President's Report March 2023
Dear La Cumbre Members,
There are lots of thoughtful activities happening at La Cumbre Country Club these days. Proactive, positive steps are being taken daily, with many special thanks to our member volunteers and our professional staff. We are truly getting better each day.
Financial
With support from Alan Harden and the Finance Committee, Jeff Cowan closed our January results with the first net positive month in many months. Net operating profit for January was $9,000. February looks to continue that trend due to newly implemented cost controls and continued demand for new membership for our club.
Our total cash on hand is approximately $10.5M, with our project cash balance at $9.9M and our operating cash balance at $0.65M.
Every club department leader has been challenged to develop a plan to decrease operating expenses or increase revenues by 5% in their respective areas. The objective is to invest in areas that drive Members' value and minimize needless casual spending. The goal is to realize a total of $520k in savings in the 2023 operating budget. Good progress has been made toward achieving this goal. The 2023 operating budget includes most of the identified savings opportunities.
Projects
Our Renovation Committee, with the professional support of The Tynan Group, Anacapa Architects, Cabana Homes, and others, is working through the iterative process of defining the details of our projects. Within the next 30 days, we anticipate posting visual renderings of our clubhouse on our website, which will represent the current status of our clubhouse design. In the future, we anticipate our website being the primary vehicle for updates and comments.
- Pool Bar & Grill
- Final design is to be submitted to the County Planning Department by 4/28 with an anticipated start date for construction late in 2023. The project will take approximately six months to complete. The kitchen and bar redesign will allow for increased dining demand and social activities during the clubhouse construction and beyond. The success of our outdoor dining has greatly enhanced our member satisfaction and our club's economic position.
- Tennis Court
- We continue to work with the various professionals and stakeholders to determine if a Court 7 is feasible. The demand for use at our Tennis facility continues to grow, due to the good work of our professionals and our members desire to play. Assuming all things fall into place, we may be able to refresh all courts and build a Court 7 beginning in Q1 of 2024. Hopefully, we can submit these plans with the PB&G permit.
- Clubhouse
- Clubhouse design specifics are being finalized and incorporated into an updated permitting plan. Structural, mechanical, civil, electrical, and plumbing engineers are at work designing the technical functionality of the clubhouse. We will submit our plans as early as possible to the County Planning Department in Q4, but we can't submit until the PB&G permit is processed with County Planning Department Construction. This is expected to begin in Q3 of 2024.
- Golf Course
- Golf Course design and planning is underway with Todd Eckenrode. We anticipate the first draft in April.
Search
On Monday, February 21st, and Tuesday, February 22nd, we met with Kurt Kuebler and Paul Levy of KK&W and Eric Gregory, Club Benchmarking, our recently hired search firm, which is engaged to fulfill our search for our new General Manager. On Monday, Kurt and Paul toured our campus, and met with the leadership of our staff and our Search Committee. On Tuesday, Kurt, Paul, and Eric shared with the Search Committee and Board of Directors their process, best practices, metrics of other outstanding operating clubs, governance, and more.
We anticipate it may take until July 1st before the right General Manager is on campus. Thankfully, we are supported by a committed Board, talented members, and a professional staff to carry us through.
Membership
Membership sales demand continues to pace nicely, with four Equity applications anticipated to be approved by the end of the 1st quarter, and many other members upgrading into the various categories. Demand from the different categories is also solid, with a waitlist in Social Tennis, Associates, and Non-residents.
Typically, membership sales go in waves, and this annual variable revenue from these sales follows approximately like this: 1st quarter 20%, 2nd quarter 30%, 3rd quarter 30%, 4th quarter 20%.
Food & Beverage
We have engaged a Food & Beverage consultant from Kemper Sports Management to review our operation. The consultant will review every aspect of our process, from the procurement of food products to the delivery of finished meals to our plates. Kemper Sports operates over 140 resort/golf operations, bringing these best operating practices to La Cumbre. The early feedback is very promising.
Golf
As stated in a prior Wayne's World…The year's primary focus will be planning for our various upcoming projects over the next few years and the ongoing maintenance of our property. February has brought quite volatile weather, some beautiful days that we have taken advantage of, and some that primarily benefited the lake. March and April will likely bring more blooms, great color, and wonderful spring golfing days.
With the rains and a full lake, it reduces our water bills but brings approximately 60 hours of additional maintenance per week. We have acquired a boat to service the lake and anticipate taking delivery soon.
Ladies' and Men's interclub matches, 9 & Dine, Super Bowl match, Niner's golf and more were played during February. March presents many opportunities to play, so please check out the Calendar and get a game!
Tennis
We continue to focus on enhancing our tennis facility for the enjoyment of our members. In January, we held three focus group meetings with a desire to learn from many of our active tennis facility members. The primary concerns were:
1. Availability of tennis court time during peak hours
2. Availability of quality pickleball courts
3. Deferred maintenance of our courts
4. General deferred maintenance of our facilities.
Progress is being made in all these areas. We anticipate sharing more specific thoughts on potential solutions to these concerns shortly.
House
This year we brought back the House Committee. Annetta Patrick is leading with a strong group of members in support, including Bryan Bahman. The primary short-term focus is on attention to detail. Cleaning the house, removing excess material in storage, and generally cleaning out the "garage" as many additional items have been retained past their useful life.
We are open for business, and it is imperative that the property look as nice as possible. As mentioned above, the clubhouse renovation project will physically commence approximately summer of 2024. So, let's enjoy our clubhouse!
Social Events
Our Social Committee reports through the House Committee and is led by Jill Winchester, with a great group of members. With the support of Josh, Kaity, Inger, and Chef Eric, they are planning a terrific roster of events for us all to enjoy! This past week we celebrated Mardi Gras / President's party. Thank you for putting this great event together and for those who came out and celebrated.
Let the good times roll!
Greg Moss,
President, La Cumbre Country Club
