Backyard wiffle ball might seem counterintuitive as an enticing amenity at a private resort community. After all, it has little to do with high-end fitness equipment, cold plunges and infrared saunas — increasingly must-have items at member clubs across the country — much less full-service pool areas and an emerald golf course.
And yet, at both The Abaco Club in the Bahamas and Old Edwards Reserve at Lake Keowee, in Sunset, South Carolina, wiffle ball fields are among their most utilized amenities. Decked out in astroturf, they sparkle just as much as the nearby golf courses. At the Abaco Club, called the Wake Field in honor of the late Boston Red Sox pitcher and club member Tim Wakefield, they even have a replica of the Green Monster, the iconic left-field wall.
While the private communities still lean on golf as their traditional draw for prospective members, wiffle ball presents a nontraditional offering in line with larger trends in the private club space. As members are getting younger and multigenerational communities are becoming the norm, country clubs have been adding offerings both expected and unexpected to entice new members and entertain existing ones.
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(Image credit: The Abaco Club)
With average initiation fees to join country clubs around $65,000 and monthly dues near $1,000, members are expecting more of the clubs they join. These are some of the additions that could be coming to a club near you, if they haven’t already jazzed up their offerings.
Kid-friendly appeal for the whole family
Old Edwards Reserve’s general manager, Tim Boeve, says the wiffle ball field was packed every Sunday this past summer and “helped us stay competitive by showing that we’re committed to creating a vibrant, family-focused community.”
“Typically, our market is parents and grandparents, and what the grandparents have learned is if they can find a place where grandkids want to come, they’ll always be connected to them,” says Mark Yarborough of Storied Development, which is currently constructing the Firefly community outside of Nashville and boasts existing clubs in Texas and Utah, as well as The Grove adjacent to Nashville.
That means along with amenities that appeal to a 45-to-75 demographic, they must also build out amenities that will appeal to teenagers. At their Talisker Club in Park City, Utah, this led to building a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) workshop and lab for the kids. (As it turns out, the biggest user of that facility has been the retirees, he says.)
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To serve the younger demographic, the Abaco Club didn’t rely on wiffle ball alone. They’ve created a game and cinema room at their new Winding Bay Club, a beachfront clubhouse opening this October that’s part of a $350 million improvement to the private club in the Bahamas. The Winding Bay Club features full gaming systems that can be played on an LED wall, board games and shuffleboard, as well as a slate of old-school arcade games like Pac-Man and NBA Jam.
“From the start,” says Tommy Southworth, president of Southworth Clubs, “we envisioned the Winding Bay Club to be the heart of our community — a place where members of all ages could come together, unwind, and make memories.”
Opportunities to bond and connect
The new facility at Southworth Clubs also boasts an infinity-edge pool and racquet facility, as has become common, but also e-foiling, a combo of surf and hydrofoil. Southworth says these improvements are rewarding in “the connections” they spark.
More and more, connectivity to the club is what drives both membership and new amenities. Clubs want members to stay longer, and in order to do that, they need more to do. At Phoenix Country Club, which sits downtown in the Arizona city, that’s a key emphasis behind the development and introduction of new programs and amenities, says their GM, Max Rascon.
(Image credit: Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
“We renovated a portion of upstairs of the clubhouse to provide fitness classes, and we have also installed cold plunges and red light therapy as well. When I first started here 12 years ago, we were a golf club, but now we’re seeing a larger segment of our members are young families.”
To serve that population, they, too, have leaned on creating rec rooms with games as well as offering summer camps that span 10 weeks. The camps have different offerings each week, such as LEGO engineering, some of which will continue into the school year.
Food and wellness at the club
Scott Ferrell is an industry veteran who is helping lead the creation of Kawonu Golf Club outside Greenville, South Carolina. While they will feature golf only, Ferrell says the pressure to provide top-notch facilities away from the course is real and imminent.
Aside from golf simulators that can be used as teaching bays — a must-have in the market these days — the amenity Ferrell is focused on is food and beverage, as, he says, “historically private clubs have had mediocre dining outlets.” Because Kawonu will have a mix of local and national members traveling from afar, Ferrel says they will make dining a primary focus of the experience.
“I think it’s important to keep the menu simple. It’s part of the experience, for sure, but clubs make a mistake by overcomplicating their menu, and we’re not gonna do that.” They’ll focus on a premium menu that isn’t “exhaustive,” allowing them to deliver higher quality meals.
Rascon, of the Phoenix Country Club, also said meal quality has been a bigger focal point as more members are coming for dinner than ever before. Dining, he says, has been influenced by wellness trends: “Farm-to-table” is now an expectation at many places.
The concept of wellness for longevity has also influenced amenities at these clubs; Coeur d’Alene National in Idaho even created an entire membership to support it. The Premier Longevity membership is a personalized, data-driven health program developed in partnership with Clinic5C, in nearby Spokane.
In addition to red-light and ozone therapy, members have access to hyperbaric oxygen therapy, exclusive pricing on stem cell therapies, and monthly IV infusions. They’ve also built a climbing wall, another trend in the space, as well as a floating water park on the lake, something also utilized at Old Edwards Reserve’s club.
And of course: Upgrading the golf courses
Even with these flashier amenities, the backbone of country clubs is still golf. Across the region, you’ll see many golf course renovations in addition to completely new courses and putting greens.
For the Kawonu Golf Club, that meant picking a popular and rising star in golf course architecture, Andrew Green, who has also been enlisted at Firely — but also an award-winning clubhouse architect, too, in Joel Newman of the firm Thomas and Denzinger.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
And one of the fastest-growing trends in courses is short courses — giving members the ability to enjoy the game of golf without the commitment of a traditional 18-hole round. At Old Edwards Reserve, the driving range is transformed into a short course on Mondays and Fridays, and you’re just as likely to see young men playing two-hand touch football as you are to see them hitting shots into their greens with irons.
The range is anchored by a food truck serving up BBQ and an 18-hole putting green with plenty of seating and firepits all around. Boeve says the range has become the most popular spot on the property as a result, with members wandering over to the social spot “after a simple stop to check their mail.”
Like other clubs, though, Old Edwards Reserve is not stopping there. Another short course is on the way and a major renovation to the existing pool will feature kids’ and teens’ pools with slides and a spray ground. Boeve says what drives these upgrades is a desire “to deliver an elevated quality of life for a discerning audience.”