Caution ahead on Country Club upgrade
Commentary by Tom Stauss
It’s way too soon to conclude anything for sure, but some recent debate among Ocean Pines directors on possible upgrades to the Ocean Pines Country Club – albeit in the form of a major rehab or tear down/rebuild – is cause for concern.
Ocean Pines Association General Manager Bob Thompson told the board at its July 20 meeting that he is planning to recommend a “secondary” banquet facility at the Country Club with seating up from 144 to 160 people. The purpose would be to accommodate banquets associated with golf outings for large groups of golfers, many of whom would not be Ocean Pines residents or property owners. They would tend to be outsiders, upon whom the OPA has become increasingly reliant to help make ends meet in golf operations.
Several directors had concerns about this idea, and those concerns are legitimate. Thompson will have to do a lot of selling to persuade the board and the larger Ocean Pines community that expenditures for this large a “secondary” banquet facility is justified. Still, he is to be commended for being honest and upfront about his intentions later this year. It encourages a healthy debate.
As Director Ray Unger noted during board discussion, this large a banquet facility triggers concern about banquet over-capacity in Ocean Pines. Already the Yacht Club is under-performing in the banquet side of its business. We don’t need to be creating another banquet facility that similarly under performs. Absent a hard prospect list with solid expressions of interest in Ocean Pines as a golf outing destination, skepticism needs to answer any expressions of optimism about future business just waiting to come our way.
Moreover, this idea speaks to the core mission of a homeowners association: Should it be asking its members to pay for banquet capacity that seems primarily designed to accommodate outsiders, people who aren’t residents and property owners in Ocean Pines?
Yes, there is a substantial amount of sponsored tournament play in the area, much of it captured by golf courses that have been doing these tournaments and associated banquets for many years. It’s possible that Ocean Pines could capture a slice of that business, but it would seem that Ocean Pines is late to the party. The competition won’t just lie down and watch its business dissipate. “Build it and they will come” might work in the movies, but it hardly constitutes a business plan in the real world.
Packing in a lot of tournaments on the golf course to produce a return on the investment of expanded banquet facilities might also inconvenience and annoy golf members. Ocean Pines doesn’t need to be giving its depleted membership base another excuse to drop their memberships.
– Tom Stauss
Uploaded: 8/9/2011
