By Ed Shanaphy, B.A., M.A.,CMAA

Far from the driving range or the baskets of balls on the courts, the top ten goals for any Director of Golf or Tennis are hospitality driven. As a director entering my tenth year and a former CEO/COO of a major entertainment, global conglomerate for over 20 years, I come to creating this list with a background not often found inside the hospitality industry.

What I have seen in my twenty years inside the private members club industry has changed the role of director forever. Paramount for both management, governance and executive search is educating both younger and older directors toward this new paradigm.

Long gone are the days when we could all just sit on the course and courts and teach and meet and greet on the first tee or in the shop. Here are the days where we have to create through experience, programming, staffing, and communication, both in-person and digital. This last piece I believe is crucial, as I see artificial intelligence as a catalyst toward even more time away from the courts and course and more behind the tools of communication.

In the spirit of David Letterman, here are my top ten tasks for any director of golf or tennis:

1. Deliver a World-Class Member Experience

Every interaction—from tee time bookings to courtside post-match greetings —should feel personalized and effortless. A basic tenet is to know members by name, preferences, and playing habits. And in the case of all directors, especially, partner preferences. Knowing the membership, their family trees, their work and career paths, their relationships with other staff members, is crucial.

2. Build and Lead an Exceptional Team

Hire, train, and retain top-tier staff across all operations of the department. This is completed not only through budget and compensation realities, but also mentorship, education and the department’s culture. Culture matters—your staff are the touchpoints to membership, and if your staff member is unhappy, his or her communications with membership will not be positive toward you or the club. I’ve experienced this first hand at some of the premier, Platinum clubs, and it amazes me that a director can exist for so long being so poor at mentoring. But I think those days are really coming to an end. Gen Z is far too wily and has, perhaps, too much time on its hands given new work methods and habits.

3. Drive Revenue Without Feeling Commercial

Maximize revenue for the club through lessons, merchandising, tournaments, and guest play—but in a way that feels curated and private, and not transactional. Instructional offerings must feel developmental and, yet friendly and social at the same time. However, this can become quickly over “salesy” and membership can feel like they have been working with a used car salesman and counting fingers after a handshake.

4. Own the Calendar

Create a compelling, well-balanced calendar that serves players of all levels. In my view, the calendar should be driven by the Director—not by committee. While member input is valuable, the responsibility for designing the calendar should ultimately sit with the Director, who is best positioned to align programming with operational realities.

There are simply too many moving parts—programming needs, court demand, staffing rotations, seasonal peaks, and revenue considerations—for a committee-led approach to be effective.  Most importantly, whether the club is seasonal or year-round, communication around the calendar must be continuous. It should be promoted consistently throughout the year to build anticipation, maintain engagement, and keep the tennis program at the center of club life.

5. Program the Courts and Course Intelligently

Maximizing course and court usage is one of the most challenging tasks. Ensuring each demographic is represented at peak times, at times convenient to that demographic and to enhance both revenues and play through programming is essential. From clinic programming allowing most popular instructors time for private lessons, allowing the courts and course open at crucial membership need times while placing league and mixer play at corresponding times. Empty course and courts at an elite club should be viewed as a failure for any director.

6. Curate a Best-in-Class Pro Shop

Club retail outlets resemble more of a boutique look rather than a thrifty, old pro shop. Merchandising should reflect a luxury retail experience and not a five and dime or thrift store. Retail outlets exist not only to enhance the membership experience, but also are linked, perhaps even more importantly, to the club’s longevity. The retail outlet provides essential club branding, Branding the club and, in turn, the membership is essential and inviting.

7. Develop Instruction and Player Development Programs

When managing an executive search, aside from interviews, I always create a “homework” project for each candidate focused on a hypothetical developmental and instructional program. Programming instruction for juniors is quite different from that aimed at women and I ask also to create a program for high-performing players – those often that don’t “rate” club professionals as leading teachers. But a strong developmental program builds long-term engagement and future

8. Create Signature Events

Events define your department and too often traditional events, such as a men’s golf member-guest live their life and get stale. Constant tweaking, understanding expectations, and reflecting on past events is crucial toward creating great events. Advancing new event ideas to membership or changes to existing tournaments or social mixers is paramount. Creating an event that feels like it “can’t be missed” and gives that emotion from the fear of missing out is a strong tool.

9. Anticipate, Prepare for, and Manage Political Pressure Points

Foresight is everything in this role. I remember my mentor, after a long day, sitting down late in the evening to study the court sheets—not just for the next day, but three days ahead, focusing on the  times that would open for booking at 7:00am the following morning. It was an invaluable discipline.

By looking ahead, in terms of member relations and relationships, you can identify potential pinch points—not just overlapping demand, conflicting bookings, or misaligned block allocations— but political fissures long before they become problems. Addressing these issues proactively saves significant time, avoids member frustration, and protects both the operation and your own credibility.

10. Love Your Job and Show That Through Your Energy

Energy level is crucial. I can’t relate how many times I have heard from members: “Ed, your energy is contagious. Remember, it’s the director that almost singlehandedly creates the vibe, builds the experience, and creates the memories. That’s the fun part of the job, and he or she had better love it, or else they will fail. The best directors in the business, and I know many of them, are like the energizer bunny – they just keep going.

But there is one item, that I just need to separate. It really summarizes all of the above and supercedes all of the above as it involves all of the above…

Be the Face of the Operation

Availability is imperative. Too often I see directors close their office doors, or literally create a wall between the membership and themselves. Done for various reasons – the belief that it helps protect their role or makes their role difficult to judge – this removal from the operation’s day to day is a mistake. In fact, being the first face members see is vital. Visible, approachable, and present at the first tee, behind the front desk, at all social events and around the club. Elite clubs expect leadership presence—not back-office management. A department without a visible director is leaderless, powerless, and dull.

Ed Shanaphy is President of BeyondTheBaselines.com, one of the nation’s leading management consultancies and executive search firms in the private members club industry. A Duke and London School of Economics graduate, Shanaphy has served as Adult Director of Tennis at Edgartown Yacht Club on Martha’s Vineyard and subsequently as Director of Tennis at Sippican Tennis Club in Marion, MA. He is currently Chief Operating Officer at Boulevard Tennis and Padel Club in Vero Beach, FL and serves over a dozen clubs through his management consultancy. He is a member of the CMAA.