staff can also create virtual brackets for tournaments ie: virtual bracket for the TaylorMade Driving Relief Skins Game.

Your fitness instructors can stream their classes to do in the comfort of your homes (good to get staff to take the classes as well).

The culinary department can be doing video cooking tips from their personal kitchens or even live Q&A’s with the Executive Chef, sharing their favorite or healthy recipes to the membership, writing nutrition plans, creating meal kits for pickup and even setting up a shopping market at the club.

This time even allows for our Superintendents to get involved! Most of your members have a lot more time on their hands to be working in their yards or gardens. Any tips on how to grow grass, planting tips, trimming of trees etc. would be great information to share! ADDED benefit: if your club has the ability to do soil testing, have the membership bring in soil samples to give suggestions on fertilizer applications or other lawn treatment plans; it’s that time of the year!

Have your beverage team organize mixology classes and/or virtual wine tastings with your sommelier.

Arrange each “club within the club” to continue as scheduled using virtual chat rooms to organize the meetings, like Zoom, (might even be a good time to start new clubs; like a book club)!

Host social events virtually for the membership; like a trivia night.

Get your Club Historian or a long-time member to host Fireside chats and tell your clubs story and engage your membership in the rich history of your club.

Most importantly don’t forget about the kids! They miss their “club” friends as much as their parents. Create a Spring packet with games, scavenger hunts, coloring contest, photo contests, etc. to mail out to those members who have children and have them post on your social media outlets or mail back to the club.

Preparing to re-open.

Organize your member database. Now more than ever is the time to do the tedious chore of going through member by member to make sure the correct information is collected. Click Here for a sample survey of what demographic information you should be collecting for each family. This information will then be used to create segmented communication lists for the members!

Connect with the membership; break up your membership list and have your managers call the members to check in on how they and their families are doing during this pandemic. Have talking points for your managers so a unified message is being communicated. Tell them what the Club’s plan is to stay connected with the membership. Take the time to ask them for feedback and what they would like to see in 2020. But, most importantly make sure to tell them how much they mean to the club and how excited the Team is to see them once you re-open.

17 Feb
Club Life, Export, Golf

Top Presidential Golfers

President Donald Trump will be the 16th of the past 19 American presidents to play golf. And immediately upon entering office, he will be the top presidential golfer of the group, thanks to his current 2.8 Handicap Index and his 19 club championship victories. According to Golf Digest's Jaime Diaz, who twice played golf with Trump in recent years, the best part of his game is his ball-striking, although Trump himself says it's his putting.

Trump knocks John F. Kennedy from the No. 1 spot in our previousTop Presidential Golfers ranking of the best golf presidents. Here's how the rankings shake out, with an assist from Don Van Natta Jr., author of the book, First Off the Tee: Presidential Hackers, Duffers, and Cheaters from Taft to Bush.

  1. Donald Trump
    Known for his bombastic statements, his boast of winning 19 club championships isn't one of them
  2. John F. Kennedy
    Despite chronic back pain, averaged 80
  3. Dwight D. Eisenhower
    Installed a green outside the Oval Office; member at Augusta National
  4. Gerald R. Ford
    Despite a clumsy image, a legitimate 80s-shooter
  5. Franklin D. Roosevelt
    At 39, polio robbed him of a powerful golf swing
  6. George W. Bush
    His handicap dipped under 10, post-presidency
  7. George H.W. Bush
    Once got his handicap down to 11
  8. Bill Clinton
    Can break 90, especially using his “Billigans”
  9. Barack Obama
    The lefty plays hoops and golf, more than 330 rounds during his two terms.
  10. Ronald Reagan
    Didn't play often or well (best was low 90s)
  11. Warren G. Harding
    Struggled to break 95
  12. William Howard Taft
    As hapless a golfer as he was a chief executive
  13. Woodrow Wilson
    Played more than Ike but almost never broke 100
  14. Richard M. Nixon
    He shot 79 once and quit the game
  15. Lyndon B. Johnson
    Played with senators to secure votes for the Civil Rights Act of 1964
  16. Calvin Coolidge
    When he vacated the White House, he left his clubs behind

 

Source: http://www.golfdigest.com/story/presidentsranking

03 May
Club Life, Experiences, Export

10 Things You Didn’t Know about the Kentucky Derby

As far as live horse racing track competitions go, the Kentucky Derby is the crown jewel of live horse races. Since the official race is almost here, we want to share some Kentucky Derby facts so that you can impress your friends over a refreshing Mint Julep.

10 Kentucky Derby Facts

The Kentucky Derby has never, ever been canceled

The Run for the Roses has lived through some hard times in American history. But since its founding in 1875, the race has never been canceled. Come rain or shine, come depression or war, come what may, there will always be a race on the first Saturday in May.

Space is limited

Only 20 of the best of the best thoroughbred racehorses compete every year. When you compare this to the number of horses born every year, that’s less than one percent of horses that get a chance to run.

Extravagant hats are a deep-rooted tradition

Kentucky Derby facts aren’t all about the horses. The founder of the first race in the Triple Crown series wanted this event to compare to Paris Fashion Week. To this day, women come dressed to the hilts. Every year gets more and more fabulous.

Female horses don’t always run the live horse racing track

One of the more troubling Kentucky Derby interesting facts for owners of female thoroughbred horses to hear is that only three fillies have won the competition.

Horse lovers know how to party

Kentucky Derby facts for kids that could get them excited about the festivities is that for over 60 years, there are two weeks of parties, parades, and events before the great race. Those familiar with the scene call it the Kentucky Derby Festival.

Triple Crown winners are the most physically fit thoroughbred horses

Racehorses in Kentucky are strong athletes. To win the Triple Crown, a horse must take first in three competitions all held within the same month. Can you imagine the kind of energy that takes? Some interesting Kentucky Derby facts trivia you could spread is that only 12 horses have ever been honored as Triple Crown winners.

It costs a pretty penny to enter

It’s not polite to talk about money, but when talking about Kentucky Derby facts, we’ll make an exception. If all deadlines are met, it costs over $50,000 to enter the race.

Mint Julep is the official drink of the race

A hot day at the live horse races requires a refreshing beverage. Mint Juleps are the official drink of race lovers. Attendees drink more than 120,000 of these things during their visit at the track.

You can win big

On top of a sweet blanket of roses, Derby winners take home $2 million. That’s a nice chunk of change.

People bet big

When it comes to Kentucky Derby facts, it’s no surprise that people bet big. But would you be impressed if we told you people bet nearly $209.2 million in 2017?

A lot of luck and just $1 could’ve made you $75,974.50 richer at the 2017 Derby. All you would’ve had to do is pick the top four horses in the 2017 Kentucky Derby in the correct order.

15 Nov
Club Life, Export, Millennials

New Private Clubs Embrace Young Creative Class

Facilities such as Soho Beach House in Miami and Common House in Charlottesville, Va., offer co-working spaces, screening rooms, rooftop pools, networking opportunities, and other private amenities in cities in which space is a premium.

“We’ve see a huge jump in the number of the new types of club coming online, as compared to the traditional model,” said Zack Bates of Private Club Marketing, a firm that promotes members’ clubs. “In Los Angeles, you can’t get into Soho House. So others are being built, the Hospital Club, Griffin House and Norwood, to keep up with the appetite for these spaces.”

Read Full Article at Club & Resort Business

 

5 Private Member Clubs Worth Joining 2017

09 Nov
Club Life, Export

Posh new Philly club to target city’s emerging youthful elite

Before the development of the new, posh Fitler Club, when it was known as the Marketplace Design Center, 2400 Market St. was a lightly trafficked building in what remained a fringe neighborhood at the far west of Philadelphia’s central business district.

Hospitality financier David Gutstadt now wants to turn part of the building, which will also soon host Aramark Corp.’s new world headquarters, into a center for the social lives of the city’s emerging business, tech and cultural elite.

Gutstadt’s $50 million-$60 million plan for what’s to be called the Fitler Club, unveiled at a press event Thursday, involves fitness facilities, fine dining, hotel rooms, coworking offices, event spaces, and other amenities encompassing 75,000 square feet over parts of the building’s lower three floors.

It’s a local take on the new wave of high-end private membership clubs – such as those making up the London-based Soho House chain – that are popping up in some of the world’s more prosperous cities. It underscores Philadelphia’s rising fortunes.

Continue Reading at philly.com

 

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06 Nov
Club Life, Export

Bazaar’s Favorite Private Members’ Clubs in London

There are some super secretive and exclusive clubs out there. No, these aren’t Illuminati clubs that require a secret knock for entry. These are highly exclusive private clubs that only accept the most qualified of the qualified. Here is a quick look at the top pick's of London from Harper's Bazaar that require far more than an online registration to get in.

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