There are a lot of questions people ask when they start looking for a country club to join.
Traditionally country clubs are places people would go to get away from the hustle and bustle of daily life and have a quiet place to relax. Golf was usually the centerpiece activity with tennis an alternative recreational sport. Fine quality dining has always been what members of private country clubs would rave about to their friends.
Today, only a few country clubs hold to the true values of private country clubs. The years from 2008 and 2015 forced all of the private club sectors to make changes to survive.
Some private country clubs didn’t make it and those that did may have gone too far to appease the new generation of Millennials.
The Millennial Way or No Way
The millennials are probably the most talked about the generation of young adults. As every generation of 20 to 30 somethings make claim to be the rebellious generation the Millennials apparently got the most PR. Why this is probably had to do with the Millennials being the first generation of children who had Helicopter Parents.
Of course, not all Millennials behave according to the definition of overbearing brats, but a large number are. All their years of being on a team where everyone got a trophy instead of the winners, and receiving positive reinforcement to their negative actions now have set their expectations on how Real Life should be, but is not.
Want What Parents Gave Them
Millennials now expect country clubs to comfort their upbringing by the private clubs changing to be more of a Resort than a Club. Millennials expected private clubs to conform to their non-traditional anti-social lifestyle their parents raised them in instead of being the place that sets the standard of a quality lifestyle that nurtures socializing with all.
Many country clubs changed their direction to focus on courting the Millennials and their membership grew. However, instead of having a very loyal ‘get involved’ family of members many private country clubs now have a ‘revolving door membership’ who quickly find being a member of a country club stagnating and will drop their membership to move on to another private club that has newer or greater things.
How much longer with private clubs be able to afford the constant change they have to make to keep their club a ‘Shiny Thing’? Or is a better question to ask, Will traditional private country clubs put up with Millennials?
Let me know how I can help.
