_Jan/bouncingback.jpg "Bouncing Back")
By Kyle Darbyson
Winchester Country Club has weathered the economic crash and the loss of all 18 of its greens. Now, David Bennett has the club on track for long-term success
David Bennett recalls the moment as if it were yesterday. It was less than two years ago, and Bennett stood outside a town hall meeting, collecting his thoughts and preparing for the questions that were certain to follow before making the kind of announcement most club management professionals only imagine in their worst nightmares. After a deep breath, the managing director at Winchester Country Club northwest of Sacramento stepped inside and announced to dozens of his members that their greens had been accidentally killed, and the course was immediately closing to allow new turf to grow in. “It’s frankly one of the worst situations a golf course could ever face,” he recounts.
But in the midst of a monumental crisis that would have dealt a deathblow to many clubs, something remarkable happened: The bond between members and ownership actually strengthened. “And a lot of that, I think, is thanks to how we responded,” Bennett says.
It was just another bump in the road for Winchester. The high-end development opened in 2000, and the centerpiece, a Robert Trent Jones, Jr.-designed golf course, immediately garnered rave reviews. “I think we were as high as No. 3 in the state at one point,” Bennett notes.
But as with so many other residential developments, the economic crash of 2008 hit Winchester hard. Nearly one-third of the community’s lots sat vacant, and the residential real estate market in the area was virtually non-existent. Eventually, the owners were forced into receivership.
Wells Fargo held the note on the property and hired California-based ValleyCrest Landscape Companies to maintain the course while a buyer was found. True to their fiduciary responsibilities, the bank invested the bare minimum in upkeep, and the once proud course began to fade.
It took several years for a savior to appear. Real Capital Solutions, a Colorado real estate investment firm, purchased the club in early 2013. They immediately injected $1.7 million into the course and clubhouse. “It was all in the name of adding value to the real estate,” Bennett notes. The investment also included a substantial increase to the maintenance budget.
Membership, which had sunk below 200, grew steadily as a result of the investment. Things were finally starting to look up for Winchester. Then, a simple cultural practice went very wrong and put the future of the club in jeopardy.
The area’s damp climate means any bentgrass greens become infested with inferior Poa annua. To combat Poa’s spread, the maintenance crew had been applying a growth regulator at Winchester several times a season for years. But on one fateful late February day, a trained and licensed spray technician accidently brewed a herbicide into the mix and applied it to all 18 greens, the putting green and nursery. Problems started appearing just days later.
“It was pretty obvious something wasn’t right,” Bennett says. “The color was really off.”
Officials sent samples to the lab, and the results were catastrophic. In a matter of days, Bennett and other stakeholders made a painful decision—one most courses have years to plan for: They would immediately cease operations and completely rebuild all putting surfaces.
“It was human error, plain and simple,” Bennett says. “Whenever you have the human element involved, there’s the chance something could go wrong.”
But after that initial mistake, all involved parties seemed to do everything right. Bennett went into full-blown crisis mode, starting with the aforementioned town hall meeting. He used that opportunity to explain what had happened and what the club planned to do. Members were understandably upset.
“To a lot of people here, the golf course is a really important part of their lives,” Bennett says. “Taking that away is a big deal.” To this end, the club waived all dues while the course was closed.
Meanwhile, ValleyCrest made an immediate offer to cover all losses for the club. Making it right in this case cost somewhere between $700,000 to $900,000. (See “The Human Element” at right.)
As the project progressed, Bennett continued to inform membership with daily emails, then weekly updates during the grow-in period. “I knew I had to be open and honest,” he says. “It’s the only way to eliminate rumors that inevitably boil up.”
The former collegiate golfer also made calls to courses in the area to arrange discounted green fees. Given the fact that members weren’t paying dues at Winchester, he didn’t feel comfortable arranging reciprocal play.
Soon, the mood changed from disbelief and anger to optimism. “We focused on the positive,” Bennett says. “We were getting new greens!” In this case, the putting surfaces were seeded with Pure Distinction, a new bentgrass variety that was perfectly suited for Winchester’s growing conditions.
Almost six months after the incident, the back nine opened for limited play. For two days, Bennett sat on the first tee and thanked each member that came through.
All 18 holes are now open, and rave reviews are rolling in. Whether it’s the handling of the ordeal or the quality of the new greens, Bennett says members are once again becoming advocates for the course. “We didn’t lose a single member throughout this crisis, and I’m extremely proud of that.”
With safeguards in place to avoid a repeat, Bennett is focusing on a bright future.
Kyle Darbyson is a Vancouver-based freelance writer.