Chapter 7 – The Temple Terrace Whine Club (1922-2022)
The oldest and most vocal group in the organization is the Temple Terrace Whine Club. It was originally established at the first Annual Membership Meeting on May 22, 1958, when the Board called a vote to set the Club’s initial Senior Membership dues rate. This generally small but vocal group never misses an Annual or Special Meeting of the Voting Members and prides itself on creating simple solutions to what the Club’s “other” Board of Directors often view as complex issues. Most of their club-saving ideas are offered extemporaneously in response to Board presentations on financial issues.
Solving the historically difficult dilemma of providing a cost-effective Food & Beverage amenity has always been an easy “fix” for Whine Club members, even though most of them seem unfamiliar with concepts like fixed and variable costs. For example, why operate a full-service restaurant that “loses” $4,000 a month when, according to Wes, all you have to do is replace it with a snack bar selling hot dogs and immediately improve the bottom line by at least $48,000 a year. (Just how special would that hot dog have to be to satisfy the Club’s Social Members who were contributing over $20,000 a month in dues solely to frequent that restaurant/hot dog stand? )
Or, as George Reed opined at the 1981 Annual Meeting when the discussion centered on the need to increase member support of the F&B operation, “I think the real problem is, for every dollar that lounge takes in right now, they’re losing twenty-two and a half cents. If they take in $100,000 more, they’re going to lose another $22,500. There’s no other way you can figure it, it’s very simple arithmetic.”
In recent years, the Whine Club has increased its membership numbers, the frequency and nature of its meetings and the scope of its charter which now includes solving an expanded array of local, state, national and even international issues.
Informal meetings are held almost nightly, formatted as “Whine Pairing Dinners”. Sometimes the whine is paired with popcorn served in straw baskets, sometimes with the appetizer of the day, sometimes with a scotch on the rocks, sometimes near a Styrofoam container waiting to be transported in a plastic bag to the hungry spouse of a Whine Club member, but most often, the whine is paired with beer.
On one side of an issue, you might find the Miller Lite crowd led by two former Club Presidents, one retired from a career in local politics, the other easily identifiable as the only one at the meeting wearing a tie and the only one drinking his Miller Lite from a can rather than a glass. On the other side, you might find a crowd led by the Bud Light Brothers, one known for once having ended a round of golf by blading a six iron for eagle “1” on number seventeen, followed by an 87 foot “tap in” for eagle “3” on number eighteen; the other currently entrenched in finding the delicate balance between retirement, golf, Bud Light and keeping the little woman happy.
Regular informal meetings of the Whine Club are held almost nightly at two or more round tables pulled together at the center of the Club lounge; and because the primary tool used to debate the issue of the day is “volume”, the happenings at these meetings can easily be reconstructed by interviewing members who were not actual participants, but were somewhere else in the room enjoying one of the Chef’s fine dining offerings
The meetings are not conducted in accordance with the Official Roberts Rules of Order in two key areas. The “no alcohol during meetings” rule is obviously waived and there is no need to memorialize decisions by recording minutes of the proceedings because everyone present already knows all the answers so why bother writing them down. But don’t assume Whine Club membership is limited to only those members who choose to attend the nightly meetings.
The profile of all typical country club members Includes possessing at least most of the personality traits exhibited by Whine Club Members, i.e., extroverts who enjoy debate and have the ego and self-confidence to “occasionally” express personal opinion as irrefutable fact as they go about the challenge of solving problems. In other words, although most country club members enjoy fine dining, an occasional cocktail and/or their favorite beer, there’s absolutely no doubt they all enjoy a good “whine”.
While the Whine Club chapters at many clubs may limit their problem solving to the traditional golf related business and social issues, the Temple Terrace chapter not only meets more frequently and publicly than most, it also tends to opine on a wider range of imbibed opinions based on the wisdom found at the bottom of every pitcher of beer.
On request, they undoubtedly could provide definitive answers to many, if not all, of the age-old, world-wide, heretofore unresolvable life issues including:
- “Boxers versus Briefs” (From the world of men’s fashion)
- “On the Rocks versus Straight Up” (From the world of whiskey)
- “Bone In versus Bone Out” (From the world of fine dining)
- “Over versus Under” (from the world of hanging toilet paper rolls), and,
- “Fivesomes” versus “Hell No” (From the world of golf)
In a perfect world, golf would be played only in foursomes; but as history continues to demonstrate, the world is far from perfect. Although a majority of the tee times at Temple Terrace are assigned to foursomes, there are definitely exceptions to the rule.
“Twosomes” or even “Onesomes” are allowed on the course during non-peak hours, usually late in the afternoons, generally to accommodate members with busy work schedules or entirely too much free time on their hands. These groups are typically viewed as noncontroversial because Club rules state, “They have no rights” (Unless a larger/slower group ahead of them voluntarily waves them through, they have no option other than waiting or possibly skipping a hole.)
“Threesomes” are basically treated like “foursomes”. (Probably because the threesome was originally booked as a foursome, but one player didn’t show up). If the group in front of a threesome falls too far behind the group in front of them, they must offer to wave the threesome through. (An occasional issue, but generally observed)
Effectively dealing with “fivesomes” has been problematic at Temple Terrace for generations. Theoretically, there are probably only two potential real solutions; either make a Board decree that “fivesomes” are not allowed at all or implement a version of the rule Arnold Palmer imposed on golfers at his Bay Hill Country Club in Orlando. “Golfing in fivesomes is allowed at any time, as long as the group can complete its round in four hour or less”. Arnie believed the four hour requirement could easily be met if every member of a regular fivesome did frequent self- assessments to determine whether they were the slowest member of the group, and if so, did something about it before the entire group lost the privilege.
Boards at Temple Terrace have substantially rejected both of these potentially “workable” solutions from day one and have instead tried to create a hybrid solution that in theory would please everyone, but in practice, generally pleases no one. For many years, Boards went back and forth between attempting to define day of week and hour of day windows in which fivesomes could be allowed without major controversy. During various periods in Club history, they also added an amendment to whatever their current rule was whereby the Club Pro was authorized to grant exceptions to the current “official” Club position on the subject. As the sampling of Board decisions outlined below will illustrate, the “fivesomes rules” were rather “fluid”:
- May 1963 – “On Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays, there shall be no more than a foursome allowed. At the discretion of the Professional, fivesomes will be allowed on all other days provided they keep pace with the foursomes. Twosomes, threesomes and foursomes will have the right of way.”
- Feb 1964 – “With Pro approval during the week, never on weekends”
- Jul 1964 – Motion: “No fivesomes will be permitted on the course at any time” Passed 5 to 2 with Traina and McCormick nays.
- Aug 1964 – In response to a member petition on the subject, the Board voted to change the fivesome rule and allow them on Monday, Tuesday and Friday, unless a Holiday
- Dec 1966 – “Leave to the discretion of Wiley or the pro on duty”
- Jun 1969 – “At all times the Club Professional shall determine the size of the group to tee off depending on the flow of play on the course. However, fivesomes shall not be permitted on Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays or Holidays unless authority is granted. “
- Feb 1970 A motion was approved that, “The fivesome rule be rescinded and that the new club rules passed in January be the governing rule on fivesomes with the exception that at the Pro’s discretion, fivesomes would be allowed on Thursdays after 2:00 pm”
After many years of struggling, the Board finally decided to put an end to the issue once and for all. The rule was rewritten, substantially in its current “non-Board involvement” form, and for other than that one instance on April 4, 1986, it has rarely, if ever, been an Agenda item for a monthly Board Meeting,
- April 4, 1986 – (Club Pro) Wiley Watkins asks for guidelines for enforcing Rule#5: “Any play other than threesomes and foursomes is allowed only at the discretion of the pro” (Wiley did not feel he should have been required to make those decisions.) After “careful consideration”, the Board decided “the rule stands as is”.
Arnold Palmer was widely referred to as “The King”. Did his handling of the “fivesome” issue contribute to that sign of admiration? I think so!
- February 2007 – Future Club President Ed Cole and wife Shannon accepted for Senior Membership
The Membership “Death Spiral”
In the insurance industry there’s a condition referred to as the “Death Spiral”. It occurs when an insurer determines the premiums being charged for a particular Plan are not sufficient to cover the claims against that Plan and he is forced to raise the Plan premiums.
Faced with higher premiums, his customers, especially the lower risk ones, choose to either shop around for a better deal or drop the insurance altogether. This leaves the insurer with fewer customers, a condition that necessitates raising the premiums again, and again and again; thus, creating a downward spiral in the number of customers, the corporate viability and the sanity of the Board of Directors.
An eerily similar phenomenon exists in the world of country clubs and is generally reflected by unhealthy changes in the inverse relationship between the club’s roster of members and the cost of those memberships, i.e., Dues increases and/or member assessments are implemented to address financial shortfalls and they quickly generate a loss of members, creating a new shortfall which is addressed by additional dues increases and/or assessments, resulting in the loss of more members, etc., etc., etc.
It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when the “Death Spiral” first infiltrated Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club, but it was definitely underway at the time of the May 2007 Annual Membership Meeting. The Senior Membership count was down to 385 and the Income Statement for the Fiscal Year ending March 2007 reflected an annual loss of over $100,000. The entire Whine Club was not only at the meeting, but in rare form. This was the first time they or Club management had ever been confronted with the challenge of dealing with a “six-digit” annual operating loss.
The bulk of the Whine Club’s unhappiness was directed at three people; General Manager Marie Fivecoat, who they held responsible for creating the loss; Club President Ron Callahan who they held responsible for the unacceptable solution being proposed for moving forward and Club Treasurer John Chambers, the only person in the room in the unenviable standing position because he was at the podium fielding the questions (and answers) being “whined over”.
The “club” questioned the need to ask them for more money when it would be so much simpler to just cut expenses. “Why was the Board asking employees to contribute only twenty percent towards the cost of their health insurance when 100% would solve the problem?” “What about the $29,000 budgeted for employee meals?” “Why not just reduce the number of employees? “These are tough times, the Board has to make tough decisions” There was one somewhat tongue-in-cheek attempt to solve the problem by increasing revenues. Steve made some quick calculations and suggested, “Basically, 390 Senior Member families, plus Social Members. One extra pitcher of beer a week by each of them at thirty percent beer cost would cover double our shortfall in one year.”
Not surprisingly, the membership rejected the Board’s budget proposal, and it was back to the drawing board for a new one that according to John Chambers would “take into account everything you all have said and try to come back with something more appropriate that we can vote on.”
At a follow-up Special Membership Meetings on August 5th, a five-dollar dues increase and two three month Assessments totaling $340 were approved; however, Marie was not at that meeting because as of July 20th, she had resigned her position as General Manager and was replaced by Krista Heaivilin.
As good as Marie was at the things she was good at, in other critical aspects of the job, she was her own worst enemy. I would describe her relationship with the Board during my first year on it as “strained” and her attitude towards most Board Members as “defiant”. She considered herself a professional in the world of club management who was reporting to a Board of amateurs, and, as the saying goes, “she didn’t suffer fools” very well (whether real or imagined).
A perfect example of her tendency to “call ‘em like she saw ‘em” occurred just before that 2004 Special Membership Meeting where the Board was seeking approval for funding the new maintenance facility. President Speziale had asked Marie to email the board members about the updated contractor bid they had just received and ask them to waive notification of a board meeting to discuss the changes. She wrote the email, sent it out and in the span of less than six hours the following occurred:
1:54 pm (email Ron Callahan to Marie) – “Marie, what is this? From the info in your email, I can’t understand what the panic is all about. What’s a GMP? What does the President (I assume) want? I hate to be picky but”………picky, picky, picky and pickier. “Please provide me a response.. Thanks, Ron”.
5:18 pm (email Marie to Callahan) – “Thank you for responding so expeditiously. To answer your questions, there is no panic …….” (She goes on to answer each of his questions very professionally but also notes that Speziale directed her to send the email, had signed off on the exact verbiage used and also pointed out she had “cautioned Mr. Speziale that a meeting might be required to convey the proposal change”. She ended with, “Further questions/clarifications may be directed to the President.”
6:20 pm (email Marie to Speziale) – “What the hell does that mean? ‘There’s always panic with Marie.’ Send your own god-damn email next time. It was your f-ing directive, and you approved my exact verbiage per my phone call to you. I am done with your guys making me look bad. CC everyone you wish with this one. With apology.” (Tact was not her strong suit)
Yes the hostile crowd she had been attacked by at the May Meeting probably had a lot to do with her decision to immediately take a quick, previously unannounced vacation and return with her letter of resignation.
The General Manager at Westchester Country Club in New York once told me “Before you accept the job of General Manager at a member owned country club, you’d better ask for a big salary, have thick skin and be mobile, because you’ll have four hundred bosses and every one of them will know your job a lot better than you do.” (Marie obviously never considered that theory as a prerequisite to employment.)
Surviving the Financial Crisis of 2007-2009
Following the May 2007 Annual Membership Meeting, Jim Craig was elected Club President for the fiscal year ending in 2008. (An “honor” that might rival being named Captain of the Titanic) At this point in time, the Board had no idea how significantly the Club’s future would be influenced by the Economic Crisis that was just beginning; a global crisis that in our country devastated the banking system, the housing market, the stock market and the golf industry, including Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club.
After years of unparalleled growth in the industry, 2006 was the first of many consecutive years in which golf course closings outnumbered golf course openings. During this period, the local market was inundated with bankruptcy filings at courses like Carrollwood, Cheval, Buckhorn Springs, Walden Lakes Plantation Palms and Quail Hollow. While some of these courses eventually ended up closing permanently, others were able to reopen under new ownership created through banking “fire sales”.
As the economy dried up, so did the pool of prospective new members; in fact, during fiscal year 2007, only ten new Senior Golfing Members joined the Club. The Board placed added emphasis on retaining existing members, but during the year the number of Senior Members fell from 385 to 338.
When the stock market crashes, and did it ever crash, being a country club with a membership comprised substantially of retirees with their net worth invested in that stock market is not a healthy business to be in.
In an attempt to create attractive membership options for other demographics, the members approved offering a discounted Associate Membership for ages 21 to 29 and another for ages 30 to 35. Offerings were also created for people with primary residences “Out of State” and for “Non-Residents” (living more than thirty miles from Temple Terrace).
In a “seller’s market” country clubs can require Initiation Fees for memberships and those fees not only generate revenue but give the Club leverage in dealing with the members. In a “buyer’s market” there are no Initiation Fees and that leverage is gone; a fact classically illustrated by the changing attitude of members, usually retirees, that spend significant amounts of time at summer vacation homes in cooler temperatures. The decision on whether to drop their membership when they leave Temple Terrace and rejoin several months later when they return, versus paying dues during the entire period they are gone is made a lot easier when the Club does not have the leverage of requiring an Initiation Fee to rejoin.
To help retain those travelers, the Membership Committee proposed creating a three-month Relocation Leave of Absence (RLOA) during which the member would pay Assessments levied during the leave but be exempt from paying regular dues. (A “shared burden” proposal that was approved by the membership)
The Board also dipped its toe into one of the Club’s historically taboo areas of membership structuring when it proposed the Club’s “one price fits all” approach be modified slightly to begin offering Individual and Family Senior Memberships. Although there would initially only be a small ($20) differential between the two classes, the Board improved the odds of getting membership approval by grandfathering all current members at the lower rate.
But the biggest, most controversial proposal, the one that brought the “Whine Club” to the Annual Meeting in full force was a limited Daily Membership proposal. GM Krista Heaivilin and Membership Committee Chairman Billy McPhillips had been in discussions with the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino about adding TT to their list of options when guests booked golf games through the hotel concierge. The hotel was booking about twenty tee times a day at various courses and as the geographically closest course allowing our pro shop to book a dozen tee times a week through the Hard Rock seemed to make sense.
The Whine Club reacted as if all twelve of those tee times would be given to first time golfers who didn’t know whether a golf ball was blown up or stuffed and weren’t sure which end of the club they should hold on to, but in the final vote, member approval was granted.
“Where there’s life, there’s Hoke”
Without the seven “pioneers” who cut the deal with the city and created the Temple Terrace Golf & Country Club in 1956, the golf course probably would have taken a path similar to the City of Tampa’s Rocky Point and Babe Zaharias Municipal Courses. If you accept 1956 as the most pivotal year in transitioning from a Municipal golf course to a Country Club, 2009 would have to be considered the most pivotal year in preventing that country club from reverting back to a City run municipal course.
The entire country was going through the worst economy since the Great Depression. During the prior year, the Club’s operating losses had averaged just over $10,000 a month. Senior Memberships had dropped from an already fifty year low of 385 to 338 and continued to drop at an alarming rate. In May 2008, the Club’s Presidential reins were handed from “Captain Craig” to John Nertney. Not only was our ship taking on water, but the “Hail Mary” Hard Rock Hotel & Casino tee-time deal counted on to help turn things around, became more of an “iceberg” when the Hard Rock began experiencing the same business issues everyone else was already dealing with.
The club continued hemorrhaging money and members. By the time a Special Membership Meeting was held on November 9, 2008, thirty more Senior Members had resigned and the Assessment that would be approved at that meeting assured a continuation of the “Death Spiral”
For several years, as membership numbers were falling, the Board had responded with small dues increases and periodic Capital and/or Operating Assessments. (As in, continued to “feed the Death Spiral”.) In late 2008, the Board finally addressed the fact that a strategy of putting existing revenues at risk by implementing price increases was unsustainable. To survive required finding ways to generate new revenue streams without weakening the existing ones.
At a November 2008 Special Meeting of the membership, Club President John Nertney introduced Dr. Leon Hoke, a Professor of Economics at the University of Tampa. Dr. Hoke was also a successful business consultant in turning around the fortunes of clubs like ours through the development and implementation of viable Strategic Plans.
We quickly learned that in addition to the obvious impact of the weak economy on discretionary spending, there was a new country club reality in play that had to be understood, accepted and overcome, i.e., the profile of the typical “affordable” country club had changed dramatically from a “Men’s Golf Club” where social status was a primary driver of memberships, to an environment of family oriented memberships where value for the recreational dollar replaced social status as the key driver.
Surviving in this new arena would require catering to the needs of the entire family and attracting the new breed of member who was demanding an acceptable “cost per round”. The Club would have to either change its “one price fits all” mentality or continue losing existing members while severely limiting its ability to attract new ones.
